OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Charter Revision Commission Meeting - May 12, 2026

Board of Legislators & Committees — Tuesday, May 12, 2026
BodyWestchester County, New York
SessionBoard of Legislators & Committees
DateTuesday, May 12, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:11

This meeting is being recorded and summarized.

0:14

My sister the meeting is now being recorded.

0:19

I will call the meeting to order the charter revision commission for Tuesday May 12, 2026.

0:27

It is now 611 p.m.

0:32

Thank you.

0:41

I will entertain a motion to uh approve the minute of meeting April 28th, right?

0:50

April 28th.

0:56

Move and second it, all in favor.

0:58

Any opposed.

1:00

Okay, let me do the roll call.

1:01

I should have done that before the roll call.

1:04

Uh Linden Williams here.

1:07

Tim Warren, present.

1:10

Nancy Sellett's in here.

1:12

That's made in here.

1:13

Nancy William here.

1:17

There are more almost even Nelson here.

1:24

Hi Becker, here.

1:25

Oh permanent here.

1:27

Heather Laughman here.

1:30

Chair recognize uh the council, Mondia Jones, present.

1:35

Present.

1:36

Okay.

1:37

Sanchez here.

1:39

And on on yeah, on virtual, we have Lu Santez, right?

1:45

Okay.

1:49

All right.

1:51

The uh minutes haven't been approved.

1:53

The next area items for discussion tonight.

1:56

Uh we have a few items.

1:58

Um, and just to kind of bring you up the speed of what uh I'm gonna be talking about also is the public hearing.

2:07

I'll kind of set out the schedule as I see it for the rest of the uh the rest of other meetings we're gonna have between now and the end.

2:17

Um there are not many.

2:20

Uh but hopefully we can we can kind of meet them and kind of wrap up this thing.

2:25

Uh the there are some revisions that are going to be made.

2:29

Everyone has a copy of the draft report.

2:33

There are two copies.

2:34

One is a marked up copy, undermined at the top, and one is not on the line, which is uh clean copy.

2:41

Okay, let me ask uh Mondere to focus on let's focus on item one on the items for discussion.

2:48

Thank you, Chairman.

2:49

Uh and good evening, everyone.

2:51

The the reason that this version is slightly different from the one I've circulated by email is because uh I changed an item um for your consideration uh after discussion with the law department and the chairman.

3:07

This has to do with something you previously voted not to approve.

3:10

It was a request by the health department um to have the health code referred to as the sanitary code.

3:20

And the view at the time of the commission and voting not to approve that item is that the laws of Westchester County are clear that they shall be used interchangeably.

3:32

Um but you know, upon further consideration and and consultation with the law department, which had previously been consulted, but uh after further consultation, I should say, um decided that its view is that it would be unnecessarily confusing for the county sanitary code to be known as a health code when the state when the state law is also referred to as a sanitary code and everyone uses the language sanitary code in common parlance.

4:05

Uh and so I've drafted this language for your for you to review that begins on page 40 and goes on to page 41.

4:14

Um it's it's styled in the form of an approval to the extent you want to change the vote that you previously made.

4:23

And um, and I think the chairman, based on his experience as a judge, also has a view on this.

4:30

Yeah, the sanitary code code is the official title of the code.

4:35

In other words, it's called so in let's say in um in the board of health process when they assess fines, when they violate uh persons for um wrongdoing, they are citing their site in the sanitary code.

5:00

So it makes sense, and uh it is the official name of the code.

5:04

So we wouldn't want to use a uh or recommend that the board of legislators adopt a name that is not the official name of the code itself.

5:16

I don't think they would.

5:17

Uh so uh I think the the change is is um not substantial, but I think it's required so that we are not sending something off to the board that would be inconsistent with the uh operations of the board of health, the health department and the state.

5:34

And I would also add that um there is that there's an internal inconsistency and consistency within the laws of Westchester County because uh whereas 261.41 says that the sanitary code shall be known as a health code, there is a separate provision and part 11 of the laws of West Chester County, much later than the law of Westchester County that still refers to the sanitary code.

6:01

Right.

6:02

Which would also clear up that inconsistency.

6:05

Right, which the the law department will have to kind of synchronize all of these sections so that they are consistent when they actually write it when they actually write the language or the legislators to approve.

6:19

We'll have to go through and wherever you are checking where the improper phraseology is used.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████58%
Public Sector Employee Benefits████████████████20%
Procurement Policy██████████████18%
Public Engagement██2%
Human Resources█1%
Budget Equity Analysis█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Charter Revision Commission Meeting - May 12, 2026

The Westchester County Charter Revision Commission met on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at 6:11 PM in the Committee Room of the Michaelian Office Building. The meeting included reconsideration of prior votes on the Sanitary Code and a Department of Environmental Facilities request, review and editing of the draft commission report, and scheduling of a public hearing and final vote.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes Approval: The minutes of the April 28, 2026 meeting were approved on a motion by Alpert, seconded by Rae Long. The motion carried. Members Kollarmail, Cardwell, and Marchese were absent.

