Thanks to the three Caucus members who made us aware of this.

– Mark D. Shevitz

RCA has kept that promise, and as of August, 2009, with the help of the Riverside Cable Commission, video of all meetings since May 4, 2009 are available to residents on the village website. Residents are able to watch meetings at their convenience and can keep informed about what the Village Board is doing.

– Mark D. Shevitz

Soon after we were sworn in, we changed Village Board policy and mandated two readings of an ordinance – once to introduce it for discussion, and a second time to encourage further discussion before a vote. This gives residents at least two weeks to think about and respond to an issue before it is voted on by the board.

– Mark D. Shevitz

Shortly after being sworn in, RCA worked with members of a resident flood control group to look at what the village could do. RCA and Riverside Residents for Flood Prevention reached out to the Cook County Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) and asked them to assist in cleaning up two problem areas: the BNSF train trestle that runs over the river west of the Riverside station, and the Forest Avenue bridge.

This fall, the MWRD and the Riverside Public Works department performed a cleanup of both areas. The results were dramatic:

BNSF Bridge - Before Cleanup

BNSF Bridge - After Cleanup

Forest Ave. Bridge - Before Cleanup

Forest Ave. Bridge - After Cleanup

The removal of debris allows the river to flow more freely, which should help mitigate flooding of homes in Riverside.

And RCA continues to work with Riverside’s resident anti-flooding group. We have advocated in front of the MWRD for an ordinance designed to prevent the kind of flooding that has hit Riverside in recent years.

– Mark D. Shevitz

– Mark D. Shevitz

Once RCA was in office, it only took a few weeks of research into other options this summer to determine that there were much less expensive options that would provide more parking for Riverside’s businesses. RCA was able to work with BNSF and Metra to find a solution that provides our businesses with 43 parking spots – more than twice as many parking spots as the original plan. The new business parking lot makes use of underutilized commuter spots and cost the village nothing to create it.  Instead of a 19 spot parking lot at $885,000, the RCA was able to come up with a plan that now provides 43 spots for free, with a possible second agreement to be worked out with Riverside Masonic Temple for another 25 parking spots.

Additionally, by not paying to build the proposed lot, the village retains a valuable real estate asset on Burlington that can be used at later date for other purposes.

RCA campaigned on stopping needless, runaway spending. We believe that taking the time to look carefully at an issue and examining options rather than plunging headlong into spending hundreds of thousands of dollars is a good way to start.

– Mark D. Shevitz

Riverside’s check register reports, a detail of how the village is spending money, are put on the village website every other week. Residents can see how their money is being spent, and if they have questions, they can bring them to the attention of the Village Board or the Village Manager.

More financial information will be added to the “Open and Transparent Government” section of the village website in the near future.

– Mark D. Shevitz

As a result of RCA’s hard work, the village successfully hired both an interim and permanent Village Manager while saving the village more than $40,000 – what it would have cost to use a search firm to help fill both positions. The consensus of both the Village Board and residents was that both were excellent hires.

RCA will continue to look for opportunities to save the village money when it comes to consultants. Our commitment to fiscal responsibility does not start and end with the annual budget process – there are often opportunities to spend more wisely as issues arise in the village.

– Mark D. Shevitz

We ended the old policy of giving residents only 5 minutes each to speak and did away with allowing no more than 12 residents to speak. Residents are now free to speak for as long as they like, with no restrictions on the number of residents who are allowed to speak at meetings. RCA also created a new board policy that allows residents to speak not just during the time set aside for public comment, but during any point at a Village Board meeting.

– Mark D. Shevitz