Appointments Committee Meeting – May 26, 2026: Approvals of Hsu, Hughes, and Marron
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Appointments Committee Meeting – May 26, 2026
The Appointments Committee of the Westchester County Board of Legislators met on May 26, 2026, at 4:11 PM in the Michaelian Office Building, White Plains, NY. Chair Anant Nambiar presided. Legislators present: Nambiar, Clements, Cunzio, Puja (remote), Ulaj. The committee considered two new appointments to the Community Services Board and one reappointment to the Advisory Council on People with Disabilities. All three were approved unanimously and referred to the full Board.
Discussion Items
- Appointment of Dr. Teresa Hsu (RES-2026-56): Dr. Hsu, founder and executive director of SPEAK (Supportive Place for Empowering Asian Americans and Kin), introduced herself. She discussed the need for culturally competent mental health services, challenges of stigma and insularity in the Asian community, and her work with youth. Legislators Nambiar and Clements asked about outreach to youth, translations, and partnerships. Dr. Hsu described training for school counselors, youth peer programming, and collaborations with NAMI and the Westchester Suicide Prevention Coalition. The committee voted unanimously to approve and refer.
- Appointment of James H. Hughes IV (RES-2026-57): Mr. Hughes, director at Lexington Center for Recovery in Mount Kisco, introduced himself. He discussed his experience with adolescent and adult substance use treatment, and noted trends such as increased marijuana-related psychosis and shifts in opioid use. In response to a question from Legislator Cunzio, he commended Westchester County's efforts to integrate mental health and substance abuse services using opioid settlement funds. He also mentioned the Westchester Drug Court's focus on recovery. The committee voted unanimously to approve and refer.
- Reappointment of Marni Marron (RES-2026-58): The committee approved the reappointment to the Advisory Council on People with Disabilities for a term ending December 31, 2027. No discussion occurred; the vote was recorded as unanimous.
Key Outcomes
- All three resolutions (2026-237, 2026-238, 2026-240) were approved unanimously by a vote of 5-0 (Nambiar, Clements, Cunzio, Puja, Ulaj) and referred to the full Board of Legislators.
- The meeting adjourned at 4:39 PM.
Meeting Transcript
This meeting is being recorded and summarized good afternoon. My name is Anant Nambiar. I am the chairman of the employment committee, and I want to call this meeting to order at 41. And starts by taking attendance. I am present. Vice Chair Clemens. Thank you. Legislative Kunzia. Here. You, Legislative Puja. Legislative Puja. Here. Okay. Thank you. Legislative Ulai. Thank you, Chairman Ashi not here. Excellent. And so we are going to start that we first have a couple of new appointments. And so I'm going to invite the first appointment for 2026-2037, which is Dr. Theresa Shu. Dr. Shu, could you join us at the table? Sure. And so typically how this works, we just uh we open it up and allow you to introduce yourself and kind of your interest in the role, your thoughts about the board, um, relevant experience, and then we we might have some relevant questions or some questions for you after that. So thank you for your interest. Thank you for your um your service, and just please let us know about yourself and why you're interested in this role. Sure, great. Um, so I think camera is here. You guys are okay. So I'm uh Teresa. Um so I'm Teresa Shu. I am a psychologist by training, but I am the founder and executive director for Speak, which stands for a supportive place for empowering Asian Americans and kin. Uh so we are a nonprofit based in Westchester County. Um, I just founded this about two years ago, and our mission is all about empowering Asian American wellness and specifically mental health. So I'm a uh psychologist by training, and um, because each community has its own set of unique needs when it comes to mental health, um, and there was nothing else that I understand existed in the county. Um, I wanted to provide this service for our uh our Asian American community. Um excuse me. So um, in terms of being on the board, you know, I I've been to um it it's it's Asian American Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month, and uh I've been hearing everybody's um ways of talking about having a seat at the table most recently. The one I've heard is um if you're not at the table, you're on the menu. Um, and so I want to have a seat at the table and not be on the menu because I think there are unique needs at our community needs, and um, it can be difficult to identify what those are unless you're within the community. Um, and so while I certainly am not trying to represent everybody, I'm trying to, you know, spearhead an organization um that will eventually be able to um represent as many people across um West Cheshire in the Asian American diaspora as possible. Great, thank you. And and uh Dr. Shi You and I have worked together, we've done we've done some events together already. Um this is something that that and I've spoken to you about this you know, in terms of just in my campaigning and and uh my conversations within the Asian community. Um it's a couple things. Number one is that we are not a community that asked for help, and so as much challenge and pressure and special pressure we put on ourselves, this is not something that we are often asking for support from from other people. Um, and let me just uh also notice that that legislative more has joined us, and because legislative and I have talked about the whole thing on mental health and the Asians, you know, as being the two Asian legislators on this board representing the eight percent of Westchester that is Asian, we understand it's a big population, lots of lots of expectations, lots of pressure. Um I specifically have talked often about the mental health and the youth, right? Anywhere from like 12 to 24.
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