Here’s some deserved kudos to Bill Ryan, the chairman of the Westchester Board of Legislators. The False Claims Act / affordable-housing settlement that won final board approval last week had the potential to be a bigger and more expensive mess than it was—for the board and for taxpayers. It wasn’t, partly due to Ryan’s efforts. He gave his board colleagues plenty of time to ruminate, vacillate, commiserate, and otherwise explain themselves to their constituents, before doing what absolutely was the right thing to do—they OK’d the settlement, in a 12-5 vote last week.

The Editorial Board favored the agreement for pragmatic, fairness and dollars-and-good sense reasons. A judge already ruled that the county had failed to discharge it duty to foster fair housing opportunities; the only question left for trial was whether the county knew it was telling tales when it made certain representations to Washington in applying for federal Housing and Urban Development funds. A boatload of lawyers and others agreed that the county stood to lose far more — in money as well as prestige — if it continued the legal fight. Besides, under the settlement, the county will essentially do what it does anyway — that is, help build affordable housing. The difference under the settlement: more communities will get to share in that housing, and the county will have to ensure that racial minorities get a fair shot at the housing, along with everyone else.

That said, legislators are getting it from all sides — for voting for the settlement, for voting against it, for voting for it and then apologizing as if they had just OK’d a new smelting plant.  (We’re printing more letters on the topic this week.)

It’s another case where legislators, since they are going to take some lumps anyway, ought to do what they think is right . . . and stick with it.