LOIS BRONZ

Democrat Lois Taplin Bronz is the County Legislator for District 8 — re-configured after the Census of 2000 — representing Sleepy Hollow, Tarrytown, and Greenburgh. Following eight years as a legislator and four years as Vice-Chair, her colleagues elected Lois Bronz Chair of the Westchester County Board of Legislators for the 2002-2004 term. She serves ex-officio on all Board Committees and co-chairs the Special Committee on Housing, her particular interest. Her election as Chair was historically significant because she is the first female and the first person of African descent to lead the Board of Legislators.

Legislator Bronz grew up in the volatile times of Huey Long’s Louisiana. The ninth of ten children in the family, her special household chore was reading the newspaper to her father who could not read. “His interest in politics stirred in me a healthy curiosity in politics and an avid advocacy for citizen participation in government,” she says. She became active in voter registration and founded the League of Good Government in New Orleans. She received her bachelor’s degree at Xavier University and a master’s degree in education from Wayne State University.

As a widow with three young children, Bronz met and married Chuck Bronz of New York and moved to Greenburgh. She taught math in the public schools in Greenburgh and became active in the community. Her political career began in 1973 when she ran for the Town Board. Her sixteen years as an effective and active member of the Town Board led to her candidacy and election to the Board of Legislators in 1993.

Legislator Bronz is most proud of her leadership in helping get passed landmark legislation to create the Westchester County Human Rights Commission. She is also particularly gratified by her work in several important areas over her tenure as a legislator: her service on the Board’s Task Force on Families addressing such issues as child abuse, domestic violence and childhood trauma in violent homes; her strong support for County acquisition of open spaces and parks; and her consistent advocacy for affordable housing and adult day care.

Lois Bronz, Board Chair and grandmother, is poised to continue her energetic leadership as the legislators tackle the tough issues facing Westchester County in the new Millennium. Although coalition building at the Board takes up most of her time, she maintains her hallmark style of open, accessible representation and welcomes hearing from all Westchester constituencies.