Winter Legislative Meeting Agenda

• 3:00 p.m.

  NYCOM Registration Desk Opens

• 4:15 p.m.

  Policy Commmittee Meetings

  • • Community Revitalization
  • • Energy and Environment
  • • Employee Relations
  • • Finance
• 5:30 p.m.

  Dinner Reception
  Sponsored by NYMIR and Comp Alliance

• 7:00 a.m.

  Breakfast

• 8:00 a.m.

  NYCOM Registration Desk Opens

• 8:30 a.m.

  GENERAL SESSION

  • • Implementing NYCOM's Advocacy Strategy
    • Briefing on Governor's Proposed State Budget
    
    
• 9:15 a.m.

  Local Government Committee Chairs

  • Senator James Gaughran
  • Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr.
• 10:00 a.m.

  State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli

• 11:15 a.m.

  PLENARY SESSION

  Cyber-Security: Local Governments Can't Afford to Ignore It
  Cases of cyber-security breaches at the municipal government level have been growing in frequency and severity. New York State and the federal governments have been advising government officials at all levels of the need to make cyber-security a priority by investing personnel and funds in security practices, procedures, and training.  Despite these warnings and due to myriad challenges, many municipalities have neglected their cyber-security hygiene, while at the same time expanding the use of  information technology throughout municipal systems. This session will highlight how significant the risk is for local governments, including the lessons one municipality in New York learned from a cyber-security breach.  Panelists will also discuss what steps local officials should take to protect their systems and infrastructure from cyber-security threats.
  Speakers: Rachel McEneny, Commissioner, Administrative Services, City of Albany; Steve Gravel, CISSP, Office of Counter Terrorism, Cyber Incident Response Team, NYS Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services; and Don Beeler, CEO, Technology Solutions
  Moderator: Kevin Crawford, Executive Director, New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal (NYMIR)

• 12:15 p.m.

  Lunch
  Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul

• 1:30 p.m.

  SOLUTION SESSIONS

  Fighting Blight with Collaborative Code Enforcement
  In 2015, the NYS Department of State funded the Cities of Schenectady, Amsterdam, Gloversville and Troy to develop a shared regional code enforcement information platform, now called the Community Officials Data Exchange (C.O.D.E.). This municipally governed shared resource is aimed at addressing the information gap in preventing, mitigating and remediating blight in NYS communities. This session will showcase the pilot project that incorporates data from code enforcement, building permits, public assembly, vacant property, demolition, foreclosure management, landlord registration and rental units into a dynamic shared resource among municipal members. C.O.D.E. recognizes municipal interdependencies in the sharing of this data to facilitate the identification of opportunities to address problems, inform city and private-sector decision-making, and improve service delivery and public safety. In addition, the presenters will discuss the critical foundational efforts to build the technical and organizational capabilities in local governments so that they can share data among NYS municipalities. The C.O.D.E. is set for a statewide rollout in 2020 so that all NYS municipal governments can work together to inform their blight reduction and remediation strategies.
  Speakers: Mayor Gary McCarthy, City of Schenectady, NYCOM Immediate Past President; John Coluccio, Signal Superintendent, City of Schenectady and C.O.D.E. Lead; and Meghan Cook, Program Director, CTG University at Albany, State University of New York

  Renaissance and Resilience: Lessons on How Cities and Villages Can Survive and Thrive in the 21st Century
  Local officials are facing unprecedented challenges in the 21st Century. Legacy cities and villages continue to strive to revitalize their neighborhoods and downtowns while at the same time addressing climate change and working to make their communities more resilient. This session will highlight how local officials can partner with developers who are focused on socially responsible, environmentally sustainable development. Panelists will also discuss why communities should focus on implementing complete streets and smart growth policies.
  Speakers: Jeffrey Buell, Principal, Redburn Development Partners and Eric Alexander, Director, Vision Long Island

  Water Quality, Materials Management, and Climate Leadership, OH MY!
  From participating in the State’s Climate Smart Community program to addressing the dramatically increased recycling costs associated with China’s National Sword policy to maintaining water quality, cities and villages are consistently and thoughtfully responding to the ever increasing variety of environmental concerns facing our world today. And the work will continue. To assist local governments in responding to these issues, this session will focus on the State policies and funding opportunities related to the implementation of the NYS Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, materials management and the waste stream, post-consumer responsibility, and source water protection.
  Speakers: NYS Department of Environmental
  Conservation: Mark Lowery, Office of Climate Change; Terry Laibach, Division of Materials Management; Sally Roland, Division of Materials Management; and James Tierney, Division of Water and Watershed

• 3:00 p.m.

  SOLUTION SESSIONS

  Local Government and the New Media Landscape
  As local news operations reduce coverage, this session will include an overview of local government communications opportunities and challenges, with a special focus on the use of social media to engage and inform local residents, manage crises, and brand your village or city. The speakers will also offer valuable guidance on developing and implementing a media plan, rather than reacting on an ad hoc basis. Finally, tips will be given on how to incorporate NYCOM’s advocacy messaging into your social media footprint.
  Speakers: Mayor Svante Myrick, City of Ithaca and Paul Larrabee, Managing Director and Executive Vice President, Corning Place Communications

  The Graying of America: Is Your Municipality "Age Friendly"? 
  None of us is getting any younger! As we age the hope of being able to age in our home and in our communities takes on greater importance. Age-friendly
  communities, as defined by the World Health Organization and AARP, commit to improving their communities by addressing the eight domains of livability. Municipalities throughout the country, including 26 in New York, have earned the age-friendly designation. This session will address how municipal leaders can address health and healthy aging in order to become an “age-friendly” community.
  Speakers: Greg Olsen, Director, NYS Office for the Aging and Paul Beyer, State Director of Smart Growth Planning, NYS Department of State

  Impacts of Criminal Justice Reform on Cities and Villages
  While there was a need to reform New York’s criminal justice system, it is widely recognized that several of the changes that were part of the State’s 2019 criminal justice reforms pertaining to discovery are overly broad and vague and are having unintended consequences at the municipal level. The shortened time period in which prosecutors must disclose evidence to defendants and the broad expansion of the matters to which such discovery mandates apply will have significant cost, tax and justice implications for cities and villages with police departments, local justice courts or code/parking enforcement departments. To make matters worse, these mandates have been imposed while providing no reform-related cost savings or aid for cities and villages, failing to provide an AIM funding increase in 11 years, and making the 2% tax cap permanent. The speaker will outline the specific components of criminal justice reform, including outstanding uncertainty and NYCOM’s approach to addressing the unintended consequences.
  Speaker: Wade Beltramo, NYCOM General Counsel

• 4:30 p.m.

  Networking Reception

• Evening

  Dinner on your own

• Day

  NYCOM Lobby Day at the State Capitol