Local Government Expert Talks to the Empire Page

ALBANY, NY (10/22/2008)(readMedia)-- Live today on the Improving New York section of the Empire Page is the interview conducted by editor Peter G. Pollak with Gerald Benjamin – an expert on local government who was a member of the Governor’s Commission on Local Government Efficiency.

In the interview, Benjamin explains the reasons for resistance to local government reform and outlines a strategy including constitutional amendments that deserve consideration given the enormous impact that the world-wide financial crisis is likely to have on state and local budgets.

“Bad times - and very bad times even more so -- create a special willingness for citizens and their leaders to consider reforms: money can be saved, taxes controlled,” Benjamin stated. “This is an incentive to reconsider our suboptimal local governance arrangements, not only to save money, but to get more for our money.”

Benjamin understands full well how hard it is to reform local government, having served in the mid 1990s as research director of the Temporary State Commission on Constitutional Revision.

“The latter yielded little results,” states Pollak, “but Professor Benjamin helps us understand why – pointing to the strong attachment people have to local government institutions. Those in favor of reform need to heed Benjamin’s guidance on how to bring about change.”

Associate Vice President and Distinguished Professor of Political Science at SUNY New Paltz, Benjamin has not only studied local government, he has first hand experience, having been elected to the Ulster County Legislature and recently having chaired the Ulster County Charter Commission.

The Improving New York section of the Empire Page is devoted to exploring solutions to New York’s government-related problems. Coming soon to this section will be an interview with John Clarkson, executive director of the Commission on Local Government Efficiency, that will focus on some of the Commission’s key recommendations.

The Empire Page is published by PoliticalNewsToday.com, LLC, which seeks to provide information and opinion on the key issues of the day through websites that aggregate news and opinion and provide useful content for people active in government and politics. The partnership consists of Peter G. Pollak, who is the majority shareholder and actively manages the company, Schwartz-Heslin Group and Wynantskill Capital.