Category Archives: Economy

Dennis Jackson Occupies Wall Street

Posted on November 1, 2011 | 41 Comments

Dennis Jackson’s family rented an Old Mill home in the summer of 1950.  They moved here that fall, and in 1956 moved to “the middle of nowhere”:  North Avenue.

Dennis’s brothers and friends camped out in the large woods across the street, until it was cleared to build “a fancy new high school.”

Dennis was in the first graduating class — 1958 — at nearby Burr Farms Elementary.  Three years later he joined a young Gordon Joseloff and others in forming an AM radio station called WWPT.

Mentored in radio by a friendly Staples High physics teacher named Nick Georgis, Dennis designed and built a small AM/FM transmitter.  He still has it.

He graduated from Staples in 1964, and went to RPI.  In 1967 “the allure of Westport life and Westport girls proved irresistible,” so Dennis came back.

He worked at Norden; helped start the new WWPT-FM at Staples; got an MBA at UConn; did a morning show on WMMM/WDJF, and from 1974-76 rented a beach house with his girlfriend Maureen (Staples ’67).

They moved to Wilton, Vermont, the Berkshires, then back to Wilton in 1982.

The other day, Dennis visited the Occupy Wall Street site in lower Manhattan.  He reports:

Dennis Jackson (right), with friends (from left) George Levinson and Ed Hoffman, at Occupy Wall Street.

There has been much criticism from conservatives that the occupiers have no proposed solutions.  However, in the tradition of American patriots who have assembled peacefully throughout our history, this is a protest against injustices for which Wall Street has become the focal point.

Much dialogue takes place among the occupiers and day visitors like us, and a regular schedule of “think tanks” in which anyone may participate.  Especially when compared to the relatively unfocused anger and deconstructionism of the tea partiers, these dialogues seem to offer very constructive ways to resolve feelings of frustration into refined thinking. and move toward consensus.

An older occupier. His sign protests the influence of corporate financing on political campaigns. (Photo by Dennis Jackson)

In addition to high unemployment, record levels of home foreclosures, and the expense and difficulty of obtaining health coverage, it seemed clear that a number of prominent financial absurdities that are highly unfair to the average American underly the protest.

One example is the ever-increasing income and wealth disparity between Americans in the top brackets relative to what we used to refer to as the “middle class,” and the disadvantaged, as exacerbated by the Reagan revolution and Bush tax cuts.

Another is the bailout of banks when people had to default on mortgage payments, when far less bailout money could have been applied to the write-down of mortgages so those homeowners wouldn’t have had to default in the first place.  Perhaps then, banks might not have been in the position they were to hand out bonuses that many homeowners and ordinary Americans consider obscene.

As in the ’60s, there was a current of peace and anti-war sentiment at the expense of more humanistic applications of the trillions of dollars invested in our military adventurism and warmaking, particularly in Iraq.  A good number of veterans were represented while we were there.

A woman with a Ph.D., who can't find a job, asks for work. (Photo by Dennis Jackson)

From the tone of many conversations, it’s probably fair to say that the occupiers, although not universally “liberal,” are progressive thinkers.  They seem mostly opposed to the Republican national agenda, which they perceive as favoring the already rich and powerful, seeking to increase corporate influence, hegemony and control, and to undermine and blockade programs intended to help the average American.

Comments overheard suggest that Fox News, the only network not in evidence, and Channel 5, the only local TV absent, were generally held in low regard.

Liberty Square was populated by everyone from college students to octogenarians.  All races were well represented.

A code of conduct was posted in several places.  There was no violence, discourtesy, scatology, drug use, “free love,” or unsanitariness in evidence.  Directions were posted to several nearby rest room facilities.  Volunteers circulated constantly, sweeping and cleaning up.

Bags of coats and bedding were free to anyone who got cold or wanted to “occupy” overnight.  A “free kitchen,” manned by what we understood to be 5-star chefs prepared food, and would not accept a donation for the delicious piece of chocolate cake I had.  I offered, but the reply was, “No thank you.  We’d like to contribute the cake to you.”

In spite of all the vitriol directed at the OWS movement by the right-wing media, it would be hard to imagine a more thoughtful, courteous, productive gathering of like-minded people opposed to financial injustice.

