Harriet Cornell’s place in county history has been included in the federal Congressional Record, the legislator told those gathered last night to see her unanomoulsy reappointed as chairwoman of the Rockland County Legislature.

Senator Hillary Clinton, whom Cornell has worked with for a number of years, included the fact that Cornell is the only Rockland County legislator ever named to chair the Legislature for a fifth term.

Cornell was first elected in 1984 and is one of just 12 women who’ve served in the Legislature during the government body’s 38-year history. The West Nyack Democrat is also the only woman to ever regularly preside as chair.

Last night, she delivered a speech offering her overview of how things went for the county in 2008, and expressing her hopes for success in 2009.

Read her speech, verbatim, after the break.

Thank you, colleagues, for the confidence bestowed upon me—and for the extraordinary words used by Ilan Schoenberger in nominating me and by Bob Jackson and Connie Coker in seconding.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart—and certainly my grandsons appreciate hearing those accolades about their Grandma. Thank you to my son Keith, for administering the oath of office and for the love and support given by Keith, Carrie, Robin and Skyler each and every day.  They are also representing my three loving daughters who could not be here.  My husband Martin, my mother and father would be very proud tonight.

Thank you, Richard Deats, for the inspiring invocation.  Dr. Deats who worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. in the civil rights movement, continues to devote his life to the pursuit of peace, justice and equity and was recently voted into the Rockland County Civil Rights Hall of Fame. Thank you also to Elizabeth Barone for her beautiful rendition of God Bless America.  I want to thank all of you who left the warmth of hearth and home to be here tonight,

This past year has seen many high points but also brought the sadness of loss to this body with the death of VJ Pradhan—a passionate fighter for Rockland residents and a friend and dear comrade to all of us.

It was a year of surprises, the most unexpected occurring in the office of Governor.  I applaud David Paterson for his leadership during a time of shock and turmoil, and for his courage in forcing the state to face economic realities—painful as they are.  His representative Richard Thomas is here tonight, and I plan to represent this Legislature tomorrow in Albany when the Governor delivers his State of the State address.

The race for the Presidency of the United States, with so much at stake for the nation and the world, gripped our attention for 18 months.  We picked sides and advocated for our candidates, but now we are all together in our wishes for success for President Obama.  The stakes are too high for mere partisanship, but constructive differences are always in order as we seek solutions to huge problems.

We extend our congratulations and best wishes to Senator Clinton as she becomes Secretary of State, and our nation’s emissary to all the teeming hotspots around the world on virtually every continent.  Hillary came to Rockland the night I was first elected as Chairwoman in 2005 and had hoped to be here tonight—before she knew she would be invited to serve in the Obama administration.  We will deeply miss her as our United States Senator.

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The French philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin once said

The future belongs to those who give the next generation reason for hope.

It is an adage we must continue to live by; one that has helped us through the most difficult of times.

And so we dealt with the profound effects of the stock market decline and watched as many financial institutions teetered on the brink of collapse.  Thousands of homes went into foreclosure.  Unemployment spiraled.  Those with jobs worried that they will lose them.  People held on to what money they had and delayed or abandoned plans to purchase cars and refrigerators, putting more jobs at risk.

The year I am describing is not 2008.  It is 1933, the year I was born.  Our nation was in the throes of the Great Depression.

But it was also a time for hope.

On March 4, 1933, a new President took the oath of office.  He arrived in Washington facing unprecedented challenges, the biggest of which was America’s loss of confidence in our economic future.

But Franklin Delano Roosevelt met those challenges.  By creating initiatives such as the WPA (Works Progress Administration), the Social Security Act, and programs to help farmers, to generate electricity, to alleviate flooding, to build new schools, and enlarge national forests, he turned our country around and put our people to work.

