“Fear: to regard with fear; to be afraid of.”

To oppose the reorganization of the parks and recreation, in my opinion, means you are living in this condition. Opponents of the reorganization, who have been very vocal in these pages the last few weeks, love to jump to the conclusion that reorganization means that the dissolution of the park and rec board will lead to the elimination of Riverside Parks and Recreation as we know it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Put emotion aside and listen to the logic.

Something that has been around since 1937 and is still a good idea today sounds troubling in its own right. Businesses and corporations constantly go through the reorganization and re-engineering process. They go through this process with one goal: to make things operate more efficiently and hold departments more accountable. If you subscribe to this belief why should the structure of Riverside be any different? Why is this a sacred cow?

The current proposal is to bring the parks and recreation under the supervision of village administration. Why do we need to put this to a village-wide vote? Granted if the issue was to dissolve parks and rec then we do need to vote on this issue, but that is far from the case. When the village wants to hire a new custodian will we need to put that to a referendum?

The emotions I see at meetings and on local cable TV center on one thing: the dissolution of the parks and rec board means the end of parks and rec as we know it. Thanks to Lonnie Sacchi and Mike Gorman this is inevitable. C’mon, really?

Under the current proposal Riverside residents will not see any reduction in the services and programs offered by Riverside Parks and Recreation. Be not afraid: Riverside will operate more efficiently, and I will still get the chance to wedge my fat ass into a pair of Danskins and make it over for 6 p.m. Jazzercise. Both Riverside and I get a chance to slim down. How is this not a win-win?

We elected the supposed “Gang of Four” for one thing: To bring about change. The current administration is doing the exact thing we elected them to do, bring about change. This is one of those issues, though highly emotional, makes sense. The current administration has endured tough economic times, something the past administration did not govern under. I applaud the current administration and ask you for their support.

Michael O’Brien
Riverside