The Westchester Brief | 03.24.26: Sleepy Hollow Gets a Seat at the Table

Mount Pleasant just settled the first lawsuit under New York's John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act. Four Sleepy Hollow residents challenged the town's at-large election system, arguing it diluted Hispanic voting power. The settlement expands the Town Board from four to six, creates district elections for Sleepy Hollow and Pleasantville, and sets a precedent every municipality in Westchester should watch. Plus: Ossining breaks ground on 108 affordable apartments, Cross County Center gets a four-acre park, and the county introduces prevailing wage legislation.

In This Episode:
0:00 Cold Open: Every board member has been white
0:40 The lawsuit and New York's Voting Rights Act
1:45 Mount Pleasant's demographics and the at-large system
2:30 What the settlement changes
3:30 Why this matters for every town in Westchester
4:30 Quick Hits: Ossining Station Plaza, Cross County park, prevailing wage act
6:15 Closing remarks

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Every person ever elected to the Mount Pleasant Town Board has been white. In a town where 47% of Sleepy Hollow's population is Hispanic, not one seat. That just changed. This is the Westchester Brief. I'm Jim. Let's get into it. On March 10th, the Mount Pleasant Town Board voted unanimously to settle a voting rights lawsuit. The first case ever brought under New York's 2022 John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act. The settlement fundamentally restructures how the town elects its leaders. The lawsuit was filed in 2023 by four Sleepy Hollow residents, Sergio Serrado, Anthony Aguirre, Ida Michael, and Kathleen Seguenza. They allege that Mount Pleasant's at large election system diluted minority voting power. Under the old system, all town board members were elected by the entire town, meaning the smaller, concentrated Hispanic population in Sleepy Hollow could never build enough support to win a seat. The numbers tell the story. Hispanic residents make up 19% of Mount Pleasant's total population. But in Sleepy Hollow, which is a village within the town, that number is 47%. Despite that concentration, the at-large system ensured the majority always picked every seat. The settlement changes the structure in three ways. First, the town board expands from four members to six plus the supervisor. Second, two of those six seats become single member districts. One district represents the entire village of Pleasantville. The other encompasses roughly three-quarters of the village of Sleepy Hollow. Third, the remaining four seats continue as at-large positions. The new district-based elections take effect in 2027. The settlement also includes $1.425 million in attorney fees, most of which will be covered by the town's insurance. Here is why this matters beyond Mount Pleasant. The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act was designed to make it easier to challenge at-large systems that dilute minority representation. Mount Pleasant is the first municipality in the state to settle under the law. Every town in Westchester that still uses at-large elections should be paying attention. There are 43 cities, towns, and villages in this county. The question of who gets a voice in local government is not abstract. It determines who sits at the table when decisions about zoning, policing, school funding, and development are made. When an entire community is structurally locked out of that process, the decisions reflect it. Consider what the at large system meant in practice. A Sleepy Hollow resident running for the town board needed votes from across all of Mount Pleasant, including Pleasantville, Hawthorne, Thornwood, and Valhalla. The Hispanic community in Sleepy Hollow could rally behind a candidate, but the math never worked. The majority always had the numbers. That is not conspiracy. That is how at large systems operate in communities with concentrated minority populations. The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act was designed specifically to address this. It lowered the legal threshold for challenging discriminatory election structures. Mount Pleasant is the proof of concept. The plaintiff's attorneys at Abrams Fensterman called it a historic result. The town board called it a responsible resolution. Both are right, and both should understand that other municipalities across the county are now on notice. Here is what else is happening across Westchester this week. A scening broke ground on Station Plaza, a $96 million affordable housing development with 108 apartments near the Metro North Station. The project includes geothermal heating and cooling and is financed through a mix of state tax exempt bonds, federal low-income housing tax credits, and $4.4 million from Westchester County's new homes land acquisition program. Construction is underway on a new four-acre public park at Cross County Center in Yonkers. Marks Realty is building the park as the front door to a two-building 60,000 square foot retail expansion. The park will feature a boardwalk, cafe seating, and programming space for concerts and farmers markets. Completion is expected fall 2027. County Executive Ken Jenkins introduced the Westchester County Lessore Prevailing Wage Act, legislation requiring landlords who lease property to the county to use contractors paying prevailing wages on construction projects. That is the Westchester Brief for Tuesday, March 24th. Subscribe on YouTube for the video version with full timestamps. I'm Jim and I live here. I'll see you tomorrow.