Right here in Rockland County, Dutch Garden County Park and the murals in some of our older post offices and institutions are continual reminders of the benefits of the WPA and other New Deal programs—not just for the bricks and mortar, or the bread these programs put on tables—but also for the historic legacy they left us.  There were writers’ projects, research projects, teachers’ projects, theater projects.  The Federal Art Project was one of the divisions of the WPA.  It created 5000 jobs for artists and produced 225,000 works of art for the American people.  Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko were two of the artists who achieved worldwide recognition, but in the 1930s and ‘40s they waited on line each week to collect a stipend of $25 or $35.

The WPA artworks “stand as a reminder of a time in our country’s history when dreams were not allowed to be destroyed by economic disaster.”

And while, thankfully, our nation’s current economic crisis is not as bleak as it was in 1933, I think all of us share the hope and optimism that a new administration in Washington will meet the challenges we face with the same level of intensity, intelligence, and compassion that we witnessed three-quarters of a century ago.

However the federal government cannot do it all.  Much of the responsibility for our own economic health and well-being must begin right here at home, in Rockland County.

I stand before you today, deeply honored that my fellow Legislators have elected me for an unprecedented fifth consecutive term as Chairwoman.  But along with this honor comes a deeply-felt responsibility to uphold your trust.

Rockland is facing serious challenges.  And we need serious solutions.  And so my number one priority in the coming year will be to work even more closely with my partner in county government, County Executive Scott Vanderhoef; with all of our town and municipal governments, with school districts, with the business and economic development sectors and the not-for-profit community, to find ways to address this economic crisis and emerge stronger and more vibrant than ever.  Doing more with less is a challenge, but one which can be met through partnerships and a willingness to find common ground.

In a quarter century of service to the people of Rockland, nothing has given me a greater sense of purpose and pride than the opportunity to work with my colleagues in government to develop and enhance programs that touch and improve the lives of our residents.

We do this by staying current, listening to the ideas of residents and wisdom of experts, adapting proven models, and innovating when inspired by local needs.

We do this by forming partnerships and alliances across boundaries. Our community collaborations have become models across the nation—Rockland 21C, STOP FEAR to prevent intimate partner violence, Homeland Security Task Force; Rockland Education Collaborative—to name a few.

During this time of crisis, and especially during our recent budget meetings, it is perhaps human nature for some to question county government’s purpose, and to seek piecemeal fixes for complex problems.

The reality is that government is a complex business.  Unlike other businesses, our mission is not to profit—but to deliver services to the public in the most efficient, cost-effective manner possible.  Some say we should only deliver services mandated or paid for by state or federal government.  What about the services which grew out of residents’ express needs?  Care of the disabled?  Consumer protection?  Plowing county roads?  Smoking prevention?  Immunizations?  Assisting child care centers to reach national accreditation standards? Food establishment inspections?  Shelters for battered women—for runaway and homeless youth—for animals?

We have reason to be proud of all that we do in county government to improve the lives of our residents, to keep them safe, and to provide support and assistance to those facing hardships.  In many cases, these actions prevent far greater costs.

Let me give a few examples of the work of county government, fulfilled by dedicated county employees or by community-based organizations which contract with the County to provide specific services and effectively raise the bar of service delivery in Rockland County.

The Department of Health, under Commissioner Dr. Joan Facelle, runs a pre-natal clinic at Nyack Hospital.  With financial assistance through Medicaid and PCAP, this clinic addresses the ever-growing number of immigrant and low-income women who cannot afford comprehensive pre-natal and postpartum care.  In addition to medical care and laboratory testing, the program offers women nutritional counseling and access to nutrition programs.  “Healthy mothers, healthy babies” save the county thousands of dollars in the cost of care for babies who might otherwise have been born with significant medical issues.  And by the way, all babies born in the United States are American citizens!

The Health Department has also made significant strides in programs to help residents quit smoking, and prevent youth from starting in the first place.  State statistics have shown a dramatic drop for this county in the percentage of those who smoke. The Department also has a well-developed program working with the school districts on school health and obesity prevention to prevent diabetes and other diseases. And the department runs an infectious disease clinic to give health care to those with HIV disease. Each of these efforts, plus many others, has the potential to save the county significant funds in the treatment of illnesses that could be prevented or diminished.

