Brookside Farm Museum director tells East Lyme finance board her salary was cut 50% and outlines grant work

Anna Perch, director of the Brookside Farm Museum, told the East Lyme Board of Finance on July 8 that her salary had been cut by roughly 50% and that the reduction threatens the museum’s ability to administer multiple grants and community programs. "I'm Anna Perch, and I am the director of the Brookside Farm Museum," she said, adding that she discovered the cut in an email late Sunday night.

Perch said the museum has shifted from a little-visited historic house museum to an active cultural and environmental campus. "We have... turned the 40 acre site into a model for environmental restoration and biodiversity restoration," she said, and described regular events, community rentals and partnerships with the library and other local organizations.

Perch told the board she is currently administering three grants: a final-year local grant from the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, a federal estuaries grant to restore back-forest wetlands and provide education, and a project to address deferred maintenance on the museum house (including painting). She said those responsibilities already amount to more than 10 hours a week. "I was surprised... to find out that my salary had been cut by 50%," Perch said.

Perch said she has identified budget reallocations that could restore at least $14,600 without reducing other program funding, and she plans to show that plan to town staffers Dan and Kevin in the coming weeks. She invited board members to visit Brookside and learn more about the site’s educational and environmental programming.

The museum director’s remarks came during the meeting’s public comment period. Perch said she would follow up with the board to provide additional detail and thanked members for the opportunity to speak.