First Selectman Kevin Christie is seeking registered Westport voters to serve on the town’s appointed boards, commissions and committees.
The most immediate need: the Flood & Erosion Control Board. They lack a quorum, making it difficult to act on matters affecting the community. Residents interested in flood resilience, coastal management, environmental stewardship, engineering, planning or related fields are encouraged to apply.
Members of most of Westport’s non-elected boards, commissions and committees are appointed by the first selectman.
The town welcomes volunteers from all professions, backgrounds, life experiences and political affiliations interested in contributing time and expertise to the community.
In addition to the immediate need for Flood & Erosion Control Board members, these agencies have vacancies or upcoming term expirations
A representative is also needed for the Aquarion Water Authority Representative Policy Board. With representatives from each municipality in Aquarion’s service area, it is responsible for approving water rates and overseeing key aspects of the Authority’s governance.
Board and commission opportunities may be appealing to residents with experience in architecture, construction, engineering, environmental sciences, housing, finance or public policy.
Prior board or committee experience is not required. Anyone interested in learning more about town government, participating in public service, and contributing thoughtful perspectives is encouraged to apply.
“Westport has long benefited from residents who generously volunteer their time and talents in service to the community,” Christie says.
“Whether you bring professional expertise or simply a desire to get involved, I encourage you to consider serving on one of our boards or commissions. Your voice and perspective can help shape the future of our community.”
The family of Ed Karazin has published his obituary. It says:
The Honorable Edward Robert Karazin, Jr. of Westport, Connecticut died peacefully after a brief illness, surrounded by loved ones, on July 10. He was 86.
Ed spent the last year of his life celebrating more than 6 decades of marriage to his wife, Irene “Renie” Karazin, and living each day as a caring and involved father and grandfather.
Ed was born in Queens, New York. His father, Edward Sr., was an electrician who moved the family to Westport and started a company, Home Maintenance, when Ed was in 3rd grade.
Ed attended Greens Farms Elementary School, Bedford Junior High School and Staples High School, graduating in 1957.
He was the first person in his family to attend college. He studied economics at Boston College, graduating in 1961. He was passionate about BC and its sports teams (even taking his family to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl in 1985 to see Doug Flutie lead the team to victory). After college Ed attended Fordham Law School, commuting daily from Westport, and earned his J.D. in 1964.
Ed and Renie were married in 1965. To fulfill his ROTC obligation, they moved to Fort Gordon, Georgia, where Ed was assigned to spend 2 years as an Army civil affairs officer.
But in November of 1965 he was sent to Vietnam for a 1-year tour of duty in the Pacification Program in Quang Tin Province, as a MACV advisor. He earned both a Bronze Star. The Vietnamese government awarded him the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross.
Edward Karazin Jr.
After his discharge Ed began a legal career in Westport. He served as an assistant prosecuting attorney for the state, then worked in private practice as a trial lawyer representing clients in civil cases and family law matters.
In 1990 Ed was nominated to a state Superior Court judgeship. He served in that capacity until becoming a judge trial referee in 2010, a job he held until the day he died. For several years he was the chief administrative judge in Stamford.
Ed was involved in the Westport community. He served as a Little League coach and board member, Pop Warner board member, lector at Assumption Church, board member of the Levitt Pavilion, and member of the Board of Finance.
He led the annual Veterans Day ceremony at the Stamford courthouse, spoke at the Westport Veterans Day event, was a member of VFW Post 399, and provided many hours of pro bono legal services for veterans.
Ed served as treasurer for Julie Belaga’s gubernatorial campaign in 1986. He was also an adjunct professor at Western Connecticut State University.
Ed received many honors, including the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association Judicial Award in 2010, the Fairfield County Bar Association’s Robert J. Callahan Judiciary Award in 2017 for “dedication to the highest professional ideals, and long-term conscientious service to the community as a judge,” and in 2021 he was inducted into the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame.
In 2025, Ed was selected to be grand marshal of the Westport Memorial Day parade.