Many Occupy Wall Street protesters are young. (Photo by Dennis Jackson)

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Posted in Economy, Looking back, People, Politics

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What’s Up With Doc’s

Posted on October 10, 2011 | 8 Comments

In the winter of 1997, Yvonne Dougherty rose early every morning to drive her son Peyton to Staples swim team practice.

On the way back she’d stop by Juba’s — the coffee shop in Peter’s Bridge Market, near her home — for a jolt of caffeine to start the day.

Then she got a job there.  It paid $7.50 an hour — but she quickly fell in love with the coffee business.

On September 11, 2000 she took over Juba’s lease.  For an investment of just a few thousand dollars, she had a steady business.  She took in $900 a day, with virtually no overhead.

Three and a half years later, the new owners of Peter’s Bridge “threw me out,” she says.

In less than a month, she opened a new place in a former boating just across Riverside Avenue.

Yvonne called it Doc’s, in honor of her last name — pronounced “Dockerty.”

Yvonne Dougherty, outside Doc's.

Her landlord — Sam Gault — was “phenomenal,” she says.  He kept her rent low, and helped any way he could.  He told her she could probably stay for 2 or 3 years.

Yvonne spent plenty of money — $250,000, she estimates — complying with town regulations.  She had to change the parking lot, and put in a sidewalk.

But customers — including, importantly, many commuters — loved Doc’s.  For much of the decade, she averaged $1,500 a day.

Then the economy tanked.  Starting in the fall of 2008, business tailed off precipitously.  The opening of a similar place — Cocoa Michelle — closer to the train station may also have hurt.

A year ago, construction began on the Saugatuck redevelopment project.  Winter — always slow — was particularly harsh.  Between road closures on Riverside Avenue, bad weather that kept people home, and uncertainty about whether Doc’s would stay open, business dropped 30 to 40 percent.

(Interestingly, Yvonne says, the new Dunkin’ Donuts at the site of the old Juba’s had no effect.)

Doc’s owner second-guesses herself for many of her problems.

“Even though I have an MBA from the University of Virgina — back in the Stone Age — I didn’t have a clue to market Doc’s.  Or even brand it,” she says.

“I missed the opportunity to be on the web.  And I could have rented out this place for parties more than I did.”

Yvonne adds, “When someone walks in your shop, they have to know what you’re selling.  I’ve got lots of tchotchkes here, but I think they distract people.  Some of my charm came back to bite me in the butt.”

Starbucks, she says, “may be sterile and boring.  But you know what they’re selling.”

Doc’s “would have been far more successful if I’d known I was going to be here for 8 years,” Yvonne says.  “I would have put in a kitchen.  I would have designed everything much better.”

With close to 2,000 square feet — 10 times her space at Juba’s — she says, “It was probably too much.”

Yvonne adds, “I was a one-woman show.  I learned you have to work on your business, not in it.”

The 2nd phase of Saugatuck’s redevelopment starts soon.  A retail/residential/office mix will replace the buildings in and around Ketchum Street — including Yvonne’s.

Doc’s last day is November 12.

“I wish I had a plan for what’s next,” Yvonne says.  She’s found a potential location in Southport — but she needs a partner.

Perhaps, she says, she can open Doc’s as a smaller space inside existing stores — the way she started, with Juba’s inside Peter’s Bridge.

But Peter’s Bridge is gone, and Yvonne can’t think of any other place in town that make sense.  “That’s my challenge — to find something that works,” she says.

She will miss her customers.  Many have been very loyal.

“I see people in town, and I think, ‘that’s a medium latte,” she says.  “That’s a pretty bizarre skill.”

Meanwhile, the clock ticks for Doc’s.

“I’ve got to figure out something soon,” Yvonne says.

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Posted in Economy, Local business, People, Saugatuck

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Same-Sex Marriage: New York Wins, Westport Loses

Posted on July 29, 2011 | 10 Comments

Patty Strauss was a bit miffed last Sunday — the day same-sex marriage became legal in New York.

No, she emphasizes, she’s not opposed to 2 men or 2 women having their love sanctioned and affirmed by the Empire State.

Patty’s reaction was more practical:  As Westport’s town clerk, she knows we’ll lose hundreds of dollars each year in license fees.

From 2009 — when Connecticut legalized same-sex marriage — through June 30, 2011, Westport issued 102 same-sex licenses:  52 to female couples, 50 to males.

