Dr. Gerald Benjamin
CRREO Director & Associate VP
for Regional Engagement
» Read more about Dr. Benjamin
About CRREO
CRREO conducts and publicizes research on regional topics; creation/direction of select institutes that focus on specific topics of regional interest; outreach to local governments, non-profits and for-profit organizations to initiate reforms and enhancements to best service their constituents; work to foster community collaboration.
One key aspect of CRREO’s mission is to bring key regional concerns to the attention of citizens and policymakers to support their informed discussion of the public policy problems facing the Hudson Valley. Quality information will help us to work together to develop our own, local solutions and advance the need for changes at the state level.
CRREO Plays a Role in Redistricting
Every 10 years in the United States a census is taken. In New York census is used to redraw legislative district lines to reflect changes in population, and ideally demographics, in the State.
CRREO has been playing an active role in the redistricting process by creating alternatives to the plans proposed (and accepted) by the legislators themselves, as well as analyzing and commenting on the process and outcomes of redistricting throughout the state. Some of our work has been published in newspapers throughout New York State.
Click Here to see CRREO's Work on Redistricting in New York State
"Zeroing in on New Paltz: How our community can be a national model for sustainable resource management"
SUNY New Paltz, March 29
CRREO, in collaboration with the League of Women Voters of the Mid-Hudson Region, the Town and Village governments of New Paltz, the SUNY NP Environmental Task Force, the New Paltz Regional Chamber of Commerce, the County of Ulster, the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), the NYS Department of Environment (DEC) Region 3, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2, will hold a forum, "Zeroing in on New Paltz: How Our Community Can Be a National Model for Sustainable Resource Management" on Thursday, March 29th, at the Coykendall Auditorium on the New Paltz campus, 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Across the country, EPA's Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) program is implementing a Zero Waste Pilot Partnership Program for local governments. New Paltz, a diverse community that includes a more densely settled center with single and multiple dwellings, vibrant retailing and a major state university campus, farmland agriculture and rural single family homes, has been selected as one of thirteen communities chosen nationally to be part of this pilot project.
The March 29th forum will include information about the pilot partnership and NYS's Beyond Waste plan. It will provide opportunities for networking and brainstorming among regional participants to identify implementation ideas for the initiative. There will be remarks from stakeholders including Ulster County Executive Michael Hein, representatives of the Town and Village of New Paltz, the newly appointed director of the New Paltz Regional Chamber of Commerce Michael Smith, SUNY New Paltz undergraduate Recycling Coordinator Kelly Drummond, and a keynote address on the Beyond Waste plan by David Vitale, Director of the NYS DEC's Bureau of Permitting and Planning. But the focus and the greater part of the of the evening will be devoted to interactive workshops designed to generate ideas to inform the creation of a Zero Waste Action Plan for New Paltz.
Registration is free and will begin at 6:00 p.m.; to preregister, visit http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9V9FNNC. Call (845) 255-8456 or email Recycling@TownofNewPaltz.org for more information.
»Discussion Brief #6
A Solar Hudson Valley: Toward Further Progress
A joint project of CRREO and The Solar Energy Consortium, the report surveyed the state of the solar industry in the nation and New York State. Among its findings: although solar manufacturers in the region have made some gains, they require tax incentives now more than ever to help level the playing field with overseas competitors.
News Coverage:
, February 3, 2012 College research arm looks at future of solar Hudson Valley growth
A Collaborative Approach to County Jailing in the Hudson Valley
Under the leadership of Orange County, with the collaboration of Ulster and Sullivan Counties, and with financial support of the Local Government Efficiency Program of the New York State Department of State, this research was undertaken to determine the degree to which counties in the Hudson Valley, by working together, might reduce the costs their jails.
We consider here not only the potential through collaboration to avoid newly incurred capital costs for jails in Hudson Valley, but also possibilities for controlling or diminish operating costs by this means, while continuing to fully assure public safety and the professional operation of jail facilities.
