In a statement on Monday April 24th, the Westchester County Board of Legislators have called on Chairwoman Catherine Borgia to step down from her leadership position as Chairwoman.
The Westchester BOL has been rocked by consistently unfolding revelations regarding a legislative staffer, Anand Singh. On Thursday April 13th, a Youtube video was released appearing to show Singh soliciting sex from a presumed 14 year-old girl. In the days that followed, we uncovered that an ever-growing number of legislators were informed of these allegations months prior. Even more recently we learned that the Commissioner of Public Safety suggested that Borgia fire Singh.
The chair of the board, Catherine Borgia, directly manages central staff like Anand Singh. After being notified about allegations against Singh in December 2022, she did not terminate his employment until the release of the Youtube video in April 2023. In the days following our reporting that she was aware of her employee’s potential sex crimes, she released a short video statement explaining her actions.
Borgia Stepping Down?
In an unprecedented action, the full legislature-sans Borgia–have signed a statement calling on her to step down from her role as Chair of that body. She would remain on the board as an elected legislator until the end of her term this year. Borgia, having served 12 consecutive years, is term-limited out of seeking that office again. Immediately after this potential move, the rules state that the Vice Chair Nancy E. Barr will assume the duties of the Chair. Then, an election for the Chair and Vice Chair shall occur within 60 days by a simple majority of the legislators.
While this may be a tactic to relieve some public pressure the board has been facing, it is unlikely to deter an on-going investigation into this matter. Westchester County DA, Mimi Rocah, has sent a request to the BOL for documents and other materials related to the months-long period when the board knew of the allegations against Singh, but appeared to do very little about them.
The full statement from the board follows.
We, members of the Westchester County Board of Legislators, are asking Chairwoman Catherine Borgia to resign from her position as Chair. While she has been a leader that has guided us through historic and life-changing pieces of legislation, we have lost confidence in her ability to lead this body and the staff that supports it. Government’s job is to protect people and ensure those ideals are clear in our words and actions