Ed Karazin served as grand marshal of the 2025 Memorial Day parade. He was joined by his wife Renie. (Photo/Tom Feeley)
Ed’s top priority throughout his life was being a devoted husband, and loving father to his children Edward Robert Karazin III, Deborah Karazin Owens and Michael Alfred Karazin. He filled their lives with humor, support, advice, and life stories.
He coached their sports teams, wrote them lengthy letters at summer camp, and attended their concerts and performances. He taught them important life skills such as how to drive and care for a car (never let the gas tank get under a quarter), how to fish and boat, how to make perfect mashed potatoes (cold butter, warm milk), and how to mix a spectacular cocktail.
He instilled in them a solid work ethic (there was always weeding to be done), respect for history (he pulled out the Declaration of Independence every 4th of July), zest for life (all it took was some ‘50s music for him to start singing along), and an understanding of the value of a dollar (he was a coupon clipper and packed his lunch till the end).
Ed took great pride in being a grandparent, often wearing T-shirts representing the schools his grandchildren attended, and never failing to press a few dollars of “walkin’ around money” into their hands at the end of a visit. He often told them about a legal case he was working on, describing the scenario and how each party had acted. Then he would ask, “What would the judge do?” They would debate, engage, and learn to examine all sides of a complex problem.
Ed Karazin in uniform, on Veterans Day.
During the last decade Ed and Renie spent winters in Palm Desert, California, where they developed a strong community of friends. Ed was a clutch member of the bocce team DeBoccery, and won weekly prizes in the “Putters” league, where he was the 2024-25 champion.
He loved orchids, was a huge sports fan (“let’s go Mets”), was always on time, made homemade applesauce, told great “dad” jokes, enjoyed a good hot dog, and he loved vacations and traveling with Renie.
He had a chore list for any able-bodied person who came over to his house, he supported the arts, and he especially enjoyed an upbeat musical. He loved people, and a good conversation.
Ed’s last day of life was remarkable. He spoke to every grandchild on the phone, said his goodbyes and imparted last words of wisdom. He was listening to “Blueberry Hill,” his favorite song by Fats Domino, as he passed on.
Ed was predeceased by his sister Ann Milo. He is survived by his wife Renie, and their children and grandchildren: Edward and Ursula Karazin (Christopher, Reilly, Amanda), Deborah and Jeffrey Owens (Katherine and Jack), and Michael Karazin (Kayla, Chloe, Zachary, Emma).
Visitation will take place on Friday, August 21 (4 to 7 p.m., Shaughnessey Banks Funeral Home, 50 Reef Road, Fairfield). A Mass of Christian Burial is set for Saturday, August 22 (10 a.m., Church of the Assumption_. Interment with military honors will follow at Willowbrook Cemetery.
The last time we mentioned Josh Suggs, the 2021 Staples High School graduate had just been featured in the Wall Street Journal.
Yesterday, the 23-year-old was seen by an even bigger audience: NBC’s “Today” show.
Brian Cheung interviewed him about Street Talk. That’s the company he formed, after dropping out of Syracuse University. It is “disrupting advertising,” Cheung said.
Josh’s route to social entrepreneurship started in Westport, he told “Today.” As a 14-year-old, he got free haircuts for social media posts.
When a Syracuse friend paid Josh $2,000 for 30 street interviews, a light bulb went off. Today, Street Talk earns 8 figures in revenue by conducting authentic, unscripted street interviews that companies large and small can use as brand ads.
“I bet on myself, and the future fo social media,” Josh said.
RERUN: Last fall’s story was not the first to feature Josh Suggs. Click here to read this one, from 2016. It features Josh and his great Bedford Middle School friend, Jamie Mann. A fellow SHS grad, Jamie has also made a name for himself in New York: on Broadway.
Congratulations to Russell Greenberg and Gadi Slade!
The Chabad of Westport friends recently participated in the Maccabi Games in Israel (aka “the Jewish Olympics”). Over 5,000 athletes attended, including 900 from the US.
