Contact Local Government Specialists

Mark Pattison - Deputy Secretary of State for Local Government
Mark P. Pattison was appointed by Secretary of State Rossana Rosado as the Deputy Secretary for Local Government. He was previously the Director of Local Government Services at the Department of State.

Mr. Pattison also previously served as Deputy Commissioner for the Office of People with Developmental Disabilities and as a Deputy Comptroller for the Office of the State Comptroller. 

Mr. Pattison has spent many years in public service.  He was Mayor of the City of Troy from 1996 through 2003. Mr. Pattison worked at the Rensselaer County Chapter of the Association for Retarded Citizens for 20 years, including 12 years as its Director of Residential Services.

He served as Vice-President of the City of Troy's School Board, President of Vanderheyden Hall, Vice-Chair of the Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce, Chairperson of the Hudson Mohawk Heritage Area Commission and President of the New York State Association of Community and Residential Agencies. He was a trustee and faculty member of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, and has served on many community boards, including the Center for Economic Growth, the Troy Rehabilitation Improvement Program (TRIP) and the Commission for Economic Opportunity.

Mr. Pattison studied political science, economics and urban policy at the State University of New York at Oswego.  He has a Masters Degree in Organization and Management from Antioch University, Antioch New England Graduate School.  He lives on Troy’s East Side with his wife, Laura Amos, and has two children, Edward and Mary.

Eric Arena - Local Government Specialist 1
Eric Arena is a Local Government Specialist with the New York State Department of State. Prior to joining the Division of Local Government Services at the Department of State, he worked for 14 years in Municipal Government and joined the New York State workforce in July 2019 at the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. He left the Tax Department in March 2021 to take a position with the New York State Department of Labor. Mr. Arena holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Marist College and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from State University of New York at Cortland.

Patricia Burke - Local Government Specialist 2
Patricia Burke is a Local Government Specialist with the New York State Department of State.  Ms. Burke holds a master’s degree in Regional Planning from the State University of New York at Albany, with an environmental concentration that studied wind turbine planning considerations, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from St. John Fisher College in Rochester.  

Christopher Eastman - Training Manager, Local Government Specialist 3
Christopher Eastman has been manager of the Local Government Training program at the New York Department of State since 2009. He’s also worked as a city planner, a county planner, and for the Preservation League of New York State. He received his master’s in regional planning from the State University of New York at Albany in 2002.

Paula Gilbert - Local Government Specialist 2
Paula Gilbert is a Local Government Specialist with the New York State Department of State, Division of Local Government Services. Prior to joining the Department of State in 2017, she worked for three years as the Executive Director and two years as an Urban Policy Associate at the Neighborhood Preservation Coalition of NYS, Inc., a technical assistance and advocacy not-for-profit organization working with a group of more than 140 affordable housing and community development organizations within the urban and suburban neighborhoods of New York State. Paula received a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies and Planning and a Master’s in Regional Planning from the University at Albany, where she interned with the New York Planning Federation. A lifelong urban enthusiast, Paula is a proud resident of the city of Albany with her partner Michael and enjoys travel, riding public transit and walking her French Bulldog Penny around their neighborhood.

Christopher Grant - Local Government Specialist 2
Christopher Grant is a Local Government Specialist with the New York State Department of State, which is responsible for administering the Local Government Efficiency (LGE) program. This program provides financial and technical assistance to improve the efficiency of local governments. Mr. Grant joined the Department of State in 2007 after working in the banking industry, where he was a Director in charge of commercial real estate lending. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Urban and Economic Geography from the University of Toronto, a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, and recently completed a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning at the University at Albany, SUNY.

Brent Irving - Local Government Specialist 1
Brent Irving is a Local Government Specialist with the New York State Department of State. Prior to joining the Division of Local Government Services, he was a transportation planner for the Capital District Transportation Authority for four years. Brent holds a master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University at Albany, SUNY, and a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University in Engineering.

Sam Morreale - Local Government Specialist 1
Sam Morreale is a Local Government Specialist with the New York State Department of State. Prior to joining the Department of State, Sam worked as a municipal planner for the City of Albany. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Buffalo State College in 2014 and his Master of Regional Planning from the University at Albany in 2019.

Monica Ryan - Local Government Specialist 1
Monica Ryan is a Local Government Specialist with the New York State Department of State.  Prior to joining the Department of State, she was a planning consultant for more than twenty years, specializing in zoning and community revitalization planning.  Simultaneously, she was the planner for her town, working with the town’s boards and staff, residents, and developers on planning and development.  Monica began her career in the NYS Legislature. She received her Master’s Degree in Regional Planning from the University at Albany and a Bachelor of Arts from Siena College.

Carl Ublacker - Local Government Specialist 2
Carl Ublacker is a Local Government Specialist with the New York State Department of State, Division of Local Government. He holds a B.A. in Environmental Science with a study option in Natural Resources, Planning and Management from SUNY Plattsburgh. A former National Park Ranger, Carl also previously worked for the Department of Environmental Conservation. In his spare time, Carl teaches and practices karate at a nonprofit martial arts dojo.

Kyle Wilber - Program Manager, Local Government Specialist 3
Kyle Wilber is a Local Government Specialist with the New York State Department of State, Division of Local Government Services, who has dedicated the majority of his professional career, as well as much of his personal life to local government and community service. Currently Kyle is responsible for the implementation of the Local Government Efficiency program, providing financial and technical assistance to local governments to create opportunities to reduce costs and increase service delivery efficiencies. He is also the State Program Manager for the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Northern Border Regional Commission, federal-state-local partnership programs that promote community development in Southern Tier and Northern New York. Kyle has also worked with other significant state local government initiatives, including the implementation of the NYC Watershed Memorandum of Agreement and Quality Communities. He has served as the Chairman of the Town of Ghent Zoning Board of Appeals and is currently a Lieutenant in the Ghent Volunteer Fire Company. Kyle holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Geography and Urban Planning from the University of Binghamton.