In that same period, 340 opposite-sex couples received marriage licenses here.

Westport town clerk Patty Strauss takes a pause from issuing same-sex marriage licenses to pore over some records.

The same-sex couples came from all over Connecticut, and beyond:  New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Texas, New Mexico and California.

“It’s been our pleasure to serve couples from New York who were happy to come here to be married,” Patty says.

I’m as glad as Patty that gay men and lesbians traveled to Westport from across the country to be married here.

But I wondered about those New Yorkers, and Jersey boys (and girls).  Why didn’t they just bop over to Greenwich?

Many did.  But, Patty says proudly, “Westport has a reputation of accommodating everyone, and making them feel very comfortable in the town clerk’s office.”

Patty has witnessed many marriages herself.  One memorable couple was married in the Town Hall lobby, and shared a beautiful cake with Patty’s staff.

The town clerk’s office is filled with photos, and beautiful thank-you notes.  A particularly poignant one came from a couple that had been together for 40 years, before legally marrying.

Justice of the peace Martha Aasen has also wed “quite a few” same-sex couples.

“The word got out that Town Hall extremely welcoming,” she says.  “Lots of places don’t offer same-day service.  But Patty has things ready in 20 minutes.”

Martha notes that our neighbor’s new law will have a dual effect on Westport.  New Yorkers will now stay home to be married — “unless they want a nice country wedding,” she says.

But we’ll also lose couples from other parts of the US, who may opt for a wedding in exciting New York City, rather than one in Connecticut.

Maybe that’s a way to solve the budget crisis in Washington:  legalize same-sex marriages everywhere.

“Mayor Bloomberg was right,” Patty says, ruing the budget she prepared in February — not knowing the New York legislature would soon deprive her of several hundred dollars in fees.  (A Connecticut marriage license costs $30.)

“He said that same-sex marriage is great for New York for many reasons, including the economy.  There are licenses, cakes, caterers.  We’ve benefited the past few years from New York not being as advanced as Connecticut.”

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Posted in Economy, People

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Unemployment Is Fun!

Posted on July 6, 2011 | 29 Comments

After graduating from Staples (1992) and the University of Michigan, Kerry Quinn embarked on career in advertising.  For 11 years she worked and lived in New York.  Then, in a “you only live once” decision, she moved to L.A.

She loved California, and her job in a small agency.  But in 2009 their major client — a bank — was seized by the FDIC, and sold at auction.  A few months later, her office closed.

Kerry was unemployed.

At first she felt depressed and dejected — “like a failure,” she says.  Her days lacked structure.  With the economy in the toilet, tasks like networking and acting upbeat during interviews seemed almost unbearable.

After “wallowing” for a couple of weeks, Kerry got an email offering a free exercise class with a celebrity trainer — on a Wednesday afternoon.

“I started to delete it.  Then I thought, ‘hey — I can do this!” Kerry recalls.

Kerry Quinn

She was spending her days sending out resumes.  But she realized she also had time to do things she’d always wanted to do:  Learn to cook healthfully.  Sell unneeded items.  Reduce her debt.

Kerry had a “funemployment” epiphany.  She would not sit around watching “Wire” marathons — but she could stop pitying herself, and enjoy her new free time.

After 2 months, she landed a small freelance project.  She then spent 4 months full-time, filling in for a pregnant woman.  But, Kerry says, the bulk of her past year and a half has taken her on a “funemployment” journey.

“I changed my outlook,” she says.  “I learned I didn’t have to work 14 hours a day, and ignore the rest of my life.  I need to take care of myself too.”

At networking events — she did not abandon those — she described her philosophy.  People told her she seemed so positive.  They urged her to share her excitement with others.

Kerry started a blog, called LovingFunemployment.

Then — running into people who were not having fun unemployment experiences, because they were depressed or suicidal — she wrote a book.

Funemployed:  Finding the Upside in the Downturn has just been e-published.  With chapters ranging from taking up painting and getting in shape to volunteering, traveling and dating, Kerry spreads the message that readers should not view unemployment as a failure, nor should they internalize it.

The idea behind “funemployment,” she says, is “to go into your next job with a good outlook.”  You can do that by “having some fun.  And don’t feel guilty about doing that.”