As a result of recommendations made many years ago by this Legislature after holding hearings, the Rockland County Department of Probation joined forces with the Rockland Teachers’ Center to institute a tutorial program that has made a striking difference in the lives of at-risk youth in the county.  Through this partnership of law enforcement and education, 200 young people who are or were supervised by Probation, receive individualized tutoring and the tutors often serve as mentors helping the young people make smarter decisions about their current and future behaviors. Here are a few examples from a recent report:  One young woman did not seem to be a candidate for this program because she was a chronic truant.  She was given a chance, had a 100% attendance record, and showed vast improvement in all subjects.  A young man received passing grades in all subjects and professed a renewed interest in school. Another chronic truant, was persuaded to stay in school and with tutoring, her disciplinary record improved along with her math.

Good mentoring programs have been very successful in turning young lives around.  The Nyack-based Rockland Parent-Child Center program “Building Connections for Youth” is funded through the County Department of Social Services. Adult mentors are matched with children and youth who have a parent who is or has been incarcerated. With positive adult role models and group enrichment activities—such as trips to see a Knicks game and meet the players, a Chiku Awali drumming workshop, poetry jams—these young people are given positive ways to grow and thrive.

In addition, RPCC also runs a mentoring and support program funded through the Youth Bureau to help young mothers re-entering the community from jail, aiding them in finishing their education, completing drug treatment, and re-connecting with their children. Mentors help them stay on track and avoid making the same choices that brought them to jail in the first place.

And when it comes to education, the pinnacle of our pride continues to be Rockland Community College and all that the college has been able to achieve in the last four years under the able leadership of President Cliff Wood. Student population has increased, and RCC continues to find ways to provide service to the community—such as the recent one-of-a-kind competition for area high school and college students that gave them hands on experience in the development of entrepreneurial business plans.  Wouldn’t every family love the plan for reliable, certified baby sitters, called “Sitter in a Second?”

And when we read about state business groups linking the importance of high quality early childhood education and care with economic development—and hear national law enforcement professionals calling for funding for Head Start and other high quality early education programs, we take pride in the support we give to Child Care Resources of Rockland and to Rockland 21C to ensure the optimal development of every child.

The distance education technology that the county purchased several years ago for every public high school, five public libraries, 3 teachers’ centers and RCC continues to open educational doors for the students and teachers of our county.  Nyack Middle School teachers traveled via cyberspace to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown to learn how to incorporate baseball statistics into their math curricula and Spring Valley High School students visited the NASA space center in Huntsville, Alabama to learn about space travel.

Rockland County has historically contracted with not-for-profit agencies to deliver specialized services which would be too costly for government to provide, such as those for the developmentally disabled, the mentally ill, and people with alcohol and other drug dependencies—services which improve the quality of life for specific populations of Rockland residents.  This became even more crucial when Town governments closed their counseling centers which had been dealing with many of these issues.  Multi Services Chair, Phil Soskin has been on top of this.

In 2008, the Association for the Visually Impaired used some of the funds for a Pre-Vocational Training Program to assist visually impaired young adults, ages 15 to 30, receive training in the areas of resume-writing, interview skills, appropriate office attire, and money management.  Maybe one of those young people will one day be Governor, as is our legally-blind Governor Paterson!  Or a business leader or teacher.

The county also funded a program run by VCS, entitled Vets for Vets. This program trains veterans from former wars as peer counselors who provide counseling services to vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome, depression, anxiety and other symptoms that interfere with their re-entry into civilian life and into the lives of their families.

And the Rockland Center for the Arts received county funding that enabled them to offer Arts in Education programs to students throughout the nine school districts in the county, as well as 25-30 full scholarships for low income students interested in studying the arts and an additional 12 scholarships for the Summer Arts Day Camp.