Greenberg swam in the Masters division, and captained his team. He captured gold in the 65-69 age group in the 100 meter freestyle, then added silver medals in the 50 free, 50 butterfly and 200 free. He was also part of 3 silver medal relays. Greenberg called the competition “the highlight of my swimming career.”
Slade’s story starts in 1932. A blonde, blue-eyed Jew from Frankfurt traveled to Tel Aviv where, by chance, the 1st Maccabi Games were being held. She met a doctor from Galilee. They exchanged phone numbers and addresses. But she returned to Germany and did not think about him.
Six months later, Hitler came to power. Nine months after that, the German woman and her parents fled to Haifa, where she knew just one person: the doctor from the Maccabi Games. They got together, fell in love, and were married. Slade is their grandson.
He planned to gain citizenship in Ecuador, make the national basketball team, and play in the Atlanta Olympics — all to get into Harvard Business School.
When that failed, he tried out in 1997 (also unsuccessfully) for the inaugural Maccabi USA field hockey team. Finally, this year he make the Games for masters table tennis. He won a gold medal in the team competition.
94 years after his grandparents met, Gadi marched in the opening ceremony with his son Leo (who also participated in table tennis, for 16 and under).
“The medal was a nice surprise, but for me just being there and wearing the Team USA shirt was my definition of victory,” Slade says.
Gadi Slade (left) and Russell Greenberg, with Maccabi medals.
Between email, texts and now AI, we’ve forgotten how to have conversations with actual human beings we don’t know.
Help is near.
Staples High School Class of 2012 graduate Tom Karrel has just published “The Lost Art of Random Conversations: How One Conversation with a Stranger Will Change the Way You Connect with Everyone.”
Drawing on over 10,000 hours of group facilitation experience across nearly 50 countries, Karrel offers practical tools and honest stories to help readers break through phone addiction, overcome social anxiety and loneliness, and create real world connections.
Every Thursday for several years, VFW Post 399 has hosted 2 jazz shows. They kick off at 7:30 and 8:45.
Now, every other Thursday, the Dave Kardas Band plays original jazz, blues and rock, right before (5:30 to 7:15 p.m.). Upcoming dates are tonight (July 31), August 13 and 27, and September 10.
The music is free. There’s happy hour food and drink prices too.
Westport Police made 2 custodial arrests between July 22 and 28.
A 50-year-old Fairfield man was charged with evading responsibility, traveling too fast for conditions, failure to drive right and reckless endangerment, following 2 notifications on Sturges Highway from iPhone crash detection. Two calls were made, and the man denied being involved in an accident. However, a witness reported a damaged and disabled Tesla unoccupied in the middle of the road, and a man walking away. An investigation determined that the vehicle left the road twice, striking several large rocks. He was released on a $5,000 bond.
A 68-year-old Westport woman was charged with driving the wrong way on a 1-way street, interfering with an officer and failure to appear, following an investigation into an April incident on Franklin Street. The woman approached an officer driving the wrong way. After being signaled to stop, she rolled up her window and attempted to change direction multiple times. When she stopped she was argumentative with officers. She refused to exit the vehicle, and engaged in a physical struggle. She was released on $3,500 bonds.
Westport Police also issued these citations:
Texting while driving: 21 citations
Traveling unreasonably fast: 9
Failure to obey stop sign: 8
Failure to comply with state traffic commission regulations 8
Failure to renew registration: 4
Failure to obey traffic control signals: 4
Operating a motor vehicle under suspension: 2
Operating a motor vehicle without a license: 2
Failure to insure motor vehicle: 2
Distracted driving: 2
Following too closely: 2
Improper use of markers: 2
Operating an unregistered motor vehicle: 1
Speeding: 1
School zone violation: 1
Disorderly conduct: 1
Criminal mischief: 1
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A crepe myrtle tree makes its first-ever “Westport … Naturally” appearance today. This beauty is on Compo Road South.
And finally … in honor of Tom Karrel, and his book on how to have a conversation (story above):
(Speaking of conversations: Let’s talk! If you appreciate even a small part of this hyper-local blog, please consider clicking here to support our work. We rely on you — our readers — so thank you!)
