Katonah Attorney to Challenge Corcoran for County Legislator
By Ashlin Leen
A longtime Katonah resident and attorney has announced her candidacy to run for the Board of Legislators’ District 2.
Democrat Kitley Covill, 62, an attorney and mother of two, plans to run against Republican incumbent Legislator Francis Corcoran (R-Bedford) in November.
“Having lived in Katonah for 30 years, I am intimately familiar with the community and will work hard to uphold the values of its residents as a member of the Westchester County Board of Legislators,” Covill said Tuesday.
She is a principal of a Title IX consulting business and an expert in gender equivalency in education, having advised colleges regarding policies and procedures for sexual misconduct on campuses. She has also advised parents and students regarding campus processes and possible sanctions.
“I have been working for families and children my whole life,” Covill said. “Representing them at the county legislative level is a natural extension and I can do more by shaping policies, raising awareness, ensuring resources are available and generally supporting folks who need it.”
Although Covill is making her first run for public office, she has spent many years working in government. Her career began as an assistant district attorney in Nassau County, spending most of her time prosecuting organized crime. Covill was also part of an Organized Crime Task Force that worked with law enforcement and taxing authorities at the state and federal levels and local law enforcement in Nassau and Suffolk counties and New York City.
In Westchester, Covill was assistant chief deputy county attorney in charge of the Family Court Bureau. She served for four years under former county executive Andrew Spano and for two years under current County Executive Rob Astorino.
Under Spano, she worked to implement innovative solutions to issues including seeking alternatives to foster care, issuing materials and change consumer products to prevent child fatalities, reducing truancy in elementary and middle schools and working with county caseworkers to ensure compliance with regulations.
Covill also worked with former District Attorney Janet DiFiore’s office by going to schools and nonprofit organizations to educate people about reporting child abuse and neglect.
Covill said she was inspired to run because she believes all levels of government can do better.
“I am a law and order, ethics and compliance attorney who has worked for government most of my professional life. I have seen good government and I think our county tax dollars are not buying us a good and innovative government,” she said.
Her priorities include ethics, economic growth, innovation, preservation and transportation.
“My time in government has shown me that innovation saves money and creates new opportunities,” Covill said. “Being responsive to a diverse district, supporting children and families, supporting our business hubs and making sure we have clean water are priorities for me.”
Covill said her extensive background in government gives her strong insight to how county government should operate, adding that Astorino and the Republican legislators have been supporting fiscally irresponsible budgets.
“The Republican legislators have agreed with every proposal without challenging the executive branch, and that is bad government,” Covill said. “The current administration is using a cross-your-fingers-and-hope technique and that is not good governing.”
Messages left for Corcoran on Tuesday were not returned.
District 2 includes Mount Kisco, Bedford, Lewisboro, North Salem, Pound Ridge and a portion of Somers.
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