In Riverside, the gloves are off

With less than a month to go before the April 7 election in Riverside, things got testy between the two main rival camps during a joint appearance of all the candidates at a forum sponsored by the American Association of University Women on Saturday. From the opening statements on, candidates from the Riverside Community Alliance and The Riverside Party engaged in intermittent sniping while reinforcing the messages they have been spreading since late last year.

The forum will be rebroadcast prior to the election on Riverside Channel 6 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., and on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. RCA’s candidates took the first swings of the day, first with presidential candidate Michael Gorman attempting to blame his opponent Kevin Smith for bringing the downtown TIF and failed property tax referendum to Riverside, saying Smith had “proposed the TIF” and had threatened to cut police and fire staffing if voters didn’t go along with the proposed tax increase. Within minutes, RCA trustee candidate Mark Shevitz dusted off records he obtained in February from the Cook County Clerk showing that the Riverside Party’s Kelly Navarro and Tony Miezio and independent Alex Gallegos had missed voting in several elections, including local races, in recent years.

“We’ve had one group of people running this town,” said Shevitz, referring to the Riverside Community Caucus, which slates candidates for office, “and it’s clear they’ve run out of touch.”

Smith responded to Shevitz immediately, commenting that the RCA candidates had decided “to go negative” and stated that RCA’s candidates had less to do with the demise of the TIF than he did. The village board voted unanimously to cut off funding for the TIF prior to an advisory referendum that spring.

“What we need are people who define themselves by what they’re for, not what they’re against,” said Smith, who also disputed the RCA’s notion that their group was responsible for the overwhelming defeat of the tax referendum, likening it to “taking credit for the sun coming up in the morning.” After RCA trustee candidate James Reynolds stated that the village board had increased spending 47 percent since 2001, both Miezio and Smith blasted the statement as misinformed and a half-truth.

“Either the RCA doesn’t understand how to read a balance sheet or they’re misinforming voters,” Miezio said. Smith said that the increase in spending was directly attributable to infrastructure improvements to roads, the historic water tower and water and sewer systems. The road improvement funds were approved by voters in 2004.

“How would you have fixed the roads, the sewer system and the water tower?” Smith asked. “Would you have renovated them or let them crumble?”RCA’s candidates repeated their message of taking apart the village budget line by line to find economies to prevent the loss of services to residents.

Gorman called the plan “working harder with less,” while trustee candidate Lonnie Sacchi said while there’s no “holy grail” for saving money, he asked that the village make sure “we’re getting the right amount of payback on what we’re spending.”

Reynolds came closest to a specific recommendation in response to a question regarding replacing veteran village staff with more junior employees.”Our current village manager came to us as an assistant village manager,” Reynolds said. “In this economy you can find second-level or aspiring top-level people who will work for equal or lesser amounts.”

Smith criticized that point of view later in the forum calling the RCA philosophy one in which “they’re interested in bringing us a cheaper product.”"This is a quality community,” Smith said, “and we need quality services.” The two sides also sparred over use of the village’s general operating reserve, with Riverside Party candidates insisting that the money be set aside for impending emergencies like the arrival of the emerald ash borer. ”What is important is that we are stewards,” Smith said. “We’re not here just to make sure green spaces are kept up or that trees are in the right alignment, but to make sure we have any trees at all.”

Shevitz, meanwhile, while admitting he thought the emerald ash borer was a “dire threat” said he would encourage looking at outside grant funding for that battle and not focus so much on the general fund reserves. ”We shouldn’t worry about spending down that money,” Shevitz said.

Regarding the central business district, Riverside Party trustee candidate David Lesniak said Riverside needed to reach out more to the businesses community to attract business to Riverside. He disputed the RCA notion that businesses in downtown Riverside should serve Riverside first. ”If businesses thought they could make it here, they’d already be here,” Lesniak said.

Navarro, meanwhile, said she would support hiring someone to manage economic development in Riverside, but hat revenue the village realized from such a position would have to pay for that salary. ”We just can’t sit and hope people will come here,” Navarro said.

Reynolds used Olmsted as his guide regarding downtown business development. ”Olmsted did have a plan for a downtown, one meeting the immediate needs of residents,” he said. “That’s what we need now – nothing more, nothing less. Those are the kinds of businesses we can support.”

Gallegos made his pitch to revitalize the downtown and help stabilize the recreation department by turning Guthrie Park into a mini-Ravinia, with concerts and other live entertainment.

“No other candidate has come up with a plan to revitalize the downtown,” Gallegos said.

By BOB UPHUES
Riverside Landmark 3/17/2009