To assure that we could achieve a full regional perspective, we sought to include the five Hudson Valley counties in the region that were not sponsoring this study: Putnam, Rockland, Dutchess, Green and Columbia. Representatives of the three sponsoring counties and each of these were invited to serve on an advisory panel of regional jail administrators; All but Greene chose to participate.
Pattern for Progress was engaged as a project partner to focus in particular on how the jail situation in Sullivan County had reached the critical point where, months later, a portion of the facility had to be closed by the state Commission on Correction.
The Full Report can be Downloaded Here.
The Pattern for Progress Sullivan Report Can be Downloaded Here.
News Coverage:
County Redistricting:
Newsday magazine released redistricting plans created by CRREO to demonstrate the potential for local redistricting, and to serve as a basis of comparison for the plans that will be created by Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties.
Conference:
The Ulster County Charter After Five Years
Presented by the Center for Research, Regional Education, and Outreach (CRREO) at SUNY New Paltz and the League of Women Voters of the Mid-Hudson Region
Valley Views: A different look for Dutchess:
CRREO has written an article in the Opinion section of the Poughkeepsie Journal. The link to the article is here. Unfortunately, the online version did not display the maps, and the link provided to them is in a format that is not accessible for most people. To ameliorate this issue, We are providing the maps for download as well:
Example of Proposed Legislative Districts
»Discussion Brief #5
Agriculture Supporting Communities in the Mid-Hudson Region
This latest release, authored by Brian Obach and Kathleen (KT) Tobin, finds that, “There has been some encouraging news lately for those who wish to preserve the rural character of the Hudson Valley. The growing vitality of small farms and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is helping farming to reclaim its central place in the economic and social lives of our region’s communities.”
The study details century-long trends in the number and size of farms. Nationwide, and in our region, while the overall number of farms has decreased dramatically, the proportion of both large and small farms has grown, and mid-sized enterprises have been squeezed out. Over the past twenty years, the number of small farms has increased in our region.
May 19, 2011:
The President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, William Dudley, will speak on campus.
The presentation will be in the Student Union Multi-Purpose Room and will be followed by a Q&A session. The fee for admission and breakfast is $15 per person. A continental breakfast will be served between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. For registration and information, call the Office of Regional Education at 845-257-2900.
Download Registration Form Here
City of Newburgh Charter Commission Resources:
Click Here for the presentations and resources CRREO has developed for the City of Newburgh Charter Commission.
CRREO Discussion Brief identifies urgent need for regional water resource planning and protection in the Hudson Valley
The Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO) today released the fourth in a series of Discussion Briefs on regional issues: Hudson Valley Water: Opportunities and Challenges. This series seeks to inform citizens and decision makers on key issues, problems and opportunities facing our region.
This latest paper, authored by Scott Cuppett and Russell Urban-Mead, finds that our abundance of water is one of our region’s most important current and future resources. It argues that there is an urgent need in the Hudson Valley for regional water resource planning and protection in the Hudson Valley to assure the region’s future. The authors encourage watershed planning initiatives that integrate best preservation practices with water resource uses, while encouraging economic growth. They recommend approaches and strategies that capitalize on our ecosystem’s ability to provide clean and abundant water through better land use decisions.
Gerald Benjamin, CRREO Director and Associate Vice President for Regional Engagement, notes, "Our abundance of water in the Hudson Valley provides one of our greatest regional opportunities, and one of our biggest challenges. This Discussion Brief effectively discusses both, and shows how the proper protection and use of our water can help assure a vital regional economy and continued excellence of our quality of life."
Urban-Mead says, “With failing aquifers in China, droughts in Russia and legal water battles across our own southern and western states, we should be optimizing water advantages right here at home. We have lots of rain, a river that brings us water from a 12,000 square mile watershed, and climate models that predict only more rainfall in the future.”
