The Westchester County Board of Legislators met on Monday, June 1, 2026, in the Legislative Chamber, Michaelian Office Building, White Plains, with remote participation available via WebEx. Chairman Vedat Gashi presided; all 17 legislators were present, with Nancy Barr participating remotely. The meeting opened with a Pride Month celebration, followed by a formal regular meeting. The Board approved a $40 million bond package for the Eastview Pumping Station, adopted a graphic firearm safety warnings local law, advanced Complete Streets projects for multiple municipalities, approved numerous appointments and agreements, and received several communications for referral. All roll-call votes were unanimous; two appointment/reappointment items passed 16-0 because Minority Whip Nolan was away. The transcript shows a consent agenda was moved and passed 17-0 at the start, while the final minutes do not record a separate consent-calendar vote and instead list individual unanimous votes on each substantive item.
All communications were received, filed, and referred on unanimous motions. These included: a $11,805,000 bond act for Various County Roads Rehabilitation Program (2026); an act for a Sexual Risk Avoidance Education Program grant with NYS OCFS and municipal agreements with Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Ossining, Peekskill, Port Chester, White Plains, and Yonkers; a $1,235,000 bond act for Information Technology 2025-2029; a Putnam County regional partnership agreement for the FY2023 Technical Rescue/Urban Search and Rescue Assets Grant; a $550,000 bond act for Labs and Research Equipment Acquisition (2026-2030); a retainer for Sheppard Mullin LLP for a surety dispute; a memo of legislation on improving cell phone coverage; and the Clerk of the Board's First Quarter FY2026 Update. A Town of Pound Ridge application to establish the Scotts Corners Water District was received for informational purposes only.
All right. Good evening and welcome everyone. Thank you for joining us for the board's annual celebration of Pride Month. In celebrating our vibrant LGBTQ Plus community and recognizing two exceptional honorees. We are reminded how much our LGBTQ plus neighbors, friends, and family have shaped the culture, economy, and spirit of Westchester County. Tonight we are extremely privileged to recognize Ben Alani and Croton Pride, whose work has made Westchester and the world beyond it a more inclusive place where everyone can thrive, regardless of who they love or how they identify. Ben Ilani, a decorated Air Force veteran. With uh is also an LGBTQ plus service member advocate and a VFW post commander. And Croton Pride is a community organization dedicated to LGBTQ connection, advocacy, and celebration. As we celebrate the their achievements, we recommit ourselves to supporting LGBTQ community year-round and standing up for all the residents against discrimination and hate. Legislator David and Memora will now join us to say a few words and present a proclamation to Ben. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh good evening, everyone. Today I have the high honor of recognizing as part of Pride Month, Benjamin Alani, the commander of VFW 200 in Hasting Island Hudson. And I think it speaks to Ben's contributions that today we are joined by the mayor of Hastings, Mayor Tom Drank, and the mayor of Dobbs Ferry, Christine, whom I want to recognize are now here today to celebrate Ben. Since that time, Ben has been the major advocate for gays in the military and used the GI Bill to graduate from Columbia in 2012. I first met Ben as an elected official through attending my district's many Memorial Day and Veterans Day events. And I was always struck by how at these events, Ben was often one of the youngest people there, but it was Ben's words more than anyone else that the audience lashed on to. And I thought how fitting it was for Ben to say he had to shoot his shot. Because here is a man who has both literally and metaphorically shot his shot for our country, who is shot, is shot in defense of America, and now shoots his shot to make sure that Americ veterans in America get their due and shoots his shot to ensure that men and women in America, no matter their orientation, get the rights they deserve. So as we celebrate pride, but also on a day where a decision just came down from the courts on Donald Trump's ban on transgender soldiers serving in our military. It is my honor to recognize Benjamin Alani, not just for everything you have done, but everything you will do for our country and for our county. So on behalf of the County of Westchester, it is my privilege to proclaim that June 1st, 2026 will be Benjamin Alani Day in Westchester County. Your name will be up in lights on the Westchester County Jambotron. So Ben, thank you so much for everything you've done. And ladies and gentlemen, please welcome join me in introduce in welcoming Benjamin Alani's authority. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Legislator Momora. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and to the Westers County Legislature for this honor and for choosing Pride Month to say some truths out loud. I'm Ben Alani. I've been married to my stunning husband for almost 13 years, and we're raising our three gorgeous children here in Dobbs Ferry. I'm the commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 200 in Hastings on Hudson. I'm here today in my personal capacity, not on behalf of the Post, but I wouldn't be standing in front of you at all if my fellow veterans had not chosen to elevate me. So when I speak about who serves and who belongs, I'm speaking as somebody they trusted to lead them openly. It's Pride Month, and the military was a formative part of my young, adult gay life. It's where I learned to keep secrets and how to spot trusted friends. It's where I learned to be proud of the person I was becoming. So if you bear with me, the pride speech I have to give is a military speech. They're the same speech. I came out at 18, and then kind of suddenly I found myself confessing something that felt even harder. I was dropping out of college and enlisting in the U.S. Air Force. This was 2006, already out of the closet, already aware that don't ask, don't tell would require me to put it back. I figured that everybody was sacrificing something to be there, and this part of my life was what I had to sacrifice. I learned Persian at the Defense Language Institute. I went to survival school, I earned my enlisted air crew wings, I trained as a special intelligence operator, and I deployed with U.S.