Hein, left, with, among others, Reardon (2nd from right) and Dyster (3rd from right)
KINGSTON – Visiting officials were given the grand tour of Ulster County Executive Michael Hein’s smart initiatives Wednesday afternoon in Kingston.
New York State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said she considers Hein’s project models inspirational for duplication statewide.
“It’s a great example of government at work,” Reardon said of the SUNY Ulster Kingston Center, an inner city satellite campus built on the site of an empty elementary school. The entire community came together to solve a problem, she said.
The college located a campus in Kingston by juggling several other county-owned resources, and coordinating multi-level partners. The resulting improved system became more efficient – cheaper, faster, smaller, better.
Hein named the plan “Strategic Taxpayer Relief through Innovative Visions in Education,” or STRIVE. Re-arranging several facilities, making everything fit precisely together is just common sense, he explained.
“The models that we’re building are things that can be replicated,” Hein said. “We’re talking about financial models that can be transformative.”
Accompanying Hein and Reardon was City of Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster, who took interest in the STRIVE and Patriot projects, both spearheaded by the Hein administration. Niagara Falls similarly retooled an old high school into the largest upstate art and cultural center. Mayor Dyster finds future food for thought.
“Some of the things that we’re looking at here today look to me like they can be directly applicable,” Dyster said. “We faced the challenge of how to connect young people, who are looking for careers going forward with the people that are eventually going to hire them, and in between there is the education system.”
The group later explored the Patriot Project, Hein’s veteran housing and transition center launched in 2013. The residence was partially funded by private sector stakeholders, with minimal taxpayer funding.
Hein expressed excitement with the outside interest. “I like to think that these kinds of real-world examples can be inspirational. We’re constantly looking for best practices ourselves, and I encourage everyone else to do exactly the same thing.”
Deputy Labor Commissioner Karen Coleman also joined with them.
