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