The Third Annual Patty Noonan Memorial Policy Forum: WATER

The Third Annual Patty Noonan Memorial Policy Forum Wednesday, June 15, 2011 6-8pm (please note we’re starting half hour earlier than usual this month) NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service Puck Building, Rudin Forum, 295 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012 Seating is limited. Please RSVP after the jump! Each year, GHNYC honors the memory of our friend Patty Noonan, who in her brief career in NYC was one of the principle agents of change in sustainable affordable housing, and many other sustainable causes. She inspired and mentored many in our field; as the point person for sustainable causes at the NYC Partnership, she changed the way many felt about our field; after 9/11, she took the helm of the Partnership’s downtown revitalization efforts. Patty was a fabulous woman who left us much too early. In tribute, GHNYC holds an annual Patty Noonan Memorial Policy Forum, to honor her memory, bring an important policy issue to light and inspire people to follow in her path. Water: International, Statewide, and Local Policies and Concerns Nationally and internationally, water is a huge issue, and the capture, use, and processing of water and waste water is different from developing countries to here. Statewide, our watershed areas are threatened by development and now, gas exploration. In NYC, our immense water usage has an impact from here to upstate New York, where the majority of our reservoirs can be found. Take a quick global, regional, and local look through water issues with our panelists. Introduction/Welcome/Remembrance

• Kathryn S. Wylde, President & CEO, Partnership for NYC

Speakers:

• Marcia Bystryn, President, New York League of Conservation Voters
• Caswell F. Holloway, Commissioner, New York City Department of Environmental Protection
• Dr. Natasha Iskander, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, NYU Wagner School

Panel Moderator:

• F.L. Andrew Padian, Vice President for Energy Initiatives, The Community Preservation Corporation