Bill Harmer is in his 10th year as director of the Westport Library. In his new Substack, “The Civic Library.” he offers personal reflections on public libraries, civic life, leadership, culture, and the role public institutions can still play in helping communities learn, gather and belong.
He began with this piece. It explains the belief that has shaped his entire career: that a library is not ultimately defined by its building, but by the promise it makes to the people it serves.
It is thoughtful, inspiring and important. “06880” asked Bill for permission to repost it here.
Port Huron, Michigan, a blue-collar border town wedged against Canada, is where I grew up. Lake Huron was present from the beginning. Hockey was, too.
My dad and I spent many Saturday mornings outside before sunrise, carrying hockey equipment through the cold for a seven o’clock game. Afterward, we had a ritual. We would get Coney Island hot dogs with chili, mustard, and onions from the place across from the rink, then cross the street to the Carnegie Library.
The building was not especially impressive. It was simple, unassuming, and made of brick. It looked more like a one-room schoolhouse than a cathedral of learning.
But it felt enormous to me.
Carnegie Library, Port Huron, Michigan
I remember the quiet when we walked in. The smell of old paper. The sense that I could move around without anyone asking why I was there.
Getting my first library card felt like a huge deal. That card set me free. I could not drive yet, but it took me places. I did not need a teacher or parent to tell me what to read. I could browse the stacks, pick up whatever caught my attention, and decide for myself what I wanted to learn.
That was my first understanding of what a library could be.
Not a building. A promise.
A promise that knowledge does not belong only to those who can afford it. A promise that everyone should have a place to learn, discover, imagine, and begin again. A promise that a community is stronger when people have somewhere to gather without having to buy something, prove something, or already know where they are going.
Years later, when I became the director of a public library, that memory stayed with me. It was more than a childhood recollection. It became a leadership principle.
Bill Harmer (Photo/Ryan Allen)
A library is not defined by its walls, its square footage, its circulation statistics, or even its collection. It is defined by the public promise it keeps.
Too often, public libraries describe themselves in terms that are smaller than the work itself. We talk about books, programs, databases, meeting rooms, Wi-Fi, storytimes, and summer reading. All of that matters. Books matter. Access matters.
But we sell the library short when that is all we say.
Today’s library is not simply a place where people come to check things out. It is one of the few remaining public places where people can enter freely, spend time, ask questions, run into a neighbor, hear an unexpected idea, make something new, or sit quietly because they need somewhere to be.
Access matters, but it is not the same as belonging.
A door can be open and people can still wonder whether the place is meant for them.
We can do more than open the door.
The Westport Library’s doors are open many hours a day. (Photo/Michael Chait)
When I came to The Westport Library in 2015, I was hired in part to lead what became known as the Transformation Project, a $21 million renovation and capital campaign. We reconsidered nearly every part of the building, and the new Library opened in 2019.
But the work was never simply about construction.
The harder question was what all that space should make possible.
The building had to do more than look better. It had to reflect the creative energy of the community around it and give that energy somewhere to go.
That question became the center of the work.
We removed walls and opened sightlines. We brought in light. A conventional reading room became a public forum where people could gather, listen, debate, study, perform, celebrate, and sometimes grieve. We created Verso Studios, a media production center where people could record music, make films and podcasts, and learn the tools of modern storytelling. We also built spaces for education, conversation, and making things.
One of many events at the Westport Library.
The point was not the rooms themselves. The point was what could happen inside them.
A child could browse a picture book. A teenager could record a podcast. A filmmaker could edit a documentary. An author could speak to a full room. A retired resident could take a class and discover something new about the world or about themselves.
I do not believe that is mission drift.
I believe it is the mission coming fully into life.
The public library has always been one of the few institutions in American life where people are welcomed without a transaction. There is no purchase required. No membership fee. No explanation needed.
You simply enter.
That feels more radical now than it did when I was a kid.
Westport Library patrons feel at home throughout the building — including the innovative Trefz Forum.
Public life has become more commercial, more digital, and more divided. Many of the places where people once gathered now require a purchase, an invitation, or a password.
The library remains open.
