>> friends this week in the jewish
community, we begin our reading and
study of
the biblical book of exodus. As the
book
begins, we're introduced to a new
pharaoh who did not
know joseph, whose ability to interpret dreams
and act accordingly saved egypt from
a great famine. This
pharaoh goes on to oppress and enslave
the people of
israel, setting in motion the events of
the
book. This biblical story reminds
us of
the tremendous power leaders have.
the power to create and to
destroy, to bring people together
or to drive them apart, to liberate or to oppress.
eternal god,
as we gather this evening at the start of a
new term,
keep its members ever mindful of the
sacred task before them.
give them the patience, the humility, the
courage, and the strength to perform
their duties
wisely and well. Implant within them
a
listening heart and an open mind.
inspire
them to improve our county for the
benefit of all of
its residents. May all who call this
place home
find safety, opportunity, love,
and freedom here.
>> we will now
welcome reverend
irwin, calvary baptist of white plains, new
york, to offer our final invocation.
>> a
citizens' prayer for the west kester
county board
of legislators. I lift up the members
of westchester county board of legislators
as
they begin this new year of service.
may they
be granted a vision that spans from
the
hills ofof north to the cities
of the the south, seeing the unique
needs of every
resident. I pray that as they take
their seats of
government,
remembering they hold
the public trust. I pray their debate
be
marked by civility and a conclusion
toward fairness. May they prioritize the least
among us, ensuring the marginalized
find a
champion in this chamber. Grant them
the patience to
listen deeply and the wisdom to act
decisively
for the common good. I pray
for their integrity, keep them steadfast in
the
pursuit of good governance, protect
them from the pressures of
the extreme, and guide them instead
towards what is right and just for the
long term.
I pray for their discernment,
that they may see beyond the immediate
into the long-term
well-being of all the residents of
westchester.
I pray for their
empathy, that the voices of the vulnerable
and
the undeserved remain at the
forefront of their deliberation. And
I pray for their
fortitude, that they may have courage to
pursue fairness even when the path is difficult.
and lastly, I pray for their
unity, that they may, despite
differences of perspectives, share
a commitment
to the common good where
all prevail. May westchester
flourish under their leadership. May
westchester be known,
not just as a beautiful, for its
beauty and for its resources, but
for the
justice and equityequity its laws.
strengthen
these leaders in their public duties.
protect them
in their private lives so they may
serve
with joy and
with clear conscience throughout this year, amen.
>> will the acting court please call the roll.
>> majority leader holstein. >>
present.
>> mirchlt
leader cunzio.
>> here. >> mr. Alvarado?
miss barr?
>> here. >>
miss clements?
>> here. >> mr.
goshi.
>> here. >> mr. Immora. >>
here.
>> mr. Nambiar?
>> here. >> mr. Nolan?
>> here. >> miss pierce?
miss puja?
>> here. >> mr. Smith?
>> here. >> mr. Tubiolo?
>> present. >>
miss williams?
>> present. >> miss
williams
johnson?
>> present. >> mr. Woodson
samuels?
>> present. >> we have a
quorum.
>> thank you. Welcome to the
organizational meeting of
the westchester county board of legislators.
it is customary for the westchester
county clerk to convene the
first meeting of each newly constituted
board
of legislators until the chair is
elected and sworn in. At this
time, I would ask the members of this
esteemed body
to stand as I administer the oath
of office to
you, the full legislator of
the westchester county for the 2026 legislative
term.
please repeat after me.
I, state your name, solemnly
swear or affirm that I
will support the constitution
of the united states and the
constitution of the
state of new york, that I will
faithfully discharge
the duties of the office of county
legislator in and for the county of
westchester according to the best of my ability.
congratulations.
nominations are now in order for chairman of
the westchester county board of legislators.
>>
yes, thank you, mr. County clerk.
and
I would like to
nominate legislator
goshi for board chairman for the
2026 legislative term.
>> legislator
gashi has been nominated for chairman of
the
westchester county board of legislators.
there is a second?
>>
second.
>> legislator
vedat gashi has been nominated and
seconded.
are there any other nominations for this office?
nominations are now closed. Will the
acting
clerk please call a long roll call vote?
>> majority leader holstein?
>> aye.
>> minority leader cunzio? >> yes.
>> mr. Alvarado? >> yes. >> miss barr?
>> yes.
>> miss clements? >> yes. >> mr. Gashi?
>> yes.
>> mr. Immora?
>> yes. >> mr. Nambiar?
>> yes. >> mr. Nolan? >> yes. >> miss
puja?
>> yes. >> mr. Smith? >>
yes.
>> mr. Tubiolo?