The Green Building Forum is held on the third Wednesday of each month (except December) at 6:30 PM and features presentations by green building practitioners followed by discussion. The events are always free and open to the general public. About this Evening’s Participants: Marcia Bystryn Marcia Bystryn joined the League as Executive Director in 1999 and was named President in 2008. A statewide organization, the League works to elect strong environmental candidates to office and to hold them accountable. Previously, she served as Senior Corporate Policy Manager for the Environment and then Senior Business Manager for Economic Development at The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In the first capacity she oversaw the development and implementation of corporate environmental policy and in the later the development of new business opportunities in the areas of regional solid waste management, deregulation of the electrical industry and port expansion. She formerly served as the Assistant Commissioner for Recycling at New York City’s Department of Sanitation, where she designed and implemented New York City’s recycling program, as well as the Deputy Director of the Twentieth Century Fund, now the Century Foundation. She has a BA in history and a PhD in the sociology of art. Caswell F. Holloway Appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to lead the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Commissioner Caswell F. (Cas) Holloway took office on January 1, 2010. In his first year as Commissioner, Cas re-organized the agency’s senior management to focus on DEP’s four core functions: customer service, utility operations, capital projects, and sustainability. He appointed DEP’s first Deputy Commissioner for Sustainability, and created a new team charged with using DEP’s assets to the maximum extent possible to generate renewable energy, and reducing DEP’s energy needs and greenhouse gas emissions over the long term. In 2010 DEP made strides in each core area. For customers, DEP created the Water Debt Assistance Program to help those in financial distress; launched wireless meter reading online, which allows customers to manage their water use every day; and launched paperless billing, a convenient and environmentally-friendly way for customers to pay their water bills. In operations, DEP announced a plan to repair the leaks in the Delaware Aqueduct and met monthly Clean Water Act standards for secondary wastewater treatment for the first time ever. Cas also re-organized the capital projects division by moving planning and budget accountability into operations, creating a new project controls division to improve project delivery, and making managers accountable for project design and construction. In sustainability, he launched the NYC Green Infrastructure Plan, a hybrid approach to stormwater management that will dramatically reduce combined sewer overflows and, if approved by State and Federal regulators, would save New Yorkers $2.4 billion between now and 2030. To achieve immediate savings, he cut operations and maintenance expenses by approximately 8% — $75 million in recurring costs — without substantially impacting services. In February 2011, DEP launched Strategy 2011-2014, a plan that lays out 100 specific strategies and initiatives to provide clean water, fresh air, and a healthy and sustainable environment for New Yorkers. The plan will guide DEP’s operations and capital investments for the next four years and beyond, and DEP will publish an annual report card on its progress. Prior to his appointment at DEP, Cas served as Chief of Staff to Deputy Mayor for Operations Edward Skyler and as Special Advisor to Mayor Bloomberg. He was instrumental in the writing and implementation of the Administration’s report on the health impacts of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and led negotiations on legislation — the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 — that was signed by President Obama in 2010. He played an important role in the passage and ongoing implementation of the city’s Solid Waste Management Plan, and in 2009, he led negotiations that resulted in Project Labor Agreements that cover $5.3 billion in public construction projects that will save the City $300 million over the next four years. The groundbreaking agreements include provisions that will ensure better access to good construction jobs for small, minority- and women-owned businesses. Graduating cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College, Cas went on to graduate with honors from the University of Chicago Law School. Prior to joining the Mayor’s Office, he was an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. He also served as a law clerk to Judge Dennis G. Jacobs, now the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Prior to law school, Cas served as Chief of Staff at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. He lives in Brooklyn Heights with his wife, Jessica. Natasha Iskander Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Dr. Iskander conducts research on labor migration and its relationship to economic development, labor mobilization and its relationship to workforce development, and processes of institutional innovation and organizational learning. She has just completed a book, entitled Creative State: Forty Years of Migration and Development Policy in Morocco and Mexico (Cornell University Press: forthcoming). The book examines how the governments of Mexico and Morocco elaborated policies to build a link between labor emigration and local economic development. She is also working on a project on Mexican immigrants in the construction industry, investigating how tacit skill moves across national borders. Additionally, Dr. Iskander is launching an initiative on water, climate change, and service delivery in cities around the world. Natasha Iskander received her PhD in Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She also holds a Masters in City Planning from MIT, and a BA in Cultural Studies from Stanford University. Prior to her doctoral studies, she worked for several years in non-profits in Egypt and the United States on issues of urban development, micro credit and community health planning. She has also worked as a community activist and migrant labor organizer. F.L. Andrew Padian F.L. Andrew Padian is Vice President for Energy Initiatives for The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), a not-for-profit affordable housing mortgage lender, where he is working in the implementation of the Green Loan Initiative (GLI), working with CPC staff and building owners across New York State. He has 30 years of experience in building science, and has performed detailed energy analysis on hundreds of buildings across the country. Prior to CPC, Andy ran the Multifamily Buildings Division for Steven Winter Associates, Inc., worked for the Association for Energy Affordability and as an independent consultant, and toiled in the NYC Mayor’s Energy Office and the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. He created the first national model for training and certification of building managers and maintenance staff of multifamily buildings for energy efficiency; over 2000 participants have taken the extensive 1 to 5 day training. He lives in NYC, and is involved in many sustainable causes there, including GreenHomeNYC, the Clinton Community Garden, and the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA). He served as the Conference Chair of NESEA’s 2008 Building Energy Conference in Boston, which attracted over 3500 participants. In 2010, He received NESEA’s Distinguished Service Award, awarded to only 14 people in the last 35 years. Kathryn S. Wylde Kathryn Wylde is President & CEO of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit organization of the city’s business leaders established by David Rockefeller in 1979. The Partnership is dedicated to working with government, labor and the not-for-profit sectors to build a stronger New York, with a focus on education, infrastructure and the economy. Wylde has been with the Partnership since 1982. She served for fourteen years as founding President & CEO of the Housing Partnership Development Corporation. In that capacity, she was instrumental in the creation of a number of pioneering initiatives in affordable housing at the local, state and national levels. Under her leadership, more than $2 billion in private funds were invested in public-private partnerships that produced affordable housing and commercial developments in New York’s most economically distressed communities. In 1996, she became founding President & CEO of the New York City Investment Fund, the Partnership’s economic development arm. This $120 million civic investment fund, established under the leadership of Henry R. Kravis, has helped to diversify the city’s economy, create thousands of jobs and promote entrepreneurial business initiatives across the five boroughs. Prior to joining the Partnership, Wylde was the Urban Affairs Officer at Anchor Savings Bank (1979-81) and spent 11 years (1968-79) in various positions at Lutheran Medical Center, where she helped lead the redevelopment of the federally designated poverty area of Sunset Park, Brooklyn. An internationally known expert in housing, economic development and urban policy, Wylde is the Deputy Chair of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and serves on a number of boards and advisory groups, including the Mayor’s Sustainability Advisory Board, NYC Economic Development Corporation, NYC Leadership Academy, the Research Alliance for NYC Public Schools, the Manhattan Institute, the Lutheran Medical Center, the Sila Calderon Foundation, the Special Commission on Judicial Compensation and the Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commission for the First Judicial District. She has authored numerous articles and policy papers and has been recognized for her leadership by dozens of educational, professional and nonprofit institutions. Wylde is a native of Madison, Wisconsin, a graduate of St. Olaf College,’68, and resides in Brooklyn, New York.