On April 7, the voters of River Forest will go to the polls to end the turmoil that has become a bi-monthly affair disguised as village board meetings. For my own part, I am pleased that Wednesday Journal has endorsed John Rigas for President. He possesses the skills and motivation to return River Forest to financial stability and guide it to a prosperous future, but he cannot do it alone.
The Village of River Forest is in a troublesome financial situation that needs a board that can work together towards a common goal. There are only six trustees; it must be a group effort. Trustees must be leaders, not followers. I would be honored to be one of those leaders. As a commissioner of the Traffic and Safety Board, I have served without fanfare to achieve the goals of the committee in its responsibilities to the village. As a certified licensed elevator inspector, I will provide unique qualifications to our condominium owners as they navigate the State of Illinois’ new elevator safety codes, which may cost many buildings tens of thousands of dollars. They need assistance from village hall that they will not receive from Springfield.
During my presidency of the Huskie Booster Club, we raised nearly $1 million that was then allocated throughout the high school. The great majority of the funds going to non-sports related requests. These are items that were not provided by tax dollars, so as a result the high school could reduce expenditures.
I have lived in River Forest with my wife Sally since our marriage in 1989 and in Oak Park for the first 27 years of my life. I know how special River Forest is. Our future board members need to return the luster to our village government. John Rigas will be the kind of village president we need in the difficult times ahead. But he will need trustees he can depend on and trust to perform the duties of a trustee. Not in the form of a “yes man,” but as an active member of a team.
It is my goal to join that team and return pride and progress to the Village of River Forest. The village needs new leadership with solutions and the ability to implement them. We have struggled under a divided board, and we are now seeing the price for that in our village balance sheet. On April 7, go to the polls as Residents for Progress and elect John Rigas for president, Jim Winikates, Cathy Adduci and myself, Michael Gibbs, as trustees. We cannot afford two more years of indecision and divisiveness to continue to strangle our village.
Michael Gibbs is a candidate for River Forest village trustee.