The Westchester County Board of Legislators announced at a meeting Friday that Chairwoman Catherine Borgia has resigned her leadership position.
It came after a state Supreme Court judge lifted a temporary restraining order Wednesday that was keeping the board from voting to remove Borgia.
Borgia was not at the meeting, but her fellow legislators expressed their bittersweet relief.
"It's a very sad day. I feel Leg. Borgia made a very bad mistake, but she has quite a legacy of important legislation," said Leg. Damon Maher.
The board had called a special meeting earlier this week to do so, but Borgia filed a lawsuit claiming the board did not have the legal right to remove her.
The board argued it did have the right to remove its chair, and a judge agreed. It's rare, but the whole board decided to vote Borgia out over allegations a former aide tried to solicit sex from a 14-year-old girl.
A group called OBL Global posted a video online appearing to show aide Anand Singh exchanging messages with - and eventually driving to visit - someone posing as the teen.
The board says Borgia knew about the allegations in December but allowed Singh to keep working until she fired him earlier this month when the video came out - breaking trust with board members and staff and putting them in danger.
"It's really important to feel we have the trust in the leader to make good decisions," said Vice-Chair Nancy Barr.
A statement from Borgia reaffirms she thinks this was politically motivated. She also writes this is a precedent that will dangerously weaken the board. The statement reads, "Every Chair of this body will be seated knowing that if nine colleagues disagree with any of the myriad decisions that the position requires, he/she/ they can also be removed at any time. I'm saddened that my colleagues chose to take the path that most endangers the work of the County."
Now they will all still have to work together at least until her term ends in December.
According to the rules of the board, Barr will become acting chair for a maximum of 60 days. During this 60-day period, the board will vote to install a new chair for the remainder of the 2022-2023 legislative term.
Borgia will remain part of the 17-member legislative body and continue her duty to the district to which she is duly elected.