This sounds like a recipe for parody — or at least criticism that most unemployed Americans have more on their minds (and less opportunity to pursue it) than yoga lessons or trips to Paris.

“I anticipated that,” Kerry says.  “But I haven’t heard it yet.”

She understands, she adds, that her way  “is not something everyone can do.  If you have a mortgage and 3 kids, and you have to hustle full-time for your next job, ‘funemployment’ can seem trivial and trite.  But I talk about debt management, creating structure in your day, and selling stuff on eBay or taking jobs like babysitting or dog-walking without violating unemployment benefits.”

Her book, she says, “is not all about having fun.  It’s about dealing with issues people face.”

As for those exercise classes, “they don’t have to cost a lot, if you use trial offers or Groupon.”

How long can someone last “funemployed”?

“It depends,” Kerry says.  “You have to figure out your severance, savings and unemployment.  It’s different for each person.”

She is “lucky” to have freelance work, she knows.  “Full-time work in California is tough to find.”

Hopefully too, the book will generate income.

While doing publicity for the book, Kerry is learning new skills.  She hopes they’ll make her even more marketable during the job interviews she continues to pursue.

Landing a new job in advertising “makes the most sense — I’ve got 14 years experience,” she says.

“But I love writing.  Maybe I’ll do TV scripts — or another book.  Writing this one really reignited my passion for writing.”

Chalk up one more benefit to “funemployment.”

(Funemployed is an e-book.  To download it from Amazon, click here.)

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Posted in Economy, People

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Dressing Room Gets A Dressing Down

Posted on June 27, 2011 | 25 Comments

Several area restaurants offer discounts of up to 20% to Westport Country Playhouse subscribers.

There is only 1 restriction — as very disappointed Westport resident Eileen Ogintz found out Saturday night.  Here’s her story:

Our mistake was not reading the fine print.

As  Westport  Country Playhouse subscribers, we’d  gotten a brochure with local restaurant discounts — a good marketing move, we thought, to encourage us to eat out  nearby  before attending a play.  All we needed was to show our tickets in order to get a 20 per cent discount at The Dressing Room, La Villa Trattoria,  Manolo,  Matsu,  Rizzuto’s, Tavern on Main or Thali.

In this economy,  local restaurants need our business, and we need to watch what we spend on dinners out.  This seems like a win-win.   We’d enjoyed dinner at Thali before the last Saturday evening performance we’d attended; this time we opted for The Dressing Room next door to The Playhouse — in part because our daughter and her boyfriend had given us a gift certificate there.

But we didn’t read the fine print that said the offer is only good at The Dressing Room Tuesday through Thursday.  None of the other restaurants impose such restrictions.   Our apologetic waiter indicated many weekend  Playhouse goers  are as surprised as we were to learn the discount they expected wouldn’t be honored.

The haughty restaurant manager wasn’t the least apologetic, though she did give us the 20 per cent off “this one time” when we complained, ominously adding she was going to “mark our profile” in their computer.  I didn’t know if I was supposed to be worried or why.

By that point,  I knew I didn’t want to return any time soon.  I even posted a message to that effect on Facebook, prompting a call from my son who wanted to know what had prompted my ire.

“We’re doing the Playhouse a big favor,”  the manager insisted as we left.

Frankly, I thought it was the Playhouse  doing the Dressing Room the favor.  The restaurant wouldn’t even be there without the Playhouse and the  original support of the Newmans,  I thought.  (Paul Newman’s name figures in some of the menu selections, in fact.)

And without  Paul Newman and especially Joanne Woodward,  of course, the  Westport Country Playhouse wouldn’t  be the wonderful community resource it is for all of us today.

On Saturday night, The Playhouse was full.  The Dressing Room wasn’t.

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Posted in Economy, People, Restaurants

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We’re #5!

Posted on April 27, 2011 | 13 Comments

There’s been a bit lot of back-and-forth on “06880″ lately regarding the value of the Westport school system.

Everyone’s got a different rating method.  They range from standardized test score comparisons with similar towns in our “District Reference Group,” which seems fairly reasonable, to the dip-shitty Newsweek method, which takes the number of AP (and AP-type) exams administered, and divides by the number of graduating seniors.  (Theoretically, the top school could be one where every student takes every AP test offered, and no one passes any of them.)