>> yes. >> miss rely? >> yes.
>> miss williams? >> yes. >> miss
williams
johnson?
>> yes. >> mr.
woodson samuels?
>> aye. >>
motion passes 16-0.
>> since legislator gashi
is in the room, the election is now
final. I would ask that
majority leader holstein
and minority leader
cunzio, please escort chairman gashi to the podium.
>> so --oh, I've got to give the swearing-in.
I
was going to jump right in.
>> I came
all the way
here.
>> may I have my wife and children
come up?
>> absolutely, absolutely.
>> guys, come up here.
>> please raise
your right hand. I, vedat
gashi solemnly swear that I will support
the
constitution of the united
states, the constitution of
the state of new york, and that I
will faithfully discharge
the duties of the office
of chair of the county board of legislators
in and for the county of
westchester according to the
best of my abilities. [ repeated ]
thank you.
>> all right. I think that was one
of county
clerk roach's first official acts as westchester county
clerk.
thank you, tom, for
helping make this a special event.
I want to thank the
faith leaders for your inspiring words
and uplifting message.
of course,
we had some of them up here, but I want
to thank my family
of which there are many.
vanessa, my mother, say
hi, mom,
dorantina, akron, our men j unfortunately
ka, ari, and tajir.
am I missing anybody? That's plenty.
and I love them
all, and they're all supported, but
they're
all constituents and voters so thank
you guys for that, too. And of course,
I want to thank --
mention my father, who
passed away before I entered political
life, but whose
example guides me every day. Thank you, dad.
I love you.
I want to
thank my colleagues. I'm humbled and
honored to have received
your support
again. Thank you. I'll have succeeded
if I
can help you all -- if
I can help you all succeed and support
you
in our joint success. Tonight we welcome
two
new colleagues, jen puja and anant
nambiar.
legislator puja has
a long record of public service
and is a strong
labor advocate we welcome to our board.
legislator nambiar has
his own impressive record of service
and achievement but is also notable
for becoming the
first south asian member of this board of
legislators.
as well as
the first member of the hindu faith to
serve in
this role. So, welcome, and thank
you for helping us break those barriers
as well.
I'm
going to keep this speech short, because this is going to
be a short term.
I'm not sure if everyone's aware,
but there was a change in
the election law. So this is going
to be historic in the regard that
it's going to be a one-year term for the first
time ever.
and
it's going to be difficult for more
than just that reason.
it's also an incredibly challenging
environment. We have a
difficult economic environment, and
the actions
of the federal government are making
it incredibly
difficult for us already. And it's going
to mean a
whole lot of work before us in this
next year.
we have
challenges. We have that work to do and only
a short time to do it.
it's going to be hard. But we're going
to --we're going to approach these
challenging times as we've always
done, by being firm on principle
and fair in process, through
strong debate but stronger respect,
and by
acting with urgency without recklessness.
it's not going to be easy,
but we've tackled difficult things
before. It's times
like these that remind us why this
board of
legislators matters. Why government matters.
I want to thank, again,
my colleagues for entrusting me
with this solemn honor and responsibility.
I sincerely appreciate it. Thank you all.
I think since we have so much work
to do, we should get on with doing it.
thank you, and may god bless america.
>> I don't know that I've ever banged this.
nominations are now in order for vice chair of
the westchester county board of legislators.
>> yes. Thank you, mr. Chair.
again, congratulationscongratulations
your
elected --being elected to be our --
serve as our
board chair for another term. I
would like to move that --for
the office of vice
chair, for the
2026 legislative term,
legislator terry clements. I've had
an opportunity to work with legislator
clements
now since I came on
to the board. And you know, she's
always
been a good resource for me personally
and
always made a very --she's been a
great addition to the board. She's shown great
leadership, not just here as a
legislator, but in
her community and I think that she
would make a very --
she's going to make a very capable
vice
chair. And so it's my privilege and
honor to nominate her for that position.
>> is there a
second?
>> I'd like to second that
nomination for legislator clements, thank you.
>> all right.
are there --sorry. Legislator
terry clements has been nominated
and seconded for vice chair of
the westchester county board of legislators.
are there any other nominations for this office?
seeing
none, nominations are now closed.
will
the acting clerk please call a long roll call vote?
>> majority
leader holstein?
>> aye.
>> minority er cunzio? >> yes. >> mr.
alvarado?
>> yes. >> miss barr?
>> yes. >> miss clements? >> yes.
>> mr.
imamura?
>> yes. >> mr. Nambiar?
>> yes. >> mr. Nolan? >> yes. >> miss
puja?
>> yes. >> mr. Smith?
