3.10 Joe Kelly Show Part 1: RoAnn Destito
By: Joe Kelly
Updated: March 6, 2013
Joe sits down with RoAnn Destito, Commissioner, NYS Office of General Services, and a member of the Governor's cabinet. RoAnn explains that OGS is essentially a landlord, as they own all of the buildings in New York state which state offices, including Empire State Plaza. They also maintain leases that state agencies are in. RoAnn describes the restructuring and repopulating of vacant offices to improve the efficiency of their organization and state costs, under the direct initiative of Governor Cuomo. The goal is to achieve an industry standard, of 10 percent or less in vacancies. Another goal, RoAnn explains is to integrate New York state into one business, instead of several separate agencies. They move on to discuss that the Oneida Correctional Facility is for sale, and how OGS helps to market and facilitate the sale, even using social media. Another surplus property they are involved with is the old Psychiatric Center in West Utica, including the Old Main. Later in the show they discuss Governor Cuomo's proposed budget changes, including the Tier 6 Pension Reform, Medicaid redesign, the minimum wage increase, and other issues his administration are tackling. The current budget is over $130,000,000,000.