Discussion Items

  • Sanitary Code Request (Health Department): The Commission revisited the Health Commissioner’s proposal to rename the County Health Code back to the County Sanitary Code. The Law Department confirmed that despite Section 261.41(1) of the Laws of Westchester County (LWC) designating it as the Health Code, Part XI still refers to the Sanitary Code, causing internal inconsistency. Common parlance uses "Sanitary Code." The Commission initially did not approve this request but upon reconsideration voted to approve it to eliminate the inconsistency and align with common usage.
  • Department of Environmental Facilities (DEF) Request: The Commission reconsidered a prior approval of DEF’s request to amend Sec. 836.11(5) regarding competitive bidding for public work contracts under the state threshold ($35,000 for public works). Counsel to the Commission noted that Act No. 2023-160 (not on the county website) already accomplishes this via the Procurement Policy. The Law Department opposed the duplicative change. The Commission voted to change the recommendation from approved to not approved.
  • District Attorney’s Office Requests: The Commission discussed the DA’s several requests, which involved budgetary and administrative autonomy. Chairman Lyndon Williams emphasized the need for respectful language and noted that many requests would require a fundamental realignment of the county’s separation of powers framework, as set out in the LWC. The Commission decided to maintain its prior position of not recommending those requests, but directed Counsel to soften language in the draft report (e.g., replace "unpersuaded" or "no evidence" with consistent “does not approve” or “not recommended”).
  • Draft Report Edits: The Commission reviewed and approved edits to the draft report, particularly regarding the DA’s requests, to ensure consistent language and avoid implying evidentiary standards. Counsel will incorporate changes and circulate a clean version.
  • Public Hearing Resolution: The Commission approved a resolution to hold a public hearing on the draft report on Tuesday, June 9, 2026 at 7:00 PM in the Board of Legislators’ Chambers. Notice will be published in newspapers and on county websites. The resolution passed unanimously.
  • Meeting Schedule for Final Report: The Commission set a meeting for adoption of the final report on Wednesday, June 10, 2026 at 7:00 PM in the same Committee Room. The final report will be submitted after adoption; the statutory deadline for submission to the County Executive is August 25, 2026.

Key Outcomes

  • Sanitary Code: Voted to approve the change (reconsidering prior disapproval).
  • DEF Request: Voted to not approve (changing from prior approval).
  • DA Requests: Maintained not-approve position; language in draft report to be revised for consistency.
  • Public Hearing: Scheduled for June 9, 2026 at 7:00 PM.
  • Final Report Vote: Scheduled for June 10, 2026 at 7:00 PM.
  • Draft Report Edits: Approved with instructions to make language consistent.

Meeting Transcript

This meeting is being recorded and summarized. My sister the meeting is now being recorded. I will call the meeting to order the charter revision commission for Tuesday May 12, 2026. It is now 611 p.m. Thank you. I will entertain a motion to uh approve the minute of meeting April 28th, right? April 28th. Move and second it, all in favor. Any opposed. Okay, let me do the roll call. I should have done that before the roll call. Uh Linden Williams here. Tim Warren, present. Nancy Sellett's in here. That's made in here. Nancy William here. There are more almost even Nelson here. Hi Becker, here. Oh permanent here. Heather Laughman here. Chair recognize uh the council, Mondia Jones, present. Present. Okay. Sanchez here. And on on yeah, on virtual, we have Lu Santez, right? Okay. All right. The uh minutes haven't been approved. The next area items for discussion tonight. Uh we have a few items. Um, and just to kind of bring you up the speed of what uh I'm gonna be talking about also is the public hearing. I'll kind of set out the schedule as I see it for the rest of the uh the rest of other meetings we're gonna have between now and the end. Um there are not many. Uh but hopefully we can we can kind of meet them and kind of wrap up this thing. Uh the there are some revisions that are going to be made. Everyone has a copy of the draft report. There are two copies. One is a marked up copy, undermined at the top, and one is not on the line, which is uh clean copy. Okay, let me ask uh Mondere to focus on let's focus on item one on the items for discussion. Thank you, Chairman. Uh and good evening, everyone. The the reason that this version is slightly different from the one I've circulated by email is because uh I changed an item um for your consideration uh after discussion with the law department and the chairman. This has to do with something you previously voted not to approve. It was a request by the health department um to have the health code referred to as the sanitary code. And the view at the time of the commission and voting not to approve that item is that the laws of Westchester County are clear that they shall be used interchangeably. Um but you know, upon further consideration and and consultation with the law department, which had previously been consulted, but uh after further consultation, I should say, um decided that its view is that it would be unnecessarily confusing for the county sanitary code to be known as a health code when the state when the state law is also referred to as a sanitary code and everyone uses the language sanitary code in common parlance. Uh and so I've drafted this language for your for you to review that begins on page 40 and goes on to page 41. Um it's it's styled in the form of an approval to the extent you want to change the vote that you previously made. And um, and I think the chairman, based on his experience as a judge, also has a view on this. Yeah, the sanitary code code is the official title of the code.

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