But that does not happen by accident. The promise has to be protected. It also has to stretch.
Some people worry that innovation will cause libraries to lose their way. I think the greater danger is confusing old methods with enduring values.
The card catalog became a search engine. The reading room became a public forum. The study carrel became a podcast booth. None of that abandoned the mission. It allowed the mission to keep moving.
The best innovation does not take us away from the library’s original promise. It brings us back to it.
One of my deepest beliefs is that the community itself is the collection.
Every town is full of people who know things.
Artists, teachers, business owners, veterans, scientists, musicians, parents, elders, tradespeople, and people carrying hard-earned wisdom they may never have thought of as knowledge worth sharing.
They know how to repair, write, cook, build, teach, survive, and imagine.
Books matter, but knowledge does not live only in books. It also lives in people.
Westport TV personalities like Alisyn Camerota and Dave Briggs regularly donate their time to the Westport Library.
The library’s work is not simply to distribute information. It is to help knowledge move.
That changes the role of the librarian.
A librarian still helps someone find the book. But the work can also mean finding the teacher, the tool, the room, the workshop, the person, or the courage to take the next step.
The librarian becomes a convener, a host, an interpreter, a connector, a teacher, an advocate, and sometimes a witness.
I resist narrow definitions of what a library is allowed to be.
A teaching kitchen can expand literacy into food, health, culture, and family life. A media studio can give people access to the tools of modern storytelling. A music or literary festival can place the library at the center of a community’s cultural life. A room built for civil discourse can help neighbors practice the difficult work of listening to one another.
That is not abandoning the mission.
That is taking the mission seriously.
Bringing artists like Wyclef Jean — and connecting them to audiences — is one of the Westport Library’s many missions. (Photo/Kerry Long)
Public libraries are not nice extras. They are part of the infrastructure a community needs in order to learn, adapt, create, and remain human.
We have simply grown too accustomed to describing the work modestly.
Of course, the work is not always inspiring.
Anyone who has spent time leading a public library knows this.
There are budgets to fight for and balance, boards to work with, buildings to maintain, staff cultures to nurture, political pressures to navigate, patrons in crisis, public criticism, personal fatigue, and plenty of days when the mission feels buried under email.
Westport Library
I have wanted to quit more than a few times.
Not because I stopped believing in libraries. Often, it was because I believed in them so much that the gap between what they could be and what the work demanded felt impossible to close.
Leadership in a public library can be creative, joyful, and full of purpose. It can also be bruising, isolating, and misunderstood.
Still, something keeps bringing me back.
A child laughing during storytime. A teenager recording a song in the studio. A donor realizing that a gift can make something possible for people they may never meet. A packed room listening carefully during a difficult conversation. A person walking through the door without knowing exactly what they need, only that they need somewhere to go.
That is what keeps me in the work.
Because the library is not the building.
The building matters. Design matters. Beauty matters. Light, sound, furniture, technology, and flow all matter. They tell people what kind of place they have entered. They can intimidate or invite. They can open possibility or quietly shut it down.
But the building is not the promise.
The promise is deeper.
It is the promise that a person can walk through the door without having everything figured out. They may find a book, a class, a conversation, a place to sit, or someone willing to help.
Sometimes the library gives people information. Sometimes it gives them confidence. Sometimes it simply interrupts a lonely afternoon.
None of that is small.
Everyone can find a place at the Westport Library. This is the view from the children’s section. (Photo/Collette Winn)
That was the promise I first felt as a boy in skates and a winter coat, wandering the stacks after a hockey game.
I have spent my career trying to understand that promise, build around it, defend it, and extend it.
Public libraries must keep making that promise now.
The Staples High School graduate had just started working for the Boston Red Sox, as an operations and equipment intern during spring training.
Max prepared well for that job. A 4-year student manager for the University of Delaware baseball team, and valued member of the athletic department, he’d overcome a substantial speech and language disability. The story celebrated his success.
That was just the start. On Monday, Delaware’s UDaily did their own story on Max. “Opening Doors Through Inclusion” covered his 16 years since graduation.
