James O’Donnell Announces Reelection Bid for Orange County Legislature

Orange County Legislator James O'Donnell. Courtesy of James O'Donnell

Having spent decades in the Orange County government and legislative body, James O’Donnell is seeking another legislator term to see several key county projects come to fruition.

They include reviving the abandoned Camp La Guardia by potentially turning it into a county park, further developing the county nursing home property for long-term financial stability, and moving the needle on the idea of a countywide water loop for economic development.

More importantly, he wants to continue advocating for lowering the property tax levy for county residents, O’Donnell told The Epoch Times on Feb. 15.

The county Legislature has cut the property tax levy three years in a row, first by $9.6 million in the 2023 budget, then by $2 million the following year, and most recently—prompted by an initial request from O’Donnell at a committee meeting—by another $2 million in the 2025 budget.

“We will see how much money we have left in the fund balance at the end of 2025, and maybe we can lower it a little more,” he said. “We shouldn’t be holding out people’s money.”

A longtime Goshen resident, O’Donnell is running on the conservative ticket in a district encompassing the entire town of Goshen and a part of northern Warwick that contains the village of Florida, according to the newly adopted county legislative district map.

Raised in a large family by parents who ran a restaurant business in the Bronx, O’Donnell moved to Orange County after testing into the state police in the 1970s. He spent more than 20 years with the law enforcement agency, moving up through the ranks to lieutenant colonel.

He then served for several years as the police chief of the Metropolitan Transporation Authority and oversaw agency responses in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

In 2004, he made the move to work in the county government as director of operations and then as deputy county executive. He also picked up leadership roles at several economic development-focused agencies, including Orange County Industrial Development Agency.

“As a parent of eight children, you want economic development and enough jobs so that your children want to stay in Orange County,” he said. “And the better the economic development, the better you are able to lower taxes for the taxpayers.”

The Orange County Government Center in Goshen, N.Y., on Oct. 22, 2022. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

A decade later, in 2016, O’Donnell won a one-year term in the county Legislature in a special election and has since been reelected to two full four-year terms.

O’Donnell told The Epoch Times that working in the executive branch for an extensive period prepared him to be an effective county legislator.

“I can pick up what’s important pretty quickly just by reading the agendas. Then, I read the background materials that were submitted with it. If I have any questions, I call the department heads, the county executive’s office, and committee chairpersons,” he said.

That’s how he came to blow the whistle on a major corruption scandal at the Orange County Industrial Development Agency years ago. As a legislator, he read between the budget lines submitted by the agency and discovered a larger-than-usual deficit. When his questions went unanswered, he pushed for legislative reviews and law enforcement investigations.

In 2021, three former top industrial development agency officials pleaded guilty to corruption charges and were ordered by the court to pay more than $1 million in restitution.

During the past budget cycle, O’Donnell, who had kept a watchful eye on the county’s growing fund balance, proposed to reduce the county tax levy by $1.5 million with the surplus money. At the time, the county’s unrestricted fund balance, which contains surplus money with no strings attached, was projected to be about $205 million at year-end.

“We could have probably reduced it by more, but you take what you can. You put a number there that you know is going to pass; there is no sense of putting out a big number that you know has no chance of passing—you do your homework,” he said.

O'Donnell’s request sailed through the Ways and Means Committee. The full legislative body later arrived at a final levy reduction of $2 million after combining several budget line adjustments.

O’Donnell said he is also satisfied to see the county government stop leasing 38-plus acres to Tilcon, a New York company that operates a quarry in Goshen. The move will contribute to reduced air pollution, he said.

“The county executive stepped up to the plate and canceled the lease there last November, and we thank him immensely for doing that,” he said.

O’Donnell currently serves on three county legislative committees: Ways and Means, Personnel and Compensation, and Education and Economic Development.

All 21 county legislative seats are up for reelection this fall.

New York state passed a law more than a year ago to move county-level and other local elections to even years to coincide with state and federal campaigns. The legislation was ruled unconstitutional by a trial court judge last fall. The case is being appealed.

Orange County is among several local government plaintiffs in the active lawsuit.