Through the Arts in Education program, approximately 1500 students per school year have the opportunity to visit exhibits offered at the center.  The Center’s arts educators work with school teachers in advance of the trips to ensure that the day’s activities are tied to curricula in the areas of science, social studies, English, and English as a Second Language, as well as art.  Participating students engage in hands-on art projects and essay-writing.  Hot lunches are provided.

The Center is a favorite destination for clients of Jawonio and ARC where they engage in activities such as pottery-making and painting taught by the expert teachers of the arts center.

It is essential to understand that funding from the county is a vote of confidence for local organizations which is recognized by outside funders and results in state and private foundation funding, thereby enhancing the ability to respond to the community’s needs.  It was disappointing to us in the Legislature that we could not add any groups which did not have contracts under the 2008 budget, but we mitigated the 15% cut in the County Executive’s budget by restoring 5% to the contract agencies, while applying a sharp knife elsewhere in the budget.  I specifically thank Budget & Finance Chair Ilan Schoenberger for skillfully guiding us through this process.

And we continue to call upon the Executive Branch to develop multi-year budgets to reflect accurately the increasing costs associated with personnel salaries and benefits—and the projections for revenues so adjustments and course corrections can be made.

While more than seven years have passed since Rockland was devastated by the terrorist attacks of September 11th, our law enforcement community continues to be at the forefront of pioneering efforts to protect the safety and health of all our residents.

Rockland does not have a county police force, so the County Intelligence Center was established as a unique multi-jurisdictional entity that gathers and disseminates intelligence information to prevent or intercept criminal activity.  This is a cutting-edge unit that is comprised of police officers from different municipalities throughout the county and coordinated by Sheriff Jim Kralik.  Crime doesn’t stop at municipal borders, and this unit is vital to public safety.

The Sheriff’s Department also established a Computer Crime Unit specifically designed to protect Rockland’s children from predators who lurk online.  Since it was established in 2000, approximately 160 arrests of pedophiles have been made, and each of those pedophiles has gone to jail.  This past year, Deputy Sheriff Shlomo Koenig was honored by the United States Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney for the assistance that he provided to the Secret Service in its investigation and prosecution of computer crimes.

A state report issued just two weeks ago listed specific data on female homicide victims in 2007.  It turns out that most were slain in domestic violence incidents.  This only reinforces the important work of Rockland Family Shelter in sheltering and counseling battered women, in working with schools on teen dating violence, and the work they do in partnership with the District Attorney with rape victims.

These are only a few examples of programs that met new challenges and addressed the evolving needs of our residents.  I wish I had time to talk about all the other exemplary services that exist in government or with its financial assistance.  You may not need every service, but others do—and their availability makes Rockland more secure and provides a better quality of life for all.

As members of the Legislature, I believe we have the additional responsibility to stand up to injustices and protect both the economy and safety of our residents.  I have submitted written comments regarding the ill-advised airspace redesign by the FAA, and we are fighting their plan in the federal courts.

I have testified at public hearings in opposition to congestion pricing plans which would be deeply harmful to the residents of Rockland who must travel to the city for work every day, often with jobs that are not 9-5, and without convenient mass transit options.

We all want to reduce congestion and safeguard the environment, but until west of Hudson residents have transportation options, the state cannot penalize Rockland commuters.  I suspect that congestion pricing will be raised again, and we will be prepared.  I have recommended a dedicated fund to seek regional solutions for regional problems.

And when it comes to transportation challenges and solutions, we will continue to make our voices heard regarding the future of the Tappan Zee Bridge and I-287 corridor.  As the process moved forward at the state level, I held regular meetings for stakeholders, including two summits in 2008.  The purpose has been to hold state agencies up to public scrutiny, to give elected officials and the public the most up-to-date information, to seek public input, and to have our concerns met.