Into the fray roars Forbes — sort of.  In a story befitting “The Capitalist Tool,” they’ve created “The Best Schools For Your Real Estate Buck.”

Using their methodology — combining the 17,589 towns and cities in the 49 states that administer standardized tests (see ya, Nebraska!) with results from the standardized National Assessment for Educational Progress federal tests of randomly selected 4th, 8th and 12th graders — they calibrated results of “individual cities in a single state with national standards to come up with an absolute score for each city.  It then graded them on a curve.”

I am not bright enough to figure out what all that means.  (Hey, I took math at Staples in the ’70s.  I must have been absent the day we studied this stuff.)

I am, however, bright enough to know that standardized tests — particularly when each state sets different standards — are not the brightest way to assess schools, teachers, administrators, learning, learning outcomes, creativity, blah blah blah, even bang for one’s real estate buck.

Whatever.

Forbes ran the data, crunched the numbers, threw salt over their shoulder, and came up with the highest-ranking city.  The one that got the “100″ that the rest of the 17,588 towns and cities get curve-graded against.

The best-bang-buckiest town — the one we should all immediately move to, to maximize our investments in our kids and our homes and the future — is, of course…

…Falmouth, Maine.

Duh.

Using Forbes’ quasi-scientific methodology, Westport does not even make the top 10.

No Connecticut school systems do, though.  In fact, only 2 in the entire Northeast:  Barrington, RI (#4) and Bedford, NH (#5).  The rest of the top 10 includes Mercer Island, WA (#2), Pella, IA (#3), and from 6th to 10th, Manhattan Beach, CA; Moraga, CA; Parkland, FL; St. Johns, FL, and Southlake, TX.

But wait!

If you’re scoring at home using the “District Reference Group” method, Forbes has better news for Westport.  Sort of.

They’ve sliced and diced their list according to median housing prices.  We’re in the highest group — “$800,000 and Up” – and here the list is a bit more Northeast- and California-centric.

Westport — with a median home price of $931,690 (when?  2007?) and an “Ed Quality Index” of 87.81 — is the 5th best bang-bucking school district in the entire wealthiest Forbes quarter.

We trail the winner (Manhattan Beach, CA) and runners-up New Canaan, Lafayette (CA) and Palo Alto, but lead Darien, Orinda (CA), Weston (MA, not CT), Rye (NY) and Cupertino (CA).

This is described as "the women of the Manhattan Beach 6-man volleyball tournament." Yes, I understand these are not men, and there are more than 6 of them. But who am I to argue with the top school district in the category of wealthiest median home prices? Whatever they teach there must be right.

So there you have it.  Sort of.

But feel free to devise your own ranking system.

I have added together all the grades achieved by students in grades K-12 in every course taken (except physical education); divided by the number of parking spots in each parking lot; multiplied by the square root of parent or guardian’s IQ and cholesterol scores, and done something or other with the hypotenuse of the hotness factor of superintendents, boards of education and building principals.

I am happy to report that, by this perfectly logical method, the Westport school district is the 2nd best in the country.

Number one is — damn! – Falmouth, Maine.

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Posted in Economy, Education, Real estate

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The Bus Stops Here

Posted on March 30, 2011 | 64 Comments

In the 1970s, Westport pioneered the minnybus.  Brightly decorated vehicles plied the streets of town, using a hub-and-spoke system at Staples and Jesup Green.

The Westport Transit District added maxytaxys.  Anyone could call for a ride anywhere — but the buses picked up other riders too, so getting from Point A to Point B could involve trips to Points C, D, E, F and G along the way.

By 1992 though, declining ridership, inefficient operations and deteriorating equipment caused near collapse of the system.  The RTM reached out for help.

Though the Westport Transit District still exists, it has no employees or paid administrators — not even a bus.  The Norwalk Transit District operates our system, providing great economies of scale.

Westport mass transit has 4 components:

  • Fixed routes: Buses that run to and from the Saugatuck and Green’s Farms train station, all around town.
  • Commuter shuttle: Buses that run between Saugatuck station and the Imperial Avenue parking lot.
  • After-school shuttle: Buses that run from schools to the Y, library and downtown, stopping at churches along the way.
  • Door-to-door service: Buses that provide rides for elderly and disabled riders, including physical assistance.

Last year, the WTD counted just under 100,000 trips.

