In River Forest’s Aug. 15 newsletter to residents, Village President Cathy Adduci announced a series of “Neighborhood Dialogues” to be held in private homes south of Lake Street. These private dialogues will be facilitated by a public affairs consultant with a specialty in crisis management, funded by village taxes and attended by Village Administrator Matt Walsh.
The intent stated in the online newsletter is to gather input and answer questions “to help the village develop a … path … to future economic development.” Input and explanations will be collected from the village president’s supporters without media and public access. The consultant and village administrator can direct messaging and lead residents toward the village’s intended plans.
The dialogues are to be hosted by 6-10 village-selected residents living south of Lake Street with attendance limited to 10-15 guests at each. Excluded are hosts residing on Lake Street and northward to North Avenue and uninvited residents, despite the village’s redevelopment and zoning plans for the North Avenue TIF district and two Lake Street corridor commercial districts.
These “dialogues” and a new program of quarterly conversations with residents are thinly-veiled campaign events. In her 12th year as village president and 18th year on the River Forest Board of Trustees, the village president held her first quarterly conversation in May, less than three months before scheduling her September campaign fundraiser.
Why hold these events exclusively south of Lake Street? These “dialogues” are divisive, intended to divide the northeast opposition to proposed traffic flows from the Madison-area opposition to proposed zoning changes. In the last election, Adduci underperformed her average in the five precincts in central and south River Forest (out of eight total).
Despite persistent claims of “transparency,” these ill-conceived public relations events, never discussed with the full board of trustees, are clearly and timely designed to favor the village president and manipulate information for campaign purposes. Rather than village leadership again dividing and discriminating against residents, the best leaders unify residents.
Margie Cekander
River Forest