These days, Max works in golf operations at La Gorce Country Club in Miami Beach, and is a team attendant for the Miami Heat. Over the years he has worked for premier golf clubs, and held operational roles with the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and U.S. Open. Soon, he’ll return to the tennis Open as a court attendant.
He speaks on disability issues at national conferences and industry events. And he volunteers with Special Olympics.
Oh yeah: UD’s former baseball team called Max “the best team manager we ever had.” The program’s Rookie of the Year Award in named in his honor.
Max says, “I am still grateful for my 4 years at Staples that launched me to greater heights. I always catch a Wreckers game or two when I’m back home.”
The Pan-Mass Challenge is a near-200-mile 2-day bike ride, from Worcester to Provincetown.
But despite its Massachusetts roots — and its fundraising efforts for Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute — the annual event has a strong Westport presence.
This weekend, the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) member participates in his 6th Pan-Mass Challenge.
“The Pan-Mass Challenge is an amazing reminder of what people can accomplish when they decide to do something difficult together,” Drake says. “It also reminds me for weeks afterward that no amount of training makes a bicycle seat comfortable.”
For Drake — who is part of local team Velominati — the ride is about supporting the patients, families, doctors and researchers confronting cancer every day.
Many riders participate in honor or memory of someone affected by cancer. More than 1,100 riders and volunteers this year are cancer survivors or current patients, .
“Nearly all of us have watched cancer affect someone we love,” he says. “The miles can be brutal, but they are nothing compared with what patients and their families endure. Riding, raising awareness and raising funds are simply small ways I can help.”
What we did not know — or we definitely would have mentioned it — is that we’re smack dab in the middle of Shark Week. (For those of you who prefer to be outdoors — cautiously — in the summer, rather than watching TV, that’s an annual Discovery Channel promotion.)
On Monday, “06880” reported on plans for a 2-story indoor sports facility, on the present site of Bar Lupa restaurant, Izzo & Son Country Gardens, and Furniture on Consignment II.
That night, the Planning & Zoning Commission looked favorably on the pre-application presented by the Redniss & Mead land use firm.
Westport native Andrew Bangser looked up the location — 1431 Post Road East — on Google Maps.
A nearby building was labeled “Arnie’s Place.”
(Screenshot courtesy of Andrew Bangser)
Most Westporters know it as “the former site of Balducci’s.” It’s been closed for nearly half a year.
And, as Andrew points out, Arnie’s Place — the once-controversial, now long-lamented video arcade — met its end a decade before Larry Page and Sergey Brin began building a rudimentary search engine in their Stanford University dorm room.
A 2-vehicle accident at noon yesterday, on Post Road East in front of Redi-Cut Carpet, snapped a utility pole and forced the extrication of the occupant of a truck.
Two people were taken to the hospital, with injuries.
Since 2002, the Malloy Lecture in the Arts — supported by the last Westport artist Susan Malloy — has brought creative artists like Salman Rushdie, Roz Chast and Kelli O’Hara to the Westport Library stage.
This year’s guest is Amor Towles. The best-selling author will speak with writer and editor Stephanie Klose about his career, and novels like “A Gentleman in Moscow,” “The Lincoln Highway” and “Table for Two” that have captivated millions of readers around the world. Click here for more information.
Amor Towles
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The serious business of school kicks in sooner than anyone realizes.
A few days before, the Westport Country Playhouse offers a “Silly Dilly Concert,” fun for the whole family.
The Saturday, August 22 show (4 p.m.) features over 20 songs, right out of Alan Katz’s parody books. Click here for tickets; click here or below for a sneak peek.
And finally … Freddy Cannon — the singer of classic pop/rock songs like “Palisades Park, “Tallahassee Lassie” and “Action” — died Friday in California. He was 89, and had been diagnosed with bladder cancer.
(“06880” is where the action is — 24/7/365. If you come here for news, features, photos, random stuff — or anything else — please click this link, to support our work. Oh baby, come on!)
The Architectural Review Board took another look at Spinnaker’s plan for 175 apartments — and one retail space — last night.
