RCA should stop marketing the product

If you haven’t noticed, the 2011 election campaign is in full swing and the marketing arm of the RCA spin machine is fast at work. Mark Shevitz will have you think that trustees Jean Sussman and Ben Sells have been obstructionists, but the truth is that they are the only two who have a true understanding (or at least will voice it) of the seriousness of Riverside’s financial future.

Trustees Sussman and Sells have served arduously on behalf of the residents with honesty, integrity and openness. Their message is not a political message, but one of true concern for the well-being of the future of Riverside.

Trustees Sussman and Sells are being accused of “grandstanding” during the 2010 budget debate. If you call the questioning of not addressing the village budget’s structural problem as “grandstanding,” I will side with integrity. If you call the questioning of $360,000 of deferred obligations as savings, I will side with honesty. If you call the questioning of not even having a short-term plan in place, I will side with openness.

The 2010 budget is the first budget in the last three years where no sustainable, structural expense reductions have occurred. The 2008 and 2009 budgets that trustees Sussman and Sells participated in contained over $750,000 in sustainable, year-over-year expense reductions.

The real “grandstanding” is the failure of the RCA board majority to address the severity of the financial issues that the village faces. After all, this issue will require tough actions and may not fit into their party message.

Mark Shevitz’s editorial was nothing more than a politically motivated attack on trustees Sussman and Sells, two potential candidates in the 2011 election who stand in the RCA’s way to a super majority.

When Mark Shevitz and the RCA say the election is over, that means the election is in full swing. The RCA board majority has taken every step possible to marginalize trustees Sussman and Sells and the worst is probably yet to come.

I encourage everyone to participate and ask for accountability. There will be a strategic planning workshop in the coming weeks that will shape Riverside’s future economic fate. Be an active participant in your community’s future.

The village’s future should not be part of a political game or experiment. Chicago-style political thuggery and intimidation does not belong in Riverside. I hope that Mark Shevitz and the rest of the board majority will realize that Riverside’s future will be decided by their actions during the remainder of their tenure in office.

The message is obviously clear to everyone but the Board majority. Stop marketing the product. The residents of Riverside know that these are difficult times and we need our elected officials to level and be honest with us. We need you to take the difficult but necessary steps to right the ship. Everyone knows there will be pain. Everyone knows that it will come at a cost. Please stop trying to sell the empty campaign message – everyone knows the election is over but you.

Tony Miezio
Riverside
Riverside Landmark 1/12/2010