Lake Forest Caucus operations are drawing criticism once again following its spring meeting, with calls coming from many directions for reforms at the nearly century-old institution in the wake of the April 4 mayoral election.
On April 18, the Caucus held its spring meeting at the Gorton Community Center where a main agenda item was electing a new officer slate for 2023-24.
Attendees received a paper ballot only directly permitting a “yes” vote, and without a formal way to vote “no” to the proposed slate led by incoming president Christopher Benes.
In previous years, voters could directly vote no according to pictures of that ballot that have surfaced online. Sheila Henretta, who was elected caucus president in 2019, verified the picture of the ballot used that year.
The ballot change troubled some residents, including outgoing Alderwoman Melanie Rummel, 2nd Ward.
“The definition of an election is a choice,” she said.
Resident Lori Thuente, who said she attended the spring meeting, added, “They are just ramming this down our throats. They don’t care about what we think about this.”
However, David Hunt — whose term as caucus president is concluding — defended the ballot’s composition.
“The ballot was completely consistent with the bylaws, and the organization requires an executive committee to be seated in order to run the Lake Forest Caucus Committee,” he said. “Per the bylaws, the current executive committee recommends the new slate of executive committee members, and that is exactly what the community voted on.”
The bylaws do not specifically state how the spring meeting ballot should be written, with Section 4.03 reading, “Candidates for Officer positions shall be recommended annually for office by the current Executive Committee from among the members in good standing of the Caucus Committee and shall be presented for election at the Spring Meeting.”
After the election, the caucus reported 139 people voted “yes” to the slate, while 70 wrote in “no” to the proposed officer group.
The bylaws also state the spring meeting should be held in March, but this year it was in April, which also drew criticism from some parts of the community.
“We decided it was in best interest of the community to move the meeting after the election and spring break, particularly after the local school district changed the week spring break was held,” Hunt responded.
The controversy now swirling over the spring election is the latest debate facing the caucus, a city institution since 1935.
The Lake Forest Caucus mission — many North Shore communities also operate some form of a caucus — is to recruit residents to serve in positions throughout city government. Any Lake Forest registered voter is eligible be a member of the caucus.
The individuals selected for mayor, City Council and the school boards run for office in municipal elections that usually are not contested. Others are recommended for city boards and commissions, where the mayor makes the formal appointment.
While there have occasional changes to the caucus-endorsed candidates, this month’s election was highly unusual as former Alderman Prue Beidler embarked on an independent challenge to Stanford “Randy” Tack after Tack was endorsed by the Caucus Committee over Beidler.
The 43-member Caucus Committee — which represents all four wards — is elected by the general caucus membership, where all Lake Forest registered voters can participate.
Traditionally, the Caucus Committee’s selection is endorsed by the general membership, but in November a majority of the attendees did not support Tack.
With the bylaws uncertain about how to handle the situation, the Caucus Committee moved ahead with the support of Tack, drawing condemnation from many corners, including the local chapter of the League of Women Voters.
Tack wound up easily defeating Beidler in the April 4 election, but concerns remain with last November’s vote and the sharp rhetoric exchanged during the campaign.
“Fundamentally, what concerns many people is the ignoring of the democratic process in last fall’s caucus nomination ‘election’ and more recently in its members own election ballot,” former Alderman Timm Reynolds wrote via text. “Until the Caucus remedies these types of deficiencies, people’s concerns are unlikely to go away.”
Rummel, who supported Beidler and previously interviewed with the caucus to be mayor, believes the current caucus leadership has lost a sense of history.
“There is no historian for the caucus or they would have gone back to understand that was a binding vote at the annual meeting,” Rummel said. “That would have been understood and I don’t know where that was lost. They would have understood there needs to be civility if there is a contested election.”
Rummel, who participated in a previous study of the caucus said she would like to see an outreach from caucus leadership and calls for an oversight board — perhaps residents with historical ties — to create a more collaborative process.
Other officials, including outgoing Mayor George Pandaleon, who endorsed Tack in the mayoral election, are also calling for a clarification of the caucus bylaws.
Despite the controversy, many supporters of the caucus system remain. That group includes former Mayor Rob Lansing.
“The caucus is set to work as a committee of the whole to find these candidates,” Lansing said. “That is the best single system we have. If somebody has a different slate of candidates they want to run, and go do all the hard work.
“But the (caucus) people spend hundreds and hundreds of hours collectively a year meeting one or two nights a week for several months and it is hard to do,” he continued. “There are many issues that come and go that people get upset about, but the hard work of government is not exciting and it takes place over a long period of time.”
As he prepares to take on his new role, Benes acknowledged caucus officials have a responsibility to engage all the residents of Lake Forest, and he promises that will be done.
“We will be looking to identify how we can improve the bylaws and make them more clear,” he said. “In the future, there is a very deterministic set of rules that allow us to navigate unclear situations. It may be helpful to engage other members of the community, whoever they are, to help us achieve the best possible result.”
He expressed support for the new seven-member officer slate despite all the controversy.
“These are a group of individuals who are committed to serving the residents of Lake Forest,” he said. “They’ve accrued a substantial amount of experience executing the mission of the caucus, which is to identify, evaluate and recommend Lake Forest citizens for municipal positions in Lake Forest government.”
