Our Legislator at the Westchester county Board of Legislators that represents Scarsdale is Benjamin Boykin. He represents district five which is Scarsdale and parts of Westchester and Harrison. I actually met him when my class went on a field trip to the Westchester county Board of Legislators. My three favorite parts when I was there were meeting Benjamin Boykin, going into the chamber room, and hitting the gavel at the end of the trip. I also learned so much on the trip.

I have three favorite parts of the things and I had a lot of fun doing them. One of the things I really enjoyed was meeting Scarsdales, Westchesters and Harrisons Legislator when we were about to go into the chamber room. His name is Benjamin Boykin. He was not supposed to be there that day so we got lucky. He led us into the chamber room and showed us around. He said that it was probably the biggest and nicest chamber room in the state. We took a picture with him and I got to stand right next to him behind the actual chairman chair. He said he represented district five. He is the  Representative for us! We got to ask him questions and the answers were really interesting. It was very fun meeting him. The second thing I really enjoyed was the chamber room and what we did there. When we entered the chamber room it was so big and fancy. Benjamin Boykin said it is the fanciest and nicest chamber room in the county. We were all assigned jobs by Benjamin Boykin. The jobs were Chairman, Clerks, and Legislators. Josh got to be Chairman and got to sit in the actual place where the Chairman sits. He is so lucky, I wish I got to be Chairman. But at least I got to be a Clerk with Lainey. Everybody else got to be a Legislator. The most surprising thing was that we all got to sit in the actual seats in the chamber room. There were microphones on each of them. I got to sit right under the chairman as a clerk facing all the other Legislators. “LEGISLATOR OSCAR!” I said through the mic. It came out louder than I thought. It sounded like the world’s biggest horn ‘farting.’ We used a mock bill to see actually how they do it with a real bill. I had a lot of lines to do! I had to take attendance. Chairman Josh got the most lines though, he had to call on people to make comments on the bill and much. Then me and Lainy recorded the votes and we voted no on the law. When I called on people it sounded like this: “Legislator Maria, no. Legislator Spencer, no. Legislator Oscar, no.” and so on. It was fun speaking through the mic. Plus the chair I was sitting on was extra comfy! The third thing I liked was hitting the gavel. At the end of the meeting we all got to hit the gavel and say “the meeting is now augured.” It was really because it felt like I had a lot of power. It was not the funnest thing to do but I still liked it. So those are the top three things I liked to do when I went to the Westchester county Board of Legislators. They were all really fun to do and I want to do it again. I also learned a lot and you’re going to find out what!

I learned a lot on the trip and I was surprised about some of them. One thing I learned is that the gavel is a hammer that you hit on a piece of wood. The Chairman hits it to bring order to the chamber. That means if everybody is arguing the Chairman hits the gavel and everybody stops. They also do at the end of a meeting and say “the meeting is now adjourned.” Another thing I learned is that there are about 1.3 million people in Westchester and about 20,000 people in Scarsdale. The county executive is the president of the Westchester Board of Legislators. His name is George Latimer and he is running for the senate. Another fun fact is that the very first chairman in the board of legislators is about to turn 100 years old in 2025. That means he was born in 1925. Benjamin Boykin represents district five (Our district). There are 17 districts and because there is an odd number of districts when they vote on a bill there can never be a tie. They also taught us about the process a bill takes before it becomes a law. First somebody introduces an idea to the board. They take it to the committee room where the committee members say what they think on the bill. They can add minor changes and then they vote. If a majority of the committee members vote yes then they take the bill to the board of legislators chamber room. In the chamber room the legislators read the law and make comments. The public is invited. After they make comments the clerk tallies the law. If the majority votes yes the bill is sent to the county executive which is George Latimer at the minute. If he signs it the bill is a law. If he vetoes it is sent back to the chamber room to revise or change. Benjamin Boykin said that most bills they vote on become a law. But if the judicial branch of Westchester County says it is unconstitutional it is not a law anymore. Overall, I really liked this trip I learned so much and had so much fun.

Overall, I thought the trip to the Westchester County Board of Legislators was really fun. The things I most liked on the trip were meeting Benjamin Boykin, going into the chamber room, and hitting the gavel at the end of the trip. I also learned a lot and want to go back soon.