In a low-key, collaborative Town Hall session, members discussed the developer’s pre-application for 606 Riverside Avenue. The property is bordered by Charles Street and Railroad Place. It currently includes Minute Man Cleaners, a parking lot, locksmith and a white residential building.
The ARB is not the Planning & Zoning Commission, chair Ward French noted. His board’s job is to consider aesthetics, not regulations.
Representatives from Spinnaker and Beinfield Architecture explained changes from their previous ARB meeting. The top (6th) floor now consists of lofts for apartments on the floor beneath it, rather than more residences. The building’s 2 garage levels have been lowered by 2 feet each. Setbacks are deeper. And the Riverside Avenue façade has been softened, in response to concerns about its look.
Sketch of the view from Riverside Avenue. Steam Coffee Bar is at left. The existing white residential building (behind Steam) would be retained, Spinnaker says, and possibly moved back from its current site on Riverside Avenue.
Discussion centered on how the buildings would appear from not only street level, but when coming off the train and I-95 exit 17, and driving past on the highway itself.
Questions were raised about its similarity to the Corbin District — 7 acres of 116 apartments, plus retail, restaurants, fitness studios and offices off I-95 Exit 11 in Darien.
Beinfield managing partner Seelan Pather referenced 95, noting that architects cannot design buildings that accommodate every view.
Pre-app discussion also included the Charles Street building, next to the current 4-story office building and across from Zucca Gastrobar. Its “factory aesthetic” design — a nod to Saugatuck’s heritage — would include 3 different brick styles, to break up its bulk.
View from the corner of Riverside Avenue (left) and Charles Street (right). The current 21 Charles Street office building is at far right. The higher new apartments would be set back from the street.
Suggestions were made to change part of the façade to clapboard siding from brick, to fit better with nearby structures.
French said, “I think we’re headed in the right direction, given the alternatives. I’m fearful of what Darien might look like here. This has more resonance.”
Before Saugatuck, the ARB looked at plans for 1460 Post Road East. Sprouts — the Phoenix-based “farmers’ market” chain — will move into the space now occupied by BevMax (and previously, Pier 1, Barnes & Noble, and Westport Lanes bowling alley).
The liquor store will move to the lower level. Julian’s will be relocated to the far eastern end of the shopping plaza.
Board members asked for changes to the side of the building facing the Post Road, citing its length and height.
Proposed entrance to Sprouts, facing the large parking lot to the west of 1460 Post Road East. Concerns were raised about the bulk of the façade to the left of this rendering, fronting Post Road East.
Cabry Lueker graduated from Staples High School in 2024. He studies cconomics at Boston University, and is interested in politics, finance, travel and current events.
He feels passionately about our right to privacy. Cabry writes:
In one month, outside law-enforcement agencies used the generic label “Investigation” in 54,796 searches of data collected by Westport’s license-plate cameras. Most Westport residents probably had no idea those searches were happening.
Cabry Lueker
Every day, most of us willingly trade some privacy for convenience. We install Ring doorbells. We carry phones that know everywhere we have been. We let Google Maps route us to our destinations, while our activity is used to personalize advertisements.
However, there is one form of surveillance in our town that we never meaningfully agreed to: having our movements recorded whenever we drive here.
The Westport Police Department maintains 29 Automatic License Plate Recognition cameras at undisclosed locations throughout town. Twenty are operated through Flock Safety.
More than 436,000 plate detections were recorded by Westport’s Flock cameras in the last 30 days, according to the department’s Flock Transparency Portal. That is more than 14,500 detections per day. The cameras record passing vehicles, regardless of whether their occupants are suspected of any crime.
The “Transparency Portal,” automatically generated by Flock Safety, includes statistics about the system, and a file listing the previous 30 days of searches. But officers’ identities are hidden, case numbers are absent, search results are undisclosed, and many explanations are as vague as “Investigation,” “INV” or “File 1.”
Westport Police told WFSB earlier this year that all users are trained, the system contains guardrails, and a supervisor audits searches twice a month. The department said those audits had found no improper use.
