Kevin Hines Is Elected as New Chairman of Orange County Legislature

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

Kevin Hines, a Republican Orange County legislator for the past decade, won the chairmanship of the 21-member Legislature on Jan. 2.

Hines, from Cornwall, beat Katie Bonelli, the incumbent Republican chairwoman since 2021, with a 12–8 vote by winning over several Republican lawmakers and members of the minority Democratic caucus.

“I want to be the chairman for every legislator and treat everyone equally,” Hines told The Epoch Times. “When we treat every legislator equally, our citizens are treated equally.”

He said one of his goals as chairman is to heed opinions from all county lawmakers, regardless of party affiliations, and build consensus on key issues facing the county.

“We are going to continue to work closely with the county executive and to support all of our department heads and commissioners to make sure all projects are funded,” he said.

Major projects on his 2025 roster include the oversight of the spending of the tens of millions of federal pandemic stimulus money, the new improvements at Orange County Arboretum, and the expansion of the county’s sole sewer district.

Hines told The Epoch Times that he will not run for reelection this year despite his accession to the chairmanship. All county legislator seats are up for election this fall.

Kevin Hines (C) is sworn in as the Orange County Legislature chairman by Orange County Clerk Kelly Eskew (L) in Goshen, N.Y., on Jan. 2, 2025. Courtesy of Kevin Hines

“The redistricting destroyed my current district,“ he said. ”But even without the redistricting, I was not going to seek another term; after 16 years, I think it is someone else’s turn.”

A lifelong volunteer firefighter, Hines was first elected to the Legislature about 16 years ago and served as the chairman of the public safety committee for more than a decade. He also served on the powerful committees of Rules as well as Ways and Means.

He was nominated to the chairmanship by Mount Hope legislator Janet Sutherland.

Warwick lawmaker Paul Ruszkiewicz, on the other hand, nominated Bonelli for the role. He highlighted Bonelli’s leadership experience as a former town supervisor and majority leader.

“[As the chairwoman], she has dealt with some very tough issues,” Rusziewicz said on the floor. “I know not every issue has gone the way she wanted it to.

“However, once the vote was taken, she supported that vote, and she supported the Legislature.”

During Bonelli’s tenure, one of the most contentious issues was redistricting, a once-a-decade process complicated by uneven population growth in the county and new state laws. The process saw several Republican lawmakers collaborate with Democratic colleagues to advocate for revisions to the mapping process and draft maps.

On Oct. 5, 2024, the day the previous draft map passed the Legislature, Hines was the sole Republican lawmaker who voted against it.

On the floor, he said that his district has morphed into a horseshoe shape cutting through three towns, that the process should have allowed for more lawmaker participation instead of deferring most of the work to outside consultants, and that three maps, instead of one, should have been advanced to public review as previously agreed.

In addition to the top leadership change, Newburgh lawmaker Leigh Benton replaced Tom Faggione as the new majority leader. Legislator Michael Paduch from the town of Wallkill remains the minority leader.

In a statement following the leadership changes, Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus congratulated Hines and Benton and thanked Bonelli and Faggione for their past work.

“I look forward to continuing to build on our success with Chairman Hines and Majority Leader Benton and the rest of the Legislature in 2025,” Neuhaus said.

At the Jan. 2 meeting, Hines welcomed Democratic Middletown legislator Joel Sierra, who returned to the legislative chamber for the first time in more than a year and a half due to reported medical issues.