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Westchester County Elected Officials
Westchester
County Executive
• Andrew
J. Spano
(D)
County Executive Andrew J. Spano became Westchester's
seventh county executive on January 1998. He is the
second Democrat to be elected to the County's highest
office. Since his election, Mr. Spano has initiated
dozens of programs to improve the quality of life
in Westchester and at the same time had reduced the
county tax levy for an unprecedented three years in
a row.
Mr. Spano's major initiatives focus on preserving
the environment and protecting children and families.
He has preserved 2,300 acres of open space and instituted
programs to protect water quality. Mr. Spano has adopted
various measures to keep guns away from children and
invested $5.2 million from tobacco settlement funds
on a teen-age anti-tobacco campaign. He was also the
driving force behind the creation of a new Department
of Emergency Services that consolidated fire, disaster
and EMS services to improve the delivery of emergency
services to residents.
Click
here to learn more about Andy Spano on Westchester
Governments Web site.
Phone:
(914) 995-2802
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County Board
of Legislator District
4
• Michael Kaplowitz
(D)
Legislator Michael Kaplowitz represents the towns of New Castle, Yorktown and Somers. He is the Vice Chairman of the Westchester County Board of Legislators.
Legislator Kaplowitz, who chaired the Legislature’s Budget & Appropriations Committee from 2004 through 2007, stated that “In these difficult economic times, it is our fiduciary responsibility to ensure we do everything possible to continue providing vital county services at the lowest possible cost to the taxpayer.”
He elaborated that a “shared-services” initiative with towns, villages and schools could certainly help control costs by enabling both the county and localities to obtain cheaper goods and also partake in a joint investment fund to help governments and schools make more money.
Legislator Kaplowitz looks forward to working with his colleagues and the Administration to make these cost-saving measures a reality for the taxpayers.
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County Board of Legislators District
2
• Peter Harkham
(D)
District 2 includes the towns of Bedford, Pound
Ridge, Lewisboro, North Salem, half of Somers and the
Village of Mt. Kisco.
Peter Harckham, a lifelong resident of the Hudson Valley, has been a leader in our community since he and his wife, Janet, moved to Katonah, N.Y. in the early 1990’s. His experience in building bipartisan consensus to address the challenges of creating affordable housing, protecting our fragile water supplies, preserving vital open space and historic structures, and creating sorely needed ball fields for our children has well served our community. Peter Harckham continues to serve Westchester as the representative for District #2 on the County Board of Legislators. |
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Westchester
County Information
This
information is from Westchester County's Department
of Planning Databook.
• Click
here to see a map and learn what Board of
Legislators' district you reside in. (pdf)
• Click
here for contact
information on Westchester County Elected Officials.
• Click
here to visit the Westchester Board of Legislator's
Web site.
• Click
here to compare Open Space in Westchester
by Town. (pdf )
•
Click
here for contact information on Westchester
County Departments. (from westchestergov.com)
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Elected Officials
Contact Information
County Executive: Andrew J. Spano (D)
Michaelian Office Building White Plains,
New York 10601
E-mail: CEO@westchestergov.com
Phone:(914) 995-2900
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District
Attorney: Janet DiFiore (D)
111 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
White Plains, New York 10601
Phone: (914) 995-3414
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County
Clerk: Tim Idoni (D)
110 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
White Plains, New York 10601
Phone:(914) 995-3080
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Click
to download free Acrobat Reader software
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NEWS RELEASE: January 14, 2008
Michael B. Kaplowitz
Vice Chairman
Legislator, 4th District
What's Going Down In Your Town in "08
Your County Property Taxes!
Kaplowitz delivers DECREASE in County taxes for Somers and Yorktown homeowners
Property owners in Yorktown and Somers will see a reduction in their County tax bill this year thanks to County Legislator Michael B. Kaplowitz (D-I-WF, Somers), who represents the two towns. Kaplowitz, who was just re-elected to his sixth term on the County Board, chaired the Budget & Appropriations Committee for that passed the ’08 County Budget this past December. Kaplowitz was just voted in as the Legislature’s Vice Chairman last week.
“The 2008 County Budget was a tough one, but in the end, my colleagues and I passed a fiscally prudent and responsible budget,” said Kaplowitz, who chaired the B&A Committee for the past six years.
“There is no issue more important facing us today than high property taxes,” Kaplowitz said. “I’m happy I was able to provide some relief to my Yorktown and Somers constituents during these challenging economic times.”
Kaplowitz noted that the actual decrease for Yorktown and Somers property owners would be 2.23% and 2.81% respectively.
“When inflation is running at a rate of approximately 3%, in ‘real dollar’ terms the 2.2% or 2.8% savings - on top of the 3% (inflation) that you’re not paying because you have a decrease - really translates to a savings of 5-6%, which is quite significant,” Kaplowitz concluded.
Westchester Medical Center Fiscally Saved!
Michael Kaplowitz, as Chair of the Budget & Appropriations Committee, was instrumental in helping the Medical Center turn its finances around.
Initiatives by the County Board of Legislators to stabilize Westchester Medical Center’s fiscal operations have succeeded in keeping this vital institution open with no loss in services. As a billion-dollar economic engine for the region and the only tertiary care facility in the Hudson Valley region, there is no question that the county had to step in to help the fiscally ailing institution get back on its feet when it faced dire financial trouble starting in 2004. If the Medical Center had closed in the wake of its financial trials, Westchester taxpayers would have had to pay off $250 million in debt, a vestige of the terms of the 1998 spin-off agreement that ended the Medical Center’s run as a county-owned and operated facility.
How the County Helped
The Board of Legislators approved an infusion of $120 million, without burdening the property taxpayer, primarily to enable the hospital to acquire the state-of-the-art technology it needed to improve its antiquated business operation, which was the source of its fiscal woes. The investment has paid off. Today Westchester Medical Center is fiscally sound, actually ending 2006 with a surplus. Permanent leadership has replaced Pitts Consulting Group – the firm brought in to manage the hospital’s turnaround. The hospital continues to deliver the same world-class medical care it always has. While the crisis has passed, the County Board will remain supportive of the new management, yet ever vigilant about any negative developments that could take the hospital’s fiscal progress off its current positive course.
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