But it is effectively asking residents to accept its conclusion while withholding the information needed to verify it independently. Transparency should mean more than assuring the public that internal safeguards are working.
Flock license plate reader.
Some may say that “it’s just a license plate.” It is not. The cameras record a vehicle’s description, exact location, date and time. Police can then connect a plate to its registered owner through government databases. Collected repeatedly, this information can reveal significant details about a person’s movements.
The larger issue is that the data does not remain solely within Westport’s control. In October 2025, outside agencies used the label “Investigation” in 54,796 searches of Westport camera records. The Louisville Metro Police Department was the most frequent outside user, followed by agencies in Florida and Texas. Immigration- or ICE-related language appeared in at least 11 searches the following month.
Westport Police say they can restrict individual agencies, and do not share information with ICE. However, these records demonstrate how difficult it is to control access once a local surveillance system becomes part of a national network. The Transparency Portal also does not show outside-agency searches, further calling the effectiveness of these guardrails into question.
That concern is reinforced by Westport’s current audit. More than 80% of local searches were configured to include at least 92 agency networks, while almost 40% included at least 251. Two searches included more than 6,000. The department may own the data, but ownership is not the same as control.
License plate recognition cameras can automatically notify authorities of suspected vehicles.
Nationwide, these issues are even more apparent because of the rapid expansion of Flock Safety and other ALPR systems. DeFlock, a crowdsourced organization that maps these cameras, has identified more than 120,000 nationwide.
Last year, a Texas sheriff’s office searched a nationwide network of more than 83,000 Flock cameras while trying to locate a woman who had reportedly obtained an abortion, including in states where abortion was legal. Authorities said her family feared for her safety, but the case still showed how easily the network can be used for controversial purposes far beyond locating stolen vehicles.
Misuse by individual officers is also well documented. The Institute for Justice identified at least 28 reported cases in which officers allegedly used ALPR systems to monitor current or former romantic partners or other romantic interests. In many cases, the conduct was discovered only after the person being tracked complained. In other words, internal safeguards did not prevent the searches.
Even when no one deliberately abuses the system, errors can have serious consequences. A separate Institute for Justice review identified at least 27 cases in which innocent motorists were stopped, detained or jailed because of incorrect information connected to ALPR systems. In nearly 2/3 of those cases, officers reportedly pointed guns at innocent people before discovering the error.
Earlier this year in Arkansas, a Flock camera misread a plate, and officers detained a couple at gunpoint while their 6-week-old baby was in the back seat. In Florida, an innocent driver was jailed for 13 days after police incorrectly connected their vehicle to an accident.
According to Flock marketing materials cited by the Institute for Justice, its cameras correctly capture 93 out of every 100 plates while processing more than 20 billion plate readings each month. An inaccurate reading does not automatically lead to a wrongful stop, but at that scale even a small failure rate can create serious risks.
I understand that Flock cameras have helped Westport Police recover stolen vehicles and a firearm, as highlighted in the “Success Stories” section of its Transparency Portal. There is no doubt that Flock can be a useful investigative tool.
I also deeply respect the work that the Westport Police Department does on a daily basis. However, that does not mean it is immune from criticism or public input. Occasional successes do not justify recording everyone. We must draw the line somewhere.
Some will argue that stricter policies, additional audits or greater transparency are enough. They are not. The problem is not simply a lack of rules. It is the system that Flock and participating police departments have created.
Flock’s value comes from connecting thousands of cameras and agencies into a single searchable network. Policies may reduce the risks, but they cannot eliminate the underlying danger of placing local driving data into a privately operated, multi-agency system — especially in a rapidly shifting federal landscape.
Windsor and Killingworth have already decided that the risks outweigh the benefits. They have terminated their Flock ALPR programs, alongside Los Angeles, Austin, Denver, Cambridge and a growing list of communities.
Westport should be next.
(Last September, Westport Police Chief David Farrell responded to requests for information about the town’s oversight of Flock. Click here for that story.)
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Members of most of Westport’s non-elected boards, commissions and committees are appointed by the first selectman.
