Orange County Clerk Annie Rabbitt, left, administers oath of office
to
Brescia while his sister, Stacy holds the Bble
GOSHEN – The entire 21-member Orange County Legislature is up for
election this coming November and it chairman, Stephen Brescia, who was
re-elected to the leadership post on Thursday, warned of political posturing
this year.
Republicans hold a 12-8 majority, with one Independent, in the county legislature despite a Democratic voter registration edge in the county.
Democratic Minority Leader Matthew Turnbull was critical of Republican Brescia.
“Sometimes it seems to us that although he is the chairman representing all of the legislators, he tends to listen to the Republicans a little bit with both ears and I think he turns an ear away from us,” Turnbull said. “Government works best when power is shared by those committed to the principle of one man, one vote.”
Brescia lashed back at Turnbull.
“Don’t keep giving me that the Democrats don’t have enough representation because your message isn’t getting out there if 17 town boards out of 20 are controlled by Republicans,” Brescia said. “You want to place this dance; we’ll play this all year. I just think that was uncalled for.”
All eight Democrats on the legislature voted against Brescia as chairman while the 12 Republicans and one Independence Party member voted for him.
