Terri Elkowitz

Senior Vice President and Northeast Regional Manager, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.

Terri Elkowitz is a Senior Vice President and Northeast Regional Manager of VHB.  In this role, she manages the operations of VHB’s offices in New York and New Jersey.  She joined the firm in January 2009, as a result of the merger of VHB with Freudenthal & Elkowitz Consulting Group, Inc., where Ms. Elkowitz served as President since its founding in 1988.  She was appointed as a member of VHB’s Executive Committee in 2015, and previously served as a member of the Board of Directors. 

Ms. Elkowitz has been a practicing environmental and planning consultant for over 30 years.  She has managed the environmental planning and permitting processes for many major development projects on Long Island. She is well-versed in the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process and has prepared numerous environmental assessment forms, draft and final environmental impact statements, planning and zoning studies, visual assessments, and associated evaluations, and has given many lectures regarding SEQRA throughout New York.  Not only has she worked with public and private clients on the administration of the SEQRA, but she also provides environmental and planning consulting services to municipalities, school districts and other special districts.  Ms. Elkowitz provides expert testimony to various Town and Village Boards, Planning Boards and Zoning Boards of Appeals on planning, zoning and environmental matters and provides expert testimony, affidavits and other litigation support in court cases.

Ms. Elkowitz is a Trustee of the Foundation of the State University of New York at Old Westbury and is a member of the Board of the YMCA of Long Island and the Board of the Real Estate Institute.  She also serves as a member of the Board of Advisors of the Energeia Partnership, a Leadership Development Program at Molloy College.  In addition, she serves as the Vice Chair of the Planning Board of the Incorporated Village of Belle Terre.  Ms. Elkowitz is a Life Director of the Long Island Builders Institute.  She formerly served as Chairperson of the Suffolk County Council on Environmental Quality, and as a member of the Advisory Board of the College of Business, State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Ms. Elkowitz holds a Master of Science degree from the W. Averell Harriman College of Policy Analysis and Public Management at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Anthony S. Guardino

Partner, Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Anthony S. Guardino is experienced with a broad range of land use and zoning matters, such as applications for change of zone, variances, special permits, subdivision, and site plan approval. Anthony regularly appears before municipal boards and represents a number of national retailers and restaurants, as well as several of the region’s largest retail, residential, office and industrial developers. He writes a land use column for the New York Law Journal.
Anthony serves as counsel to the villages of Huntington Bay and Old Field, providing advice to their boards of trustees, planning boards, and zoning boards, as well as special counsel to several Long Island towns and villages and to two fire districts.

Over the years, Anthony has successfully litigated a number of land-use related cases at both trial and appellate levels. Many of those cases involved challenges to decisions by municipal boards, as well as claims under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), adverse possession or other title issues.

Anthony writes on zoning and land use planning matters and contributes often to the firm’s Long Island Land Use & Zoning blog. He is also a frequent lecturer at seminars on land use and zoning law and SEQRA and has participated in programs sponsored by the New York State Bar Association, Nassau County Bar Association, Suffolk County Bar Association and Suffolk County Village Officials Association, as well as by private providers of continuing education for attorneys, architects, engineers, and other professionals. He also participates in the firm’s own land use training programs.

Prior to joining Farrell Fritz, Anthony was a land-use planner with a New York City-based development consulting firm and a research assistant to Professor James A. Kushner, a leading author and commentator in the area of land use law.

Richard Guardino

Executive Director, Long Island Regional Planning Council

Richard Guardino serves as the Executive Director of the Long Island Regional Planning Council. Prior to becoming Executive Director, he was Vice President for Business Development at Hofstra University. As Vice President, he directed Hofstra’s Scott Skodnek Business Development Center, Hofstra’s Continuing Education Program, and was Executive Dean of Wilbur F. Breslin Center for Real Estate Studies.

Rich previously served twenty-one years on the Hempstead Town Board, including five years as Supervisor of the Town of Hempstead, America’s largest township. As Supervisor, he raised the town’s general obligation bond rating twice during his tenure and produced budget surpluses for four consecutive years. As the result of several environmental initiatives, he received endorsements from the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters.

