Westchester officials work on legislation to prevent resume scandals following Santos ordeal

On Friday, there was mounting pressure for Santos to resign outside his Nassau County office after admitting to lying about parts of his resume while running for office.

News 12 Staff

Jan 13, 2023, 10:27 PM

Updated 560 days ago

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Calls for Rep. George Santos to resign are growing after multiple accusations he lied about his experience while running for office.  

Lawmakers in Westchester want to make sure nothing like it happens locally.
On Friday, there was mounting pressure for Santos to resign outside his Nassau County office after admitting to lying about parts of his resume while running for office.

It's a scandal that lawmakers in Westchester County are now trying to prevent from happening again.
"With Santos, we saw an extreme example of what happens when a person manufactures his history," says Westchester County Executive George Latimer. 
Latimer is working with the Board of Legislators to draft legislation that would require candidates running for county office to submit a resume to the Board of Ethics.

The resumes would not be investigated by the Board of Ethics but would be made accessible to the public and the press.
"The press can FOIL it but so can anyone in the public and say who is George Latimer?" says Latimer. 

The legislation would require resumes to be submitted by a certain date and would only apply to candidates running for county executive or county legislator.
The board's chairwoman, Catherine Borgia, is behind the idea.
"I think it's important to put in place the public vetting process, so that is why I think a lot of people are looking at how do we really choose our candidates?" she says. 
The hope is a law like this would deter anyone from lying about their experience, so voters can really know who is on the ballot. 
Latimer says once the legislation is written, it will likely go through a committee at the Board of Legislators and require a public hearing.

He's hoping the law can be passed and put in place by May.  


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