The following was written for Long Island Business New’s Young Island and published on 1/23/13.
The piece serves as an introduction to my background and experience. I am very excited to write for them. The next series of pieces will be more oriented towards the region’s land use issues. The piece can be read here
My name is Richard Murdocco and I am excited to be writing for Young Island. I am a proud, lifelong Long Islander who grew up in Setauket. I am 26. In 2009, I graduated Fordham University with my BA in both Political Science and Urban Studies, and graduated from Stony Brook University with my Masters in Public Policy in 2010. At Stony Brook, I had the pleasure of studying planning with Dr. Lee Koppelman, whose teachings have helped shape my philosophies regarding Long Island’s land use issues, as well as my overall approach to regional development.
It is my belief that sound policy is driven by public participation. It is important for all generations, young and old, to come together and participate in the government process. In order to do so, we should all be able to inform ourselves of the critical issues that touch every community. Information should be both easily accessible and approachable to the public. To that end, I started The Foggiest Idea, a blog and Twitter account where I write on Long Island’s land use issues. My work has appeared in various print and online publications, all with the goal of sharing both my personal and professional experience in the planning field. Social media is an invaluable tool to help foster public participation, and I use Twitter to help spread awareness. My goal is to take complex, nuanced policy issues and make them approachable to those outside of the field.
Professionally, I write grants to help improve both the quantity & quality of Long Island’s affordable housing. With each grant I write, I integrate my planning experience to convey to funders the true needs we have.
Besides planning, I enjoy playing the guitar (few things are more awesome than a Marshall JCM head’s Overdrive channel), heavy metal, electronics, my dogs and cars. My favorite TV show is BBC’s Top Gear, and my favorite places to eat are Long Island’s many diners (As you can tell, I have simple tastes).
In the coming posts, I plan on sharing my thoughts on that policy issues that directly impact us all. If you’d like to discuss my writing or thoughts, feel free to email me at Rich.Murdocco@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter @TheFoggiestIdea
Richard Murdocco is the principal grantwriter for Community Development Corporation of Long Island. Follow him on Twitter @TheFoggiestIdea.