Rich has a B.A. from the College of William and Mary and J.D. from William and Mary Law School. Rich practiced law specializing in commercial transactions and real estate and is admitted to practice in both New York and Florida. He served as counsel to State Senator John R. Dunne, and was investigative counsel to the NYS Senate Judiciary Committee. Rich served on the New York State Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, as a Regional Member and as a member of the Study Group for the New York State Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness.

He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Long Island Real Estate Group and currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Community Development Corporation of Long Island. Rich is the recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Living a Dream Award” and the American Committee on Italian Migration Award. He served for many years as Honorary Chairman and Grand Marshall of the March of Dimes Walk America and Honorary Chairman of the Long Island Walk to D’Feet ALS. Rich has also served as Honorary Chairman of the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Annual Golf Outings and Honorary Vice Chairman for the U.S. Marine Corp Toys for Tots drive.

Martha Krisel

Executive Director of the Nassau County Civil Service Commission

Martha Krisel serves as a Conference Director for the Annual Land Use Conference, designed for land use board members throughout Long Island. In conjunction with the Nassau County Planning Commission, Hofstra’s Annual Conference provides Continuing Education credits in accordance with New York State General Municipal Law, as well as Continuing Legal Education credits and AICPA credits for planners.

Martha Krisel is a Past President of the Nassau County Bar Association, a membership organization dedicated to ensuring access to justice for Nassau County’s residents. Admitted to the New York State Bar in 1981, Krisel has focused on municipal law exclusively since 1993. She writes about and lectures on all municipal issues, including procurement, land use and fair housing.

Currently, Krisel serves as the Executive Director of the Nassau County Civil Service Commission. She has served as a Deputy County Attorney for the Office of the Nassau County Attorney and as Village Attorney for the Incorporated Village of Rockville Center from 1996-2006.

Todd J. Poole

Managing Principal, 4ward Planning Inc.

Todd Poole is president, founder, and managing principal of 4ward Planning Inc., with more than 27 years of economic and community development experience, both as a private sector consultant and a public-sector practitioner.

Todd has extensive local, regional and national experience in the following economic and real estate land-use planning areas: comprehensive and master planning, transit-oriented development, market rate and affordable housing analysis, economic and fiscal impact analysis, regional transportation planning, redevelopment and neighborhood revitalization, park and trail revenue analysis, adaptive reuse, and development advisory services.

Todd has led economic and real estate analysis engagements on behalf of private developers, non-profit organizations and municipal, county and state agencies, nationally. He has also conducted numerous presentations for land-use planners and attorneys at various planning conferences and seminars, as well as developed and presented web courses on behalf of Planetizen, the leading on-line source for accredited land planning training courses.

Todd holds a Master of Public Administration (focus in finance) and B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Rutgers University. He is certified as an Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) by the National Development Council. Todd is also member of the American Planning Association and past member of Urban Land Institute.

Charlene Jackson Thompson

Commissioner of the Village of Hempstead Community Development Agency

Charlene Jackson Thompson received her primary education in Roosevelt and graduated from Uniondale High School. Ms. Thompson attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Psychology in 1988. She was also selected as the College’s first African American Homecoming Queen. Following graduation, Ms. Thompson was accepted into the Coro Foundation’s Fellowship Program for leadership in public affairs. Upon completing her fellowship, Ms. Thompson became program director of the Youth Civic Education Campaign for the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG). She was also part of the successful team to lobby in Albany and Washington, D.C. for the passage of the Motor-Voter Bill. In 1991, she was appointed to the New York State Voting Rights Commission by then Governor Mario Cuomo.

Ms. Thompson attended Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., graduating cum laude in 1994 and was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1995. Ms. Thompson has been a member of the Nassau County Bar Association for more than 25 years and has served in various leadership positions. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the charitable arm of the Association - the We Care Fund. Ms. Thompson has also been an active member of the Amistad Long Island Black Bar Association where she served as Vice President of Programs and Commissioner on the 10th Judicial District’s Independent Judicial Election Qualification Committee.

