A Message to High School Students

hi

my name’s paul feiner and some of you

may know me as a greenberg town

supervisor

in 1973 47 years ago

i was just like you i was a student

at scarcel high school and was so

excited

to run for my first office scarsdale

high school student council president

i had lots of ideas i wanted to put

benches outside for students to eat

something they did not have

i wanted an all-weather track

i had my first lesson in politics losing

even though i lost i never gave up on

the platform

and ideas i believed in at least two of

the platform ideas i pushed were

implemented

today there’s an all-weather track at

scarsdale high school

and there’s also outside seating in

front

of the school and even though i lost my

first election

i learned lessons about campaigning

running for

office and it helped me get elected to

the county board of legislators

i was elected as a westchester

legislator four times

and i was elected and re-elected as

greenberg town supervisor

um we’re the largest town in westchester

for over 29 years

it’s my hope that each of you will speak

out on issues that concern all of you

do the right thing work hard and don’t

be afraid to speak out

don’t be afraid to accomplish things

which are

difficult and don’t feel you should only

push for goals

which you are sure you can easily attain

another message i’d like to make in my

ted talk

is failure to succeed

you need to learn how to fail my

experience

running for student council president

helped me win other officers later in my

life

what turned out to be a big

disappointment in high school

led to a very rewarding career after law

school

i will never forget the disappointment i

had applying for a job with a very

prestigious

new york city law firm i had a fantastic

first interview and i was called back

for a second interview

i was ecstatic i was sure i’d get the

job

i got a third interview and what

happened

i never heard back i was so disappointed

disappointed i waited behind behind my

phone i called them

they didn’t talk to me i walked into

their offices they saw me

and they ran the other way i sent them a

stamped

self-addressed envelope asking them to

check off

yes or no did i get the job

no but my experiences being treated with

so little respect

and feeling so low and disgusted after

the job interview

helped me become more empathetic and as

town

supervisor i have helped hundreds of

people find jobs

when somebody is out of work and they go

come to me

i want to help them failure

is an important part of learning and

growing

don’t be embarrassed to fail learn from

each failure

did you know abraham lincoln whose

statue is behind me

lost eight elections he failed in

business

and he had a nervous breakdown he could

have quit

many times but he never did joseph biden

who recently became the democratic

nominee for president

tried to become president for 30 years

he also never quit ronald reagan

lost presidential races barack obama

lost a congressional race

a perfect example of losing is thomas

edison

thomas edison tried over ten thousand

times to

invent a commercially viable electric

light bulb

he never gave up and walt disney

was fired for not having imagination

even geniuses get rejected

who would reject albert einstein

somebody did albert einstein sent many

applications for jobs in his early 20s

after graduating college it took two

years and many

applications for einstein to get his job

in 1907 einstein received

a rejection letter for the position of

associate professor

at the university of byrne failure is a

step to take

before you succeed think of jonas salk

who experienced four years before the

vaccine was discovered to

eradicate polio think of all the

failures in finding a vaccine for covid

i always tell people when they’re

looking for a job and they’re frustrated

they’ve been waiting and waiting and

waiting keep getting rejected

said try getting a hundred rejections

because every rejection you get will

make it one step closer

to getting the job another message i

have is to work hard

be persistent don’t give up when i was

16

i headed up a group called the tales for

us for bikeways we wanted westchester to

build

the first bikeway in westchester county

on the bronx river parkway

the county executive wasn’t really that

interested the board of legislators was

not interested

but i organized a committee i called

legislators at home

i wrote letters to the editors i met

with editorial page editors

and persuaded them to write editorials i

attended

every meeting of the county board of

legislators

in short i was in pain in the neck a

gaff fly

an annoyance an irritant one day

the minority leader of the westchester

county board of legislators

called me up sat me down and offered me

a deal

he and the legislature would approve the

first

bikeway to be built in westchester on

the bronx river parkway

if i would agree not to show up at any

meeting of the board of legislators for

six months

i made my deal and we accomplished what

we set out to

we got the bronx river parkway first

bikeway

built which is still in place and since

the early 1970s

more and more bike paths have been built

in westchester

and the entire region we recently

have seen the south county trail become

a bikeway the north county trail

from all the way from the bronx to

putnam county

and most recently a bike path was built

on the mario como bridge

another message i have is please speak

out

in recent years i have the privilege of

working with many students from area

high schools

a sixth grader in edgemont is organizing

an effort to persuade the town to build

a sidewalk in edgemont

she has spoken out a town board meetings

been interviewed by tv stations

that cover the metropolitan area other

students are promoting composting

during the snowstorms students have

headed up

a snow angels program in town they’re

offering to clear

driveways of snow for senior citizens

and people

with disabilities during the recent

coven 19 pandemic

other students have volunteered their

time delivering

food for the elderly this past summer

we created a student summer internship

program

and we had over 40 students some from

scarsdale

high school who produced public service

announcements about

wearing masks during covet or coming up

with safety tips

so we could avoid pedestrian or motorist

accidents green verdicts experienced

some

fatalities in the past year

another message i have which is easier

said

than done is do not be jealous

however hard work remains a critical

factor in accomplishing your goals in

life

regardless of how tired you are of

hearing it

some people find accomplishing

educational goals very very easy

you don’t have to study but you get

straight a’s

but other people always struggle

some people are instantly popular in

school

they’re part of the a crowd they

effortlessly

navigate the social scene at school and

other people

find it very very difficult and anxiety

provoking

some individuals have access to great

