News from the Westchester County Board of Legislators.

White Plains, NY — The Westchester County Board of Legislators is lending its support to measures pending in Albany to keep rents affordable in New York, and to protect renters from being pushed out of their homes when landlords want to raise rents.

By a bi-partisan vote of 14-1, on Monday night, the Board passed a resolution backing several state bills to extend and strengthen rent control under the Emergency Tenant’s Protection Act (EPTA). Twenty-one municipalities in Westchester have opted into ETPA, which allows rent control on certain housing units.

Among the changes being backed by the Board is one that would end the practice that allows landlords to raise rents for rent-controlled apartments by as much as 20 percent when new tenants move into units. Another would end the practice of "vacancy decontrol" of such apartments -- which allows landlords to convert rent-stabilized units to market-rate units once the apartments have become vacant and the rent has hit a certain threshold.

The Board resolution also supports a measure to keep landlords from using the cost of major repairs to raise rents permanently. Rent increases could be used to pay for these repairs only until the actual repair costs are recouped.

Another measure, unrelated to the ETPA, would prohibit evictions and non-renewals of leases without good cause.

Resolution co-sponsor Legislator Christopher Johnson (D – Yonkers) said, “Housing affordability is a crisis in our communities. We need to do what we can to keep rental housing available and affordable in order to help people stay in their homes; these bills do that. These state measures will insure that most rent-controlled apartments stay rent-controlled, remove market incentives landlords have to push people out of apartments in order to raise rents, and they will make it impossible for people to be evicted just because a landlord wants to clear out an apartment just to raise the rent. These long overdue changes to the state's rent laws will mean more affordable housing for more people, and less fear and worry about what will happen when people’s leases are up.”

Another resolution co-sponsor, Catherine Borgia (D - Briarcliff Manor, Cortlandt, Croton-on-Hudson, Ossining, Peekskill) said, “Housing costs continue to skyrocket and not just for homeowners. Renters, especially in our area, face an increasing burden, as more and more of their income has to go to rent. We whole-heartedly support the state's effort to keep housing affordable by extending rent stabilization laws, and to protect tenants from imbalances in the current system that, without these changes, will continue to give landlords financial motives to move out long-standing tenants.”

Board Chair Ben Boykin (D – White Plains, Scarsdale, Harrison) said, “Stable, affordable housing is essential to a sustainable quality of life for the people of Westchester County. These changes being considered by the state will keep people in their homes and help preserve the affordability of rental housing in Westchester and throughout New York, something that is sorely needed.”

White Plains, NY — The Westchester County Board of Legislators celebrated LGBTQ Pride Month Monday night in a special ceremony that marked the 50th anniversary of the start of the modern LGBT civil rights movement, and honored local community leaders and institutions.

The Board's ninth Pride celebration coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising of 1969, when police action against the Stonewall Inn, a gathering place for gay men in Greenwich Village, galvanized the community and touched off the modern gay rights movement.

Majority Leader Catherine Parker (D - Harrison, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, New Rochelle, Rye) presented a proclamation to The LOFT LGBT Community Center, a pillar of the Westchester community for more than 35 years, furthering the cause of inclusion, diversity and pride through education, advocacy and celebration.

Accepting on behalf of The LOFT, Executive Director Judy Troilo said, "On the 50th anniversary of Stonewall we're (also) reminded of, yes, how far we've come....but we still have a lot more work to do."

Noting in particular challenges currently faced by the transgender community, Troilo said, "We need to recognize that not only are we fighting to further our struggle for equality but we're now trying to protect what we've already achieved."

Legislator Kitley Covill (D- Bedford, Lewisboro, Mount Kisco, North Salem, Pound Ridge, Somers) presented a proclamation to Ariana Luz Quiñones, Coordinator of the Next Gen/Women's and Research Education Fund and Racial Justice Coordinator for YWCA White Plains & Central Westchester. The White Plains-native remembered coming out to friends as a teenager at a movie theater near the location of the Board's chambers. Quiñones said, "Here I am, eight years later, receiving this honor only two blocks away from there, never having imagined that anyone would celebrate me for being who I am, for being gay and gender non-conforming, for being someone who's still figuring it out and trying to help others to do the same."

Legislator Terry Clements (D - New Rochelle, Pelham, Pelham Manor) presented a proclamation to Shepard Verbas, Assistant Director of Programs and Services at The LOFT.

Speaking about the Stonewall Uprising of June 1969, which marks the start of the modern LGBT civil rights movement, Verbas said, "The trailblazers and the shoulders that we stand on had the wisdom and the courage to turn their oppression into love, unity and momentum for change. Remembering that each of us hold the same power to love, educate, influence, affirm, inspire and support one another is how we truly celebrate pride for the LGBT community. May we let the past 50 years of our movement inspire the next 50 to come."