There had been a great deal of criticism from the RCA and their supporters that the Riverside Community Caucus is a closed process, giving the impression that some select group of people dictate the opinions and the platform of the people that they select as candidates.

The reality is that the caucus nominating committee was composed of people of varying ages, differing tenures in Riverside, diverse activities and professions, etc. In fact, we had to introduce ourselves to each other as many of the members had never even met. The nominating committee was elected by the entire caucus membership that attended our early September meeting.

Mr. Shevitz knows this, because he was part of the process – he was a member of the caucus nominating committee. He attended our September meeting, asked to join the caucus and was readily approved for membership. He then volunteered to serve on the nominating committee and was again approved. As a member of the nominating committee, he was made privy to its policies and procedures.

Many were aware that Mr. Shevitz had been a vocal critic of the village board and some of the actions they had taken, but this made no difference to us because we all have diverse opinions on such issues.

The caucus itself, however, is not an issue oriented – it is a process. We believed that he was honestly interested in being a part of the process. However, within two days he resigned from the committee, indicating he had sudden work commitments leaving him no time participate.

What nobody knew at the time that Mr. Shevitz joined the Caucus and volunteered for the nominating committee was that he had already formally filed papers establishing a party to oppose the caucus supported slate. Presumably his interest in joining the caucus was to gather information to somehow use in his own campaign.

I feel badly that the trust of the residents who took part in the caucus was betrayed in this manner. Mr. Shevitz’s actions were an insult to those genuinely interested in serving our village, and a manipulation of the caucus’s open, community-based process.

Jennifer White
Riverside

Jennifer White is chairwoman of the Riverside Community Caucus.