resources

others do not we are extremely

different none of us are better or worse

than anybody else

however the indicator of whom you become

and what you accomplish

it often relates to how much you want it

if you want something bad enough

you can find a way to get there maybe

the road’s going to be steeper

or a more difficult climb but if you

work hard you’ll be successful and if

you don’t work hard

you won’t be successful sometimes the

person

who might have been left out at high

school becomes more successful than

somebody who had it

all in high school do not be

afraid to do what is right even if it’s

not popular

when i was a little older than you in

1977 i

organized an effort to persuade the

scarsdale town club to admit women as

members

scarsdale had a nonpartisan system

candidates ran

unopposed for mayor and trustee

traditionally the nonpartisan system

selected as the mayor of scarsdale

somebody who previously was president of

the scarsdale town club

but the town club excluded woman

so to be mayor you have to be a man and

i don’t think that was

fear we had an equal rights

people are pushing for an equal rights

amendment and scars they’ll certainly

did not practice that scarsdale town

club members

loved the tradition that they had for

years

they claimed that having women as

members of the town club

would be a big distraction and make it

difficult for them to do the work of

overseeing town government

again this is 1977 not 1877.

some have tried unsuccessfully for years

to persuade the town club that women

should have a voice

in scarsdale government and nothing ever

happened so i decided to get involved

i organized a group called people for a

whole town club

i went door to door i collected over 1

000 signatures of people who are active

in the community

who supported women’s rights i got

nowhere

then i came up with an idea i wrote to

the new york state board of education

and i questioned whether the school

district could could exclude women

from attending meetings in a public

building they said

women could not be excluded women could

then

attend meetings and distract men but

they were only

observers for a period of time so i

called the national organization of

women

we picketed the town club before every

meeting

as people were entering the meeting they

were

greeted by picketers we call the

national

and local tv stations and the vote was

scheduled

and the town club said they were going

to vote to admit women

as members but what happened was many of

the leaders of the town club

were prominent leaders in the new york

city area they were influenced by peer

pressure at the local level

and had supported a discriminatory

policy they were actually proud of it

but when they faced

tv cameras taping their vote

they did not want to embarrass

themselves professionally and they chose

to do the right thing

so women were admitted as members of the

town club

and we’ve had some woman mayors of

scarsdale since that time

right after i graduated law school i

worked on another issue

one day i realized that the trains were

not

operating efficiently the trains were

packed like sardines the windows didn’t

open

it was 100 degrees inside trains got

stuck

and at grand central tunnel for over an

hour and i decided to do something about

it

so i asked residents if they wanted to

start a bus service from scarsdale and

hartsdeal to new york city

i called a bus company uh he asked if we

could rent a few buses i thought it

would be simple

but it wasn’t i went to the hartsdale

train station

in the town of greenberg and started

handing out questionnaires

within an hour the greenberg police

approached me because somebody

complained

and told me that if i did not leave they

would arrest me i was a recent graduate

of

saint john’s law school and did not want

to be disbarred before i even started my

career

so i left but i contacted the associated

press

and the controversy received front page

news coverage

metro north back down i continued my

questionnaire

rented three buses and the commuters

loved the service

until the county of westchester new york

city and the village of scarsdale fought

back

my bus service was kicked off central

avenue

new york city kicked us off fifth avenue

on madison avenue and scarcity

kicked just off venomous road and my

service was

all volunteer i did not get paid the

county started an express bus service to

new york city

that was subsidized bigger and better

than mine

the lesson although my service was

finally terminated

and promoted promoted the county to

start

its own service which turned out to be

better than the one i could have done

alone i dare to improve service showed

it was possible

i embarrassed the powers to be they

addressed the important safety issue

and residents of westchester now have

bus service

another message is do the right thing

the right thing is very subjective

what’s right for me may be wrong for

somebody else

and always be open to reconsider your

values

and understand that they will change as

your experience grows

don’t be rigid many of our national

leaders have changed their views on

civil rights

abortion climate change gay rights

and other issues your views may also one

day change on social issues

there is nothing more important in your

life than personal integrity

and living with your actions and values

and feeling good

about the choices you make keep in mind

while being secure in your beliefs

others within your world will be

struggling through the same process

and will develop opinions and direct

opposition to yours

the ability to listen openly to other

opinions

even when they strongly fly in the face

of your own as an

important part of having integrity one

of the most important lessons you can

learn is respect for differences

the concept of success is also

subjective

for some great wealth and power equals

success

for others being a good parent and

partner equals success

for others making the world a better uh

place

means success establishing for yourself

what success

is might and will determine your

your level of fulfillment going forward

be courageous

press your limits and don’t fear failure

work hard with the understanding that

although

others might find the road to success

easier or might begin with greater

access and resources

succeeding on your own using your own

will

and hard work is most gratifying do the

right thing

do not ever compromise your sense of

right and wrong

but remain open to change and new ideas

and have a healthy respect for

differences as there is something to

learn from everyone

a number of years ago i met john glenn

the astronaut who was the first american

to or

to orbit the earth in 1962.

mr glenn who was then the senators told

me to reach for the stars

i say to all of you reach for the stars

challenge your ex yourself to excel in

life

and be happy i want to thank

scarcity all tedx for providing me with

this opportunity

to talk to you thank you so much