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.

Christopher J. Nolin - Director, Division of Local Government Services
Christopher J. Nolin served as the Deputy Mayor for the City of Troy. Nolin oversaw city operations in the twelfth largest city in New York State with an annual budget exceeding $100 million and a staff of over 500 dedicated public servants. At the direction of the Mayor, Nolin led a renewed focus and historic investment in Troy’s neighborhoods including execution of the City of Troy American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds.

Nolin served as the Director of Community State Relations at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). He was the lead university government relations official charged with creating and implementing external relations strategies to ensure effective and collaborative working relationships with businesses, civic leaders, and government agencies.

Nolin was the Director of Collaborative and Legislative Affairs at the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU). He helped set the priorities for New York’s Independent Sector colleges and universities, and he coordinated the commission’s 100+ member college and university government affairs network. He also led two new initiatives for the commission:

• Knowledge NY, a novel $2.5 million joint initiative between the commission and the State University of New York (SUNY) that connected businesses with New York’s higher education expertise, resources, and research; and
• The CICU Collaborative, a new statewide group purchasing program for independent colleges and universities in New York State.

Early in his career, Nolin was a network engineer working with regional and international companies on IT related items including the Y2K implementation, a multi-state DSL fiber rollout, and he provided strategic networking and infrastructure support.

Nolin holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from the University at Albany. He has served on several boards including as President of the Albany County Board of Health, Chairperson of the Cohoes Civil Service Commission, Executive Board member of the Rensselaer County Chamber of Commerce, steering committee member for the Capital Chamber Leadership program, and he has served as an LGBTQ+ mentor.

Michael F. Morris - Assistant Deputy Secretary for Local Government
Michael F. Morris serves as the Assistant Deputy Secretary for Local Government at Department of State. Morris has over 15 years of local and state government experience, primarily in intergovernmental affairs roles.

Prior to NYS Department of State, Morris’s state service includes serving as Governor’s Representative in New York’s eight county Capital Region, Intergovernmental Affairs Director at the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES), Government Affairs and Community Relations Manager for the NYS Canal Corporation (CANALS), and Capital Region Director for the NYS Department of Labor (DOL).

Morris also served as the Chief of Staff for the Albany County Legislature and as Public Information Officer for the City of Troy, NY.

Early in his career, Morris spent over five years with the NYS Assembly as a Regional Coordinator within the Division of Communication and Information Services.  

Morris holds a Bachelors Degree in Interpersonal and Organizational Communications from the State University of New York at Geneseo. At Geneseo, he also played on the men’s ice hockey team. He resides in Delmar with his wife and three young children.

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.

James Bragg - Local Government Specialist 2
James Bragg is a Local Government Specialist with the New York Department of State, Division of Local Government Services. With a career that spans Western New York and beyond, he has held positions such as the Director of Planning for Wyoming County, NY, a planner for the City of Niagara Falls, and a law clerk with the United States Small Business Administration. His work has taken him to New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where he worked for disaster relief efforts during the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. A proud alumnus of the State University of New York at Oswego, James holds a Master's in Urban Planning from the University at Buffalo and a Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi "Ole Miss" School of Law. In his leisure time, he enjoys hiking and exploring historic sites alongside his two spirited Jack Russell Terriers, Luna and Tex.

Lindsey Drew - Local Government Specialist 2
Lindsey Drew is a Local Government Specialist with the New York Department of State, Division of Local Government Services. Prior to joining the Department of State, she worked for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Division of Water. At the DEC, she worked to assess New York State’s waterbodies and served as a technical assistance provider for the Drinking Water Source Protection Program (DWSP2). Prior to state service, Lindsey worked with communities in the Hudson Valley to develop watershed plans to protect water resources. Lindsey holds a Master of Science degree in Environmental Policy from Bard College and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the State University of New York at Purchase. 

Christopher Eastman - Local Government Specialist 2
Christopher Eastman was manager of the Local Government Training program at the New York Department of State from 2009 until 2024. 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 - Training Manager, Local Government Specialist 3
Paula Gilbert is the Local Government Training Manager for 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 Penny, her French Bulldog 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.

George Korchowsky - Local Government Specialist 2
George Korchowsky is a Local Government Specialist 2 (LGS-2) with the Department of State’s Division of Local Government Services. He joined the division in September 2007, and since 2008, has been Assistant Program Manager of New York State’s Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Program, supporting a federal and 13-state program that promotes economic development throughout the Appalachian region and which encompasses 14 New York counties. Previously, he had been a finance professional with over 15 years of Wall Street financial analysis and advisory experience. In addition, he was an appointed member of Brooklyn’s Community Board Two for 12 years. George has a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Naval Academy and a Master of Business Administration in Management from the University of California at Los Angeles. He has also been on the faculty of Albany Academy’s Social Studies Department and of Siena College’s Department of Finance, and he is a retired US Navy Reserve O-6 with over 30 years of active and reserve service. 

Monica Ryan - Local Government Specialist 2
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.