The New York Planning Federation provides experts to speak on all topics related to planning, zoning, land use or development matters. Contact NYPF to arrange for a speaker below to address your group, organization or event.

ROBERT W. ELLIOTT

Robert W. Elliott is the Executive Director of the New York Planning Federation which trains and provides technical assistance to municipalities across New York State. From 1991 through 2005 Bob served as the Mayor of Croton-on-Hudson and is a past President of the New York Conference of Mayors, the Tri-County Officials, which includes the Municipalities of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester Counties, the Westchester Municipal Officials Association and was Co-Chairman of Westchester’s Council of Government. In addition, he has served on the small cities committee of the National League of Cities.

Bob is the founder and past Chairman of Historic River Towns of Westchester, a thirteen community consortium along the shore of the Hudson River from Yonkers to Peekskill. Under an inter-municipal agreement, the organization focused on waterfront development, tourism and main street economics in a bottom-up approach to regional planning.

On other related fronts, Bob authored the New York Conference of Mayors Sustainable Communities Initiative or Smart Growth Program and chaired the New York Brownfield’s Caucus. He is the former Chair of the Hudson Valley Tourism Development Council and currently serves as the Vice Chair of the New York Main Street Alliance. He has been the Director of Economic Development and headed the Industrial Development Agency for Westchester County and was President of the Westchester Convention and Visitors Bureau. In addition, he serves as board member and Treasurer of the Hudson River Foundation and is a board member of the Hudson Valley Greenway Council and its National Heritage Area steering committee, NYS DEC's Hudson River Estuary Management Plan Advisory Board, the Hudson River Foundation, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, New Netherlands Museum and the ship Half Moon, Friends of Hudson Valley and the advisory council to the Glynwood Center. He served on the Governor’s Task Forces for Access to the Hudson River and Local Government Reform and presently is a member of the New York State Legislature’s Rural Land Use Advisory Committee.

He has written frequently on various aspects of planning and sustainable development (see his op-ed piece from the Albany Times-Union) and has addressed numerous forums, including the Audubon Society, American Planning Association, Preservation League, League of Women Voters, Resource Renewal Institute, New Urbanism Congress and others. He has received awards from a variety of organizations for leadership including Clearwater and the Metro Chapter of the American Planning Federation.

A leader in the creation of inter-municipal and public/private partnerships, Bob was one of the organizers and President of the New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal a corporation owned by and insuring over 600 Counties, Cities, Villages and Towns in New York State. This company has often been cited as New York’s best example of a public/private partnership. He was also a founding Trustee of the New York State Municipal Workers Compensation Alliance. More recently, he was one of the organizers of the NY Municipal Wind Buyers group which was given a leadership award by the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.

In addition, Bob served as Vice Chairman of the board and is now Treasurer of the Bethel Homes, with its continuum of care to the elderly on its Croton and Ossining campuses and has served as a board member of many local and regional organizations concerned with health care, the environment, education and the arts.

Bob holds a Master’s Degree from the Graduate School of Government and Business of The George Washington University.