>> yes. >> mr. Tubiolo?
>> yes. >> miss
sue lie?
>> yes. >> miss williams?
>> yes.
>> miss williams johnson?
>> yes. >> mr. Woodson samuels? >>
yes.
>>
chairman gashi?
>> yes. >> motion passes 16-0.
>>
since legislator clements is
in the room, the election is now final.
I ask that the
majority leader and minority leader
cunzio, if they would escort vicevice
clements to the podium and join her for the oath of office.
>> please repeat after me.
[ repeating ] I, terry
clements, do solemnly swear that I
will support the constitution of
the united states and the constitution
of the state of new york and that
I will faithfully discharge
the duties of the office of vice chair of the county board of
legislators
in and for the county of
westchester according to the best
of my ability. Congratulations.
>> good evening, and thank
you, everyone, for coming and supporting
all of
my colleagues. I'd like to thank my
husband,
george clements, who was just standing
here, and my
daughters, monet and lauren, for allowing
me to serve
the residents of
westchester since 1996 in the very
many
different roles in politics. Now I'm
honored to serve as vice chair and
remain committed
to ensuring every voice in westchester
is
heard and valued. Together with my
colleagues, I will continue advocating
for policies that
uplift our communities and strengthen
the democratic --our democratic values
that make
our country strong. I'm grateful to
the
residents and my fellow legislators
for the continued support as
we move forward in unity and purpose.
and thank
you so much for this honor. I will work very hard.
thank you so much.
>> thank you, vice chair
clements. Nominations are now in order
for clerk of the westchester
county board of legislators. I'll
take this
opportunity to nominate sunday vandenberg.
if you don't know sunday
vandenberg, you do not know this board
of legislators. She's been operating
longer than I've been here and
knows a heck of a lot more about it
than I do.
thank you for your service in the
past, and thank you
for agreeing to serve again. So
with that, sunday vandenberg has been
nominated for
clerk of the westchester county board
of legislators. Is there a
second?
>> I second.
>> minority leader -- okay.
>> honored
to stand here today and wholeheartedly
support our dear friend and colleague
and leader of the clerk's office.
sunday
truly does know this entire board inside
and out.
we go to her, we lean on her, professionally
and personally. But I stand here today,
and I'm proud
to support sunday vandenberg and second
the nomination.
>> thank you.
sunday vandenberg has now been nominated and
seconded
for clerk of the westchester county
board of legislators.
are there any other nominations for
this office?
seeing none, nominations are now
closed. Will the acting clerk please
call a long roll call
vote?
>> majority leader holstein?
>> aye.
>> minority leader cunzio? >> yes.
>> mr. Alvarado? >> yes. >>
miss barr?
>> yes. >>
miss clements?
>> yes. >> mr. Imamura?
>>
yes.
>> mr. Nambiar? >> yes. >> mr.
nolan?
>> yes. >> miss pierce? Miss
puja?
>> yes. >> mr. Smith? >>
yes.
>> mr. Tubiolo? >> yes. >>
miss sue lie?
>> yes. >> miss williams?
--
yes.
>> miss williams johnson?
>> yes. >> mr. Woodson samuels? >>
aye.
>> chairman gashi? >> yes. >> motion passes 16-0.
>> all right.
it says here, now congratulate sunday.
you can tell
sunday knows the position and the
job by the fact that she is not
giving a speech now. Thank you, sunday.
and with that, that concludes our
business for tonight.
I'd like to thank everyone for joining
us
and invite
reverend trollinger to lead us in the
benediction.
>> may we bow our heads.
eternal god our
father, wewe thank
you for your divine providence of
creating this magnificent
idea of america.
as we stand
at crossroads within our community,
within our nation,
and in our world, help us to still
hold
true to the founding
fathers, that all men are created
equal.
that we are to pursue
happiness,
equality for everyone. Charge our
brothers and our
sisters, continue to be faithful
to the original idea of this thing called the united states.
the lord bless you, the lord keep
you, the lord make his face shine
upon you and be
gracious unto you. The lord lift up
his
countenance upon you and grant you his
peace, amen.
>> thank you again, reverend challenger.
majority leader
holstein, do you have a motion on
adjournment?
>> mr. Chair, I
do. Our 2026 meeting calendar has
yet to be finalized, so
I move that we adjourn this meeting
until the call of the chair.
>> short roll call, please. >> majority
leader holstein?
>> aye. >> minority
leader cunzio?
>> yes. >> vice
chair clements?
>> yes. >>
chairman dashi?
>> yes. >> motion
to adjourn
passes 16-0.
>> we are adjourned
at 7:43 p.m. Thank you all again.