From 2006-2010 Ms. Thompson served as an Adjunct Professor in the Politics, Economics and Law Department at SUNY Old Westbury. Her coursework included Constitutional Law and Civil Rights, the Politics of Race and Class in America, Introduction to U.S. Politics and Introduction to Law. She also served as the pre-law advisor and administrator of the Pre-Law Center for the Department.

In 2011, Ms. Thompson launched her consulting firm, Thompson Economic Development Services, LLC, focusing on revitalization and economic empowerment of Long Island’s neediest communities. She served as co-chair of the Law and Government Committee of the Long Island Housing Crisis Task Force which focused on bringing much needed information and housing resources to residents of Nassau and Suffolk counties. She also served as chair of the M/WBE Committee for the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce which works with under-represented business owners to build capacity to successfully participate in government contracting opportunities. She is also Of-Counsel to the Freeport, NY law firm of Comrie & Associates, PLLC where her practice areas focus on real estate and will, trusts & estates.

Ms. Thompson remains active in her local community and has served on the Executive Committee of the Freeport-Roosevelt branch of the N.A.A.C.P., the Central Nassau Chapter of the League of Women Voters, the Roosevelt Alumni Association, the Baldwin Oaks Civic Association, the advisory committee for the Division of Continuing Education for the Baldwin Union Free School District and the Courting Justice Program run by the Hempstead Cultural Advisory Board. She is also an active board member of the Uniondale Community Land Trust as well as an advisor to the Hempstead Community Land Trust. Ms. Thompson is a certified adult educator and lectures regularly on voter empowerment and participation in local government. She is a member of Memorial Presbyterian Church in Roosevelt, New York where she has participated in the Living Word Ministry and served as the Ministry Leader for the Community Outreach Ministry which focuses on Civic, Voter and Economic Education, Engagement and Empowerment.

Ms. Thompson has received numerous civic and professional awards including being named for her Leadership in the Law by Long Island Business News in 2014, Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce, Small Business Person of the Year in 2015 and New York State Senate Woman of Distinction for 2017.

Ms. Thompson currently serves as Commissioner of the Incorporated Village of Hemsptead Community Development Agency. She resides in Baldwin with her three children.

• New York State Human Rights Law, NYS Executive Law, Article 15 (PDF)
• Long Island RPC Village of Patchogue Impact Study (PDF)
• Long Island RPC Village of Patchogue Economic Impact Study Presentation (PDF)
• Fundamentals of Fair Housing Overview - October 2019 (PDF)
• 9 New York Code of Rules and Regulations (NYCRR) Sec. 466.13 - Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity (PDF)
• Town of Hamburg Fair Housing Ordinance- General Code of the Town of Hamburg, Chapter 109, Fair Housing (PDF)
• The New York City Human Rights Law - Title 8 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York (Updated April 8, 2016) (PDF)
• S6713 Lawful Source of Income Anti-Discrimination Act of 2019 (PDF)
• S6458 - NY Statewide Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (PDF)
• NYS HCR WORKSHEET for Applying New York State’s Anti-Discrimination Policies When Assessing Applicants for State-Funded Housing Who Have Criminal Convictions (PDF)
• NYS HCR GUIDE for Guide for Applying New York State’s Anti-Discrimination Policies When Assessing Applicants for State-Funded Housing Who Have Criminal Convictions (PDF)
• Findings Statement for Amendments to 6 NYCRR Part 617 (2018) (PDF)
• Amendments to the Regulations Implementing SEQR (PDF)

This program qualifies for 3.5 CLE credits in Areas of Professional Practice and 1 CLE credit in *Diversity and Inclusion for nontransitional attorneys.

The Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University is certified by the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board as an accredited provider of continuing legal education (CLE) in the state of New York. New York CLE credits are available to satisfy the mandatory, transitional/nontransitional requirements for attorneys attending the program. Lawyers admitted in jurisdictions other than New York should check with those jurisdictions to determine CLE requirements in their states.

AICP Certification Maintenance (CM) credits have been requested.

This course is intended to fulfill the New York State required training for municipal planning and zoning officials.

For more information, contact Laura Fetter at breslin@hofstra.edu or 516-463-4069.