White Plains, NY — The Westchester County Board of Legislators is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2020.

We have prepared a special 50th Anniversary Commemoration book, with a history of the Board, a letter from the Board's first-ever chair, the Hon. Herman Geist, historic photos and more. You can view the book in PDF or online eBook format on our website at:

• eBook: https://www.flipbookpdf.net/web/site/9a8eead2f4a483ac0668a71e6794556aa338d631202010.pdf.html
• PDF: https://westchesterlegislators.com/images/PDF/50th-anniversary-booklet.pdf

In addition, nearly 20 former legislators, including Herman Geist, State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, County Executive George Latimer and others, graciously shared memories of their time as legislators in a special anniversary video.

We invite you to watch the video at https://vimeo.com/469924820

Westchester County’s governing body was established in 1703 as the Board of Supervisors. It remained as such until the court ruled that the Board of Supervisors did not adhere to one-person, one-vote representation -- because a town with 80,000 residents had the same single vote as a town with 4,000 residents. Instead, the court established a County Board with 17 legislative districts of equal size represented by a single legislator. The new Board met for the first time on January 5, 1970, when the body was renamed the Board of Legislators.

For over 300 years, these two bodies have represented and protected the people of Westchester County a co-equal branch of government with the executive branch.

The Board of Legislators is responsible for setting county policy through the enactment of all legislation and appropriations. Chief responsibilities include the adoption of the annual operating, special district, capital and Westchester Community College budgets; levying taxes; setting fee schedules for certain county services; and authorizing the issuance of debt.

The Board of Legislators also approves appointments made by the County Executive, and provides oversight of all government functions of the executive branch.

During the fifty years of the Board of Legislators, 111 Legislators have served the nearly one million residents of Westchester County. We have had 14 Board Chairs, 6 Clerks, and hundreds of dedicated staff as part of our history.