The annual cost to operate Westport’s bus system is a bit over $1.3 million.  However, the town pays only $281,000.  The rest of the funds — 80% or so — comes from fares, and (mostly) state and federal matching grants.

Last week, the Board of Finance voted to cut $100,000 from the Westport Transit District’s proposed budget.  Combined with the subsequent loss of matching grants, the district would lose about 35% of its funding.

If those cuts are sustained, some tough decisions must be made.

“Who do you pick to go?” asks Jim Hood, volunteer co-director of the WTD.

“The schools?  People might say parents or neighbors could drive their kids.

“The trains?  People could say, why can’t they get there on their own.

“The elderly and infirm?  Well, people could say, those buses are inefficient and expensive.”

The dilemma, Hood says, is that “mass transit systems are a service, not a business.  They run at a loss all across the country — but they’re there because they’re important to people.”

A commuter pick-up at the Saugatuck station.

Hood compares transit with another government service:  the fire department.  “Do you divide the number of fires each year by the number of firefighters and the cost of the equipment?  Of course not.  We have a fire department because it’s necessary.”

Some politicians have suggested a fare increase.  Hood says that won’t help much.  Laws regulate how much the fare can be raised — and half of all riders buy Metro-North UniTickets, offering discounts for both trains and buses.  The WTD has no say over those prices.

“It’s easier said than done, but Westport has to figure out if it’s the kind of town that wants this,” Hood says.  “This,” he explains, is “a service for people — some of whom need it as an economic necessity.”

Once mass transit it cut “drastically,” Hood notes, ridership drops dramatically.  That has a domino effect.  Soon there is no service at all.

Bus riders are just learning of the proposed cut, Hood says.  As they do, they realize its impact.  Some are asking why the reduction is so steep.

The next step, Hood says, is a Board of Finance restoration meeting.  The RTM can also restore funds.  He hopes members of both bodies will “hear about the effects, and make an informed decision.”

If restoration fails, Westport’s mass transit riders will have to figure out a new way of getting to the station, getting downtown after school, getting around if they’re elderly or handicapped.

In other words, they’ll have to start reinventing the wheel.

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Posted in Downtown, Economy, Environment, Local politics, Looking back, Organizations, Staples HS

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One More Reason Connecticut Is In Precarious Financial Shape

Posted on March 18, 2011 | 9 Comments

I filed my state income tax return last week — Friday, March 11.

Today — exactly 1 week later — I received my refund from the Department of Revenue Services.

I filed electronically — but the check came in the mail.

This is not just fast service — it’s warp bureaucratic speed.

I’m pleased, sure.  But I can’t help thinking:  Shouldn’t the state be holding onto my money for as long as it can?

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Posted in Economy, Totally random

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The Education Budget

Posted on February 28, 2011 | 15 Comments

Tomorrow, the Board of Education presents its proposed 2011-12 budget to the Board of Finance.  The request — approximately $98 million — represents a 2.36% increase over the current year.  Before approving it unanimously, the Board of Ed cut more than $400,000 from the Superintendent’s proposal.

The Board of Finance — and, later, the RTM — will examine various cost centers.  They’ll hone in here, ask questions there, and may suggest further cuts.  It’s a springtime ritual, one folks in Tunisia and Egypt and Libya would die for (quite literally).

Before all the hand-wringing and finger-pointing begins, here are some thoughts:

Westport is not at the top when compared to similar districts. In fact, since the economy tanked we’ve been a leader in minimizing year-to-year increases (only Weston is lower).  And of all the towns in our “district reference group,” we’ve got the lowest requested annual rate of increase.

More than 82% of the budget is driven by salaries and benefits. In fact, the entire 2.36% increase requested is applied to contractual salary increases owed to employees.  The Board of Ed is asking for nothing more.  Union contracts requiring approval beyond the Board of Ed were passed overwhelmingly by the Board of Finance and RTM — and led to greater contributions by employees toward health care costs.

Over the past 2 years, there’s been a $3.6 million budgetary shortfall in the area of contractual salaries. The result has been reductions in the music and gifted programs, staff cuts in elementary schools and libraries, deferred maintenance and more.  The Board of Ed anticipates 865 employees next year — 6 fewer than this year.

