I thought for a while before posting this topic. On the one hand, I don't particularly care what a person does for a living. Nor am I convinced that Village elected officials should be criticized for locating their business outside of Riverside. I also reflected on the fact that I am by no means a disinterested observer, and that my views could probably be fairly criticized as partisan. With that said, I now believe that this is a topic ripe for discussion.
As the most recent issue of the Landmark noted, Riverside-Brookfield High School is testing Segways provided by Mr. Reynolds' dealership. The article did not state that Mr. Reynolds would actually sell the Segways to RB if they decided to purchase them, so if that's not the case, this post is irrelevant and I'll retract it. However, if Mr. Reynolds is in line to get this business, I have some concerns.
The RCA, as we all know, declined to listen to the pleas of the business community for a new parking lot. They don't believe that the lot is necessary, and seem to think that the modifications of the commuter lots should be sufficient to solve any problems. After the meeting, a number of posters on this site, and a number of people I've spoken to (and you'll just have to trust me on this) have raised the question of why--if Riverside doesn't need additional parking, and is fit for business as is--Jim Reynolds doesn't locate his Segway business here. It's green, it's not an impulse purchase that requires a high-traffic location, we have roads and paths to test drive them, and we have plenty of available retail space. Why not?
Although I wasn't convinced that anyone should be criticized for not locating their business here, I now think this is now a valid point. Mr. Reynolds, along with the rest of the RCA, told the local business community, in essence, that "You don't know what you are talking about. You don't need a parking lot, and we'll tell you why. We have a better solution." I suppose this is consistent with their campaign, where they portrayed themselves as a group of gimlet-eyed businessment who knew the direction our CBD needed to go.
But think about this for a second. A Village official who voted down a project that was pleaded for by our business community, who stated during the campaign that Riverside was too small to support his business (thanks MRT for that info) and whose business web site specifically refers to their convenient parking, is now possibly in line to sell his product to a local high school, a sale which if it goes through will be paid for, in part, by Riverside taxpayers. And his business is located in LaGrange. All the tax revenue goes to LaGrange.
To be fair, there may be reasons that I am not privy to that prevent him from opening here. He may have a multi-year lease that would be prohibitively expensive to break. It may be that Segway has certain requirements for dealer locations and Riverside doesn't qualify. And, as noted above, he may not be the dealer in line to get the contract. I should also state that I don't believe the pursuit of a government contract by a government official is prohibited by any ordinance. While some municipalities prohibit employees and officials from contracting with other units of government, Riverside does not.
However, just because something is not prohibited doesn't mean it should be done. It's fine if Mr. Reynolds won't or can't locate his business in Riverside. But when he votes down projects that our business community wants, while possibly concurrently seeking business that will be paid for, in part, by Riverside tax dollars, I think he can be fairly criticized, if in fact it is his dealership is in line to benefit. If it is, it would seem that our money is good enough for him, but our business district isn't. And that, to me, seems wrong.