It has been clear to me for ten years, since “a new bridge” was announced by Governor Pataki that there would be enormous impacts throughout our county.  The challenge was to get residents to understand this was not simply a riverfront issue—and our perseverance has resulted in participation and input by Rockland residents on state agency working groups and changes by the state in their planning process and in their assumptions.

I am proud that Rockland last month passed a law banning the composing, sending, or reading of text messages while driving.  Driving and texting is a dangerous and potentially fatal combination that was not addressed when New York State originally enacted a ban on talking on cell phones while driving.  Research has shown that even a slight distraction can cause accidents.  I thank Public Safety Chair Jay Hood and the Legislature for standing with me in the passage of this important legislation.

The environment has been a prime focus of the Legislature, and thanks to Legislators Alden Wolfe and Connie Coker, we have enacted a LEED Law.  This requires that much of county government’s new construction and renovation must be designed, constructed and certified to at least the Silver Standard established by the United States Green Building Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

This, coupled with prior legislation involving vehicles and the signing of the Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement to reduce pollution, continues our commitment to safeguard our environment.

There is probably no population more deserving of our most diligent and compassionate efforts to improve their quality of life than our senior citizens.  Last year, I announced an initiative to better understand and address the issues many of our seniors citizens grapple with each and every day.

We called this initiative Project Tomorrow: Aging in Place.  Knowing that by the year 2020, approximately one-quarter of our county’s population is expected to be sixty years or older, we want Rockland to be elder friendly; to invest in infrastructure and logistical supports that will make our neighborhoods, shopping centers, entertainment venues, and vital services more accessible, affordable and safe for our aging population.  In return, we will have the continued economic and social benefits of people remaining here to contribute, volunteer and enrich our community.

Through public hearings, a conference with experts and surveys of residents, Project Tomorrow is providing the opportunity to explore in depth challenges and options, as we seek to ensure that all generations can continue to thrive and contribute to this county that we love so much.

Substantive recommendations will be forthcoming.  The work of Project Tomorrow will continue well into 2009 and beyond.

But at the same time, we must focus considerable attention and resources on the economic crisis that has ravaged our nation and our world, a crisis whose impact has been felt right here in Rockland County.  The Legislative Committee on Economic Development I established last year, chaired by Michael Grant, has been very productive in opening dialogue with the various quasi-public and private agencies in Rockland so we are kept current on issues of concern.

In the coming year, I will focus much of my attention on ways to help facilitate public-private partnerships that can work to stimulate economic recovery and growth here in Rockland.

I have begun discussions with some of Rockland’s most knowledgeable business leaders, and within the next few weeks plan to announce the establishment of a working group representing business, organized labor, education, healthcare, the not-for-profit sector, and of course government.  One goal will be to identify barriers that too often hinder the ability of our residents and our businesses to thrive.

But more than that, with a unified approach and clear economic goals for our county, we will be in a good position to benefit from transformative stimulus investments which may be forthcoming from the new federal administration.  For example, our county is ideally suited for growth in various fields of information technology.  In addition, we are on the cusp of a green revolution, with many existing initiatives already operational and many more in the wings.

In light of the economic slowdown that has affected every corner of our community, we need to be proactive and take an innovative and somewhat unconventional approach.  We need to think outside of the box and create a medium which is capable of assessing the current financial crisis and putting forth realistic recommendations and substantive solutions that will help Rockland families and businesses.

By assembling some of the best and brightest business minds in Rockland County and creating this public-private partnership, we can start our journey down the path to a stronger and more economically viable Rockland.  With private sector innovation and know-how, this working group—with its diverse makeup—can set an agenda for the future that will benefit all.

And so we begin a new year, filled with optimism, but also mindful of obstacles that lie ahead.  Only by working together—Executive and Legislature, Majority and Minority, Public and Private sectors—can we hope to overcome obstacles.

I believe that this is what we owe the people who put us here—commitment to public service. Working together does not mean giving up on strongly held principles; it means finding common ground, and laboring to find solutions.

Thank you.