Inevitably, Person A will ask why we have “x” program.  Person B will explain its importance, and question why instead we have “y.”  Person C will know that both “x” and “y” are valuable, but not say anything because it is much easier to criticize than praise.

Inevitably too, someone will note that I am an employee of the Westport school system.  That is true.  I do several things, on a part-time basis.  I earn a few thousand dollars a year from the Board of Ed.  I get no benefits — certainly not retirement.  I pay 100% of my own health insurance.

Much has changed since Horace Staples donated a high school to Westport. But his vision for a top-rate education lives on throughout town.

But I am willing to pay my fair share of the education costs (and of the entire town budget, though that’s not the topic of this post).  I know the tremendous value our schools provide for kids today.  I appreciate what they did for me, back in the day.  I know how much more in taxes my sisters in Westchester County and New Jersey pay (and don’t get the one in Gov. Christie’s state started on what’s happening there).

I know how much more — proportionally, and in some cases actually — people in neighboring towns and cities pay, for school systems that don’t come close to ours.

The debate this spring should not be about the failures of America’s educational system generally, or a bad experience one person’s child had one year with one teacher.  It should be about whether we believe Westport schools — in a wide variety of ways and, working under a staggering set of demands and for a broad range of constituencies — are preparing our children to live in, work in, contribute to and help change a dizzyingly challenging world.

And, if we believe that, whether the Board of Ed budget is a worthwhile investment in that future.

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Posted in Economy, Education, Local politics

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Haute, Hot Jewelry

Posted on February 22, 2011 | 7 Comments

As bad and blustery as this winter’s weather has been, it’s a boon to some people:  Snowplow drivers.  Shovel and roof rake sellers.

And a Weston jewelry designer.

Meredith Haute -- wearing her own design earrings and necklace.

Meredith Haute grew up in White Plains.  She worked on Oprah’s 1st website, then became Meryl Streep’s personal assistant.  Visiting the actress’s Litchfield County home, Meredith fell in love with Connecticut.  The beauty of the hills, and the ever-changing seasons, touched her artist’s heart.

But she and her husband ended up in Florida, a state distinctly lacking in both hills and seasons.

After her 1st child was born, Meredith turned a love into a business.  She sold antique and vintage jewelry.  She learned how to repair 80-year-old pieces — and decided to try her hand at making her own.

A year ago last Thanksgiving, Meredith and her husband moved north.  They chose Weston because of its beautiful setting.  They enjoyed their 1st 4 seasons — but this winter threw them for a loop.

The pine trees in Meredith’s backyard were the only ones not devastated by weeks of snow.  Inspired by their hardiness, she designed a pair of pine needle-themed earrings.

Dreaming of spring, she created other jewelry evoking cherry blossoms.

Stores in the tri-state area loved Meredith’s work — all sterling and gold vermeil.  They ordered on the spot.  Suzie Creamcheese in Westport is a local outlet.

Meredith Haute's pine tree-inspired work...

Meredith’s designs follow trends:  Her earrings are “bigger and shapelier” than those in the past, she says.  At the same time “people say they’re new and fresh-looking.”

Meredith’s jewelry features “lots of hoops and marquee shapes,” she says.  “They’re bold yet delicate — not gaudy.”

Still, one Westport store owner told Meredith her jewelry was “not big and jeweled enough.”

That was fine.  “I’d rather be in fewer stores, and keep the designs true to myself,” Meredith says.

As the economy wobbles to its feet, what’s the market for custom jewelry?

“The high, high end — super-jewelry — is doing well,” Meredith reports.

“I use sterling, gold filled, semi-precious metals,” she says.  “Because of the economy I have to price myself a little lower than I would have in the past 3 or 4 years.

Yet she can’t go too low — silver is expensive.  “I’m fine-tuning my prices all the time,” Meredith notes.

Her line retails for $5o to $300.  Her biggest sellers are in the middle:  $70 to $150.

...and one that evokes cherry blossoms.

Though this winter was tough for many people, Meredith’s business is taking off.  She is interviewing for her 1st sales reps, and may hire a PR firm.  She might exhibit at upcoming shows, and is ready to approach Henri Bendel.  “If someone is established, he’ll take a look,” Meredith says.

Meanwhile — though winter provided great inspiration — like everyone else in Connecticut, Meredith is ready for spring.

“I can’t wait!” she says.  “I can’t believe it snowed again this week!”

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