Clinton County Chairman Mark Henry is the new president of the New York State Association of County Board Chairs. Chairman Henry takes over for outgoing president John Becker of Madison County.
The NYS Association of County Board Chairs is an affiliate of the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) and represents the 58 legislative board chairs across the state who are elected by members of their county board of supervisors, representatives, or legislators.
It’s an honor to be chosen to lead an organization of my peers in local government,” said President Henry. “This association is an invaluable resource to county legislators and supervisors. The Association is particularly helpful to board chairs and gives us an opportunity to learn from one another and share ideas and solutions on how to govern and best serve the people.”
“County board chairs have a wide range of responsibilities that are critical to the efficient functioning of county government,” said NYSAC Executive Director Stephen Acquario. “Chairman Henry brings a wealth of experience and leadership at various levels of local government and law enforcement to this new role and we’re very excited to work with him and all the county board chairs to further strengthen New York’s counties.”
Every county in New York State and the City of New York has a chair of its respective legislative body (New York City, Monroe, and Suffolk have a president). County board chairs preside over all meetings of the board (or legislature), organize and coordinate the day-to-day activities of the county and serve as its representative and spokesperson between meetings. The chair also has the responsibility of preparing the agenda for each meeting, appointing members to committees and designating chairs and vice chairs.
Henry was first elected to the Legislature in 2018 and has served as its Chairman since January of 2020. Prior to his service on the County Legislature, Mark was Supervisor for the Town of Chazy and served 13 years on the Chazy Central Board of Education as a member and its President. Mark was also a member of the CVES BOCES Board and was President of the Clinton County School Boards Association.
He is a proud Navy veteran, a former police officer in Alexandria Bay before joining the United States Border Patrol. He was stationed on both the Southern and Northern borders serving in Texas, Arizona, New York, and Vermont. He retired from the Border Patrol with the rank of Deputy Chief after 30 years of service.
