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Latimer acknowledged the tremendous toll that the pandemic has taken on the county and country, but with the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel approaching, he promised to “restore and rebuild Westchester back better than it was before.”
“I am here to tell you tonight the State of our County - Westchester County - is strong - and getting stronger,” he said on Thursday, May 20.
“Yes, we have more work to do - but I am here to do the job at hand, you are here to do the job at hand, and together, united - we will do the job at hand. Because, we are the State of our County - and we are united to move forward.”
Latimer highlighted the county’s COVID-19 vaccination program, which has seen nearly 60 percent of Westchester residents receive at least one dose.
“Just this past October, I stood here before you, and we were all at the mercy of COVID-19,” he said. “We were bending and twisting trying to conform our lives to this deadly and destructive illness.
“But today, seven months later, look at us - look at us, through sacrifice and discipline, vaccinated and fighting back.”
During his address, Latimer commended Health Commissioner Sherlita Amler and the Department of Health for their roles in helping the county contend with COVID-19 during the pandemic.
“Here in Westchester County we started vaccinating on Jan. 5, and that day we started with 10 Department of Health staff members at our health clinic just down the block from here in White Plains,” he said.
“We were learning and teaching each other how to vaccinate for COVID-19,” Latimer continued. “From that moment it has been non-stop.”
Latimer concluded his address by reflecting on the challenges the county still faces moving forward, both with COVID-19 and other concerns.
“Westchester has been through big changes before – wars, depression, hurricanes, floods, terrorism, and now a pandemic,” he said. “During every difficult part in our history, there have been those who told us we should fear these crises, we should do less and avoid change - but I am here to tell you something you already know – change is constant and change is inevitable.
“Rather than fighting change, we must embrace it and shape it and own it – because that is what Westchester residents do, that is what New Yorkers do and that is what Americans do,” he added. That is how we overcome the crisis of the moment.
“We make change work for us, we always move forward and in the end, we always emerge stronger, wiser, and better than before.”
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