I am responding to some letters to your paper recently about River Forest’s village president. These are my views and not anyone else’s.
I get a kick out of people who are acting like they just discovered Frank Paris. Most of them look like they’ve been around for a while, and I think Frank has lived here all his life. My recollection is that Frank has been on the village board for five terms. To paraphrase Mike Royko, there is a whole generation of River Forest residents who think Frank’s first name is “Mayor.” I’ve talked to people who grew up with Frank, and I’ve watched him operate up close. Apparently, he hasn’t changed much.
Frank’s methods have been the subject of open controversy for years. When I was first appointed village attorney, two trustees voted “no” because (can you believe it) they thought the appointment was being “railroaded” through the board. Trustees like Rigas, Heppes, Rider and, yes, even Swanson have had open and sometimes heated arguments with him over the way he does things. They always got it resolved. The same discussions have taken place privately with others on more than one occasion. Newspaper articles and editorials have been written on the subject. The bottom line is that the voters know about all of this and keep saying “yes.” Under our system, that means he gets to be village president, and he alone gets to decide what’s right for the job.
The “discovery” of Frank Paris has happened before and is always followed by the same observations. The first is that trustees who vote in favor of Frank’s proposals are under his control (or maybe, spell). How this works with doctors, lawyers, successful (and pretty forceful) business types and other well-educated, intelligent people who occupy a non-paying position isn’t clear. Maybe they all have friends who are demanding to be appointed to non-paying commissions so they can listen to people’s problems for hundreds of hours a year.
The second is that “somebody” should “do something” or “say something.” The “somebody” is usually the nearest village official standing around and believed to be close to Frank and the “something” is usually left unclear. Don’t bother. He has a good idea of what he thinks is best for the village and when he wants advice, he’s smart enough to ask for it.
Finally, you hear that everything is done in secret. Personally, I think this is said so people who have been around the village and Frank for years can try to explain why they just “discovered” him. Current and former trustees I talk to have no idea when these secret meetings took place and all formal village meetings are documented.
The criticism really comes from the fact that Frank does his homework and is constantly talking to people outside of local government. True, he should involve board members more closely and earlier in his plans. But let’s face it, the Lake Street renovation didn’t just fall out of the sky. And the voters obviously know it.
Jonathan B. Gilbert
River Forest