Gasoline prices dictate consumer behavior, which during the summer months sometimes means the difference between a vacation and a “staycation.” The high cost of gasoline and home heating oil is also causing government leaders to think differently about our budgets via sales tax revenues. This month county leaders received a report on the close-out of 2010 finances, which were largely affected by higher-than-expected sales tax revenues. These favorable revenue reports, after many years of dismal reports, allowed us to move forward with consensus on projects requiring both spending and borrowing.After two years of revenue shortfalls and unanticipated expenditures for state mandates, 2010 was a year of conservative budgeting. We saw layoffs, department consolidations and program eliminations to keep our spending in check with anticipated revenue shortfalls that did not come. Instead, 2010 ended with total revenues of $436.7 million and total expenditures of $427.8 million for a positive difference of $8.9 million. As a result, we did not have to use the $12.6 million in general fund balance that was in the 2010 budget.Sales tax growth is approximately 8 percent higher than last year at this time. If sales tax growth continues at the current rate, we could realize an additional $5 million over the 2011 budget estimate.Despite optimistic revenue reports, the expense side is still worrisome. There was a $5.9 million increase in state mandated costs and a $5.2 million increase in employee benefits primarily for state pension and health insurance.The biggest 2010 expense was economic assistance to the poor administered by the Department of Social Services (31.7 percent), including $40.3 million for Medicaid. In this tough economy, social service clients have increased more than 57 percent since 2007. Food stamps are up 97 percent from December 2007. Medicaid is up 40 percent. Safety Net is up 22 percent. Temporary Assistance is up 39 percent. The county has little control over these state-mandated programs.General government support was the second highest expense (14.9 percent) followed by health (13.9 percent), but which together do not equal the cost of social services. Public safety came in fourth at 12.8 percent, followed by employee benefits (11.7 percent), including $38.3 million for employee health insurance and pension costs. Contrast these with the cost of debt service for issued bonds at 3.4 percent.Recognizing a profitable year grounded in prudent budgeting and perhaps a possible turn in the economy, in July the county Legislature moved forward with several long-standing needs including projects that heretofore had been placed on hold due to the sluggish economy. We passed bonds that together total more than $10 million dollars spread out over the life of the bonds. These include the construction of a new medical examiner’s office, upgrades to our county parks (which are seeing continued public use by those on staycations), highway vehicle purchases, energy upgrades and highway and bridge repairs. The Legislature scrutinized each bond, oversaw lengthy and vigorous debate but in the end passed each, many unanimously and all with bipartisan support.In this climate there is no pride in government spending or borrowing. However, there is some contentment to be had in recognizing when to move progress forward.Michael Kelsey represents Amenia, Washington, Stanford, Pleasant Valley and Millbrook in the County Legislature. Write him at KelseyESQ@yahoo.com.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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