SHERBURNE – During a New York State Assembly hearing Thursday, Department of Environmental Conservation officials confirmed that Rogers Environmental Education Center in Sherburne and Stony Kill Farm Environmental Education Center in Dutchess County would be among those to close as the governor’s office attempts to save $250 million by laying off nearly 900 state workers by the end of the year.
New York State Division of the Budget spokesman Erik Kriss reported no specific date has been set for the closures, but added the office was aiming to complete the layoffs by Dec. 31.
Governor David Paterson said 898 state employees across a number of state agencies would be affected, including about 150 from the DEC, at least five of whom work at the local Rogers Center.
Rogers Director Marsha Guzewich’s position is among those being eliminated and she confirmed four other full-time employees will be laid off by the end of the year. Guzewich said the center, which has been operating wildlife and nature educational programs since 1968, would most likely close by Dec. 31. She also said the center’s regular spring activities had already been canceled.
Kriss explained the closure was part of a $250 million workforce savings plan included in the 2010-11 state budget enacted by the Legislature. He did not have specific numbers to calculate an exact savings to be had by closing Rogers, explaining, “the closings resulted from the need to reduce DEC’s workforce as opposed to the need to achieve specific savings associated with the cost of running the two centers.”
“We estimate we will achieve about half that amount from the Early Retirement Incentive program also authorized by the Legislature. Governor Paterson tried to achieve the remainder of the savings through either a one-week pay lag or a furlough program for public employees, but the public employee unions rejected both of those suggestions. The only action the Governor could take without the unions’ consent was layoffs,” he said.
Public Employees Federation spokeswoman Darcy Wells said the union represented 13 employees currently working in Sherburne, including environmental educators, foresters and conservation supervisors.
While Guzewich said she did not know how other agencies sharing the site would be affected, Wells expressed concern that further cuts to the site’s other offices may be pending and criticized Gov. Paterson’s retirement incentives, “as too little, too late.”
“The retirement incentives by the governor were botched and much of their savings were lost. People were denied early retirement and now people have to lose their jobs and the taxpayer is going to feel the hurt,” she said.
Wells said there are 11,500 fewer state employees today than there were in 2008.
“These cuts are targeting vital services, services that deal with ensuring the quality of our water and resources are properly monitored and that up coming generations, our children, are educated about the natural world they will inherit,” said Wells.
Kriss said DEC officials were looking into reaching out to local entities to see if they might be able to take over the center’s operation.
“We would prefer these employees continue working, providing services for the people of New York, including operating the Rogers center, providing for themselves and their families and helping the economy. But the unions left the governor with no choice but to move ahead with the layoff plan,” said Kriss. “Employees potentially affected by layoffs are still in the process of deciding whether to exercise ‘bumping’ rights based upon seniority and union contract rules.”
Kriss said a final notice of which employees would be laid off would be issued by Dec. 10.