Cuppett adds, "Besides our children, water is our Hudson Valley's greatest future asset. We must change the way we manage our land and water for the sake of our children. Our current and future well-being depends on clean and abundant water. We must protect this asset."
The paper recommends such strategies as:
- Take a holistic watershed approach to water management
- Protection of forests, floodplains, and wetlands
- Promote groundwater recharge to assure that groundwater is replenished
- Replace failing waste water treatment facilities
- Balance competing human and wildlife water needs
- Develop responses for occasional droughts
- Minimize cumulative impacts from land use change on water quality and quantity
- Identify “water ready” sites
The Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO) at SUNY New Paltz is uniquely situated to advance agreement among environmentalists, advocates of development and key government decision makers on economic, social and environmental issues. The Center was established in 2007 to further engage the university and its people with communities, governments, not-for-profits and businesses across our region. CRREO conducts and publicizes research on regional topics; creates and directs select institutes focusing on specific topics of regional interest; connects and partners with local governments, not-for-profits and businesses to initiate reforms and advocate for best practices; contracts to assess the performance of public and not-for-profit agencies and programs; and works to foster intergovernmental collaboration and community engagement.
For more information of our Discussion Briefs:
Email CRREO@NewPaltz.edu or call (845) 257-2901.
Press:
Mid Hudson News, October 7th 2010, CRREO “discussion brief” identifies “urgent” need for regional water resource planning
Daily Freeman, October 7th, 2010, Water called valley's greatest natural resource
Tales from the Sausage Factory
Making Laws in New York State
A New Book By Former New York State Legislator Daniel L. Feldman and
Dr. Gerald Benjamin
Check out the Book @ SUNY Press
View Interviews and Videos of the Authors at the Rockefeller Institute!
The New Paltz Government Efficiency Project
The Town and Village of New Paltz are currently seeking town and village residents to serve as appointed members of an advisory group to the New Paltz Government Efficiency Committee, which has been appointed by the town and village to oversee a state-funded project to consider governance alternatives for the New Paltz community.
The New Paltz Government Efficiency Project, which is exploring options to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of local government, is being conducted by Fairweather Consulting and the Government Law Center at Albany Law School on behalf of the Town and Village of New Paltz.
The Web site of this effort is http://newpaltz.ning.com.
If you are a town or village resident and are interested in being appointed for the project advisory group by the board of the jurisdiction within which you reside, contact Gerald Benjamin, College Representative of the Government Efficiency Committee, at benjamig@newpaltz.edu or (845) 257-2901.
Regional Well-Being
New Regional Well-Being Website!
The Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO) has released the first annual Regional Well-Being Report. The Regional Well-Being Project was launched by CRREO in 2008 to identify agreed-upon values and goals and to develop ways of measuring the Mid-Hudson Valley communities' broadly-accepted social, economic and environmental character, and allow the tracking of change through time. The research team and community advisory group assembled for this endeavor includes members of the CRREO staff, New Paltz faculty and students, and a diverse group of community leaders.
The first report on measuring Regional Well-Being, which includes a Regional Well-Being Index, was released on June 2, 2010. Regularly appearing follow-up reports will be central to the continuing work of CRREO. Through these efforts we seek to inform decision making in the region, focus its efforts, identify opportunities, highlight successes and bring attention where improvement is needed.
The project is funded by a grant from the United States Department of Education, obtained with the assistance of New York’s United States Senator Charles Schumer.
Press:
- WAMC Public Radio, June 2, 2010:Study looks at the regional well-being of the Hudson Valley
- Poughkeepsie Journal, June 3, 2010: Mid-Hudson gets good rating for 'well-being'
- Times Herald Record, June 3, 2010: Mid-Hudson region's strong, weak points scored
- Mid Hudson News, June 2, 2010: Mid-Hudson rates in middle of “Well-Being” index
- Daily Freeman, June 3, 2010: Regional Well-Being Report ranks Ulster tops, Dutchess No. 2
