County Legislator and new BOL Chair Nancy Barr
Nancy Barr Named Temporary Chair of Board of Legislators After Judge Permits Dems. to Move Foward
By Dan Murphy
Westchester County Board of Legislators Chair Catherine Borgia resigned her leadership post on April 28, after a Judge lifted a temporary restraining order which was holding back the 14 other democrats on the county board from removing her as their leader.
The statement from the legislators states, “Judge Robert J. Prisco lifted a Temporary Restraining Order issued earlier this week that stopped the Board of Legislators from holding a Special Meeting on Wednesday. Following this ruling, Chairwoman Catherine Borgia submitted a letter of resignation vacating her leadership position to the Clerk of the Board. According to the Rules of the Board, Vice Chair Nancy Barr will become Acting Chair for a maximum of sixty days. During this sixty-day period, the Board will vote to install a new Chair for the remainder of the 2022-2023 legislative term.
Legislator Borgia will remain a member of the seventeen-member legislative body and continue her duty to the district to which she is duly elected. Regardless of party affiliation, County Legislators worked together to protect Board staff, prioritize the Board’s important work, and restore integrity for the people of Westchester.”
The removal comes as a result of the continued backlash following an undercover, online sex sting operation that nabbed Anand Singh, a former staffer at the Board of Elections. Singh was caught by OBL Global in December 2022, but wasn’t fire until April 13.
Three legislators had knowledge of the December livestream video, which caught Singh texting nude photos, and driving 3 hours to Newark New Jersey to have sex with a 14-year old girl.
Legislator Colin Smith and Legislator Ben Boykin were contacted by OBL Global and the decoy used to lure Singh; Legislator Borgia was then notified and referred the matter to the Westchester County Police.
Published reports claim that County Police Commissioner Terrance Raynor told Borgia to fire Singh in January, despite the fact that the video was no longer on line. The video resurfaced in April and that is when Singh was fired.
Legislator Daman Maher, sent out the following email blast to his constituents. Maher references a NY Post story on the Singh scandal, writing ” about the gross mishandling of a personnel matter by the Chairwoman Catherine Borgia of our County Board of Legislators. All other members of the Board, with additional egregious facts presented to us this week, have joined my demand that she resign as Chair. She has refused to do so. Accordingly, we scheduled a special meeting of the full Board the day before yesterday to vote on a resolution to remove her as our Chair, as we were the ones who elected her to facilitate the efficient operation of our legislative body. But Ms. Borgia hired lawyers to run to court to enjoin and postpone our meeting until 4pm today. Keep in mind that whether Legislator Borgia remains as a Legislator is a dialog to be had between her and the constituents of County Legislative District 9 who elected her to that office.”
