MINORITY CONFERENCE STRESSES MORE PROTECTION AGAINST SEX OFFENDERS
Legislators highlight the safety of children to be a priority for 2006 and re-submit proposal restricting sex offenders from living near facilities frequented by children

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 13, 2006

Contact: George Oros, 914.995.2828, Oros@westchesterlegislators.com

White Plains, NY –The Westchester County Board of Legislator’s Minority Conference, led by Legislators George Oros (R—Cortlandt) and Ursula LaMotte (R—Bedford), have made the safety of children a priority for the 2006 legislative session. Members of the caucus urge the New York State Legislature to take the appropriate action and pass legislation that would call for the civil confinement of sexual predators. In the meantime, they are taking steps to help protect Westchester’s residents by re-introducing important legislation that was not acted upon by the County Board last year. Minority Leader Oros and Minority Whip LaMotte are joined by Legislators Gordon Burrows, Jim Maisano, Bernice Spreckman and Suzanne Swanson. The legislators hope to gain bipartisan support for their proposal.

“Today we submitted proposed legislation to the Board that would ban convicted pedophiles and any registered sex offenders from residing within 2,500 feet of any County owned, leased, operated or funded facility that would be used by children,” said Oros. The proposal was originally submitted in 2005 by Legislator Oros, but was never moved forward in committee. “We hope that the legislation is drafted properly and eventually discharged to the entire body for a vote in the near future,” said Oros.

Legislator Burrows said, “There is no need to convince members of the Board of the grave danger and irreparable harm that sex offenders and pedophiles perpetrate upon our most vulnerable. The question we are faced with is what can we do as a County to protect these young people?”

The proposal would seek to prohibit any convicted pedophile and registered sex offender from residing within 2,500 feet of the border of any County facility open to children. While that would exclude areas such as sewage treatment plants or the penitentiary, it would include all County parks, recreational facilities, the County Center and homeless shelters. It would also include all parks that are currently under an Inter-municipal Agreement with local municipalities, such as Oscawana Park or the new baseball field in Peekskill, and any areas leased by the County for activities that children may participate in, such as classes at a rented facility. In addition, it is intended to include the Community College, its satellites and the Medical Center.

“This proposed legislation clearly falls within the purview of protecting the health and safety of our children,” said Legislator LaMotte who sits on the County’s Committee on Family, Health and Human Services. “There are families being housed down the street from the Coachman Hotel in White Plains, which is the county’s newest homeless shelter. Not every homeless individual is also a sex offender; however, we have a responsibility to protect residents from the ones who are.”

Legislator Oros continued, “The County has no jurisdiction over local zoning or land use. Therefore, while we would urge our colleagues in municipal government to consider their own local laws to protect children in schools, parks and recreational facilities, the County does have control over its own facilities and the time is long overdue to provide a proper form of protection.”