A Lake Forest resident has filed a complaint with the Illinois State Board of Elections regarding the operations and practices of a group focused on local government.
Joe Weiss, one of the hosts of the Lake Forest Podcast, has raised concerns with the ISBE about Lake Forest for Transparency, known as LF4T.
In a letter sent to ISBE Executive Director Bernadette Matthews on Jan. 22, Weiss alleges that LF4T has effectively operated as a political committee by soliciting political contributions, advocating for electoral outcomes, and making political expenditures, while failing to register with the ISBE or file required disclosure reports.
Weiss contends that LF4T produces printed materials, maintains digital operations through third-party vendors, displays yard signs and retains legal counsel, among other activities that require funding, yet has not filed any campaign finance disclosures with the state.
“The irony being a group with the word transparency in its name is not transparent in its finances,” Weiss said in an interview.
LF4T co-founder John Trkla labeled the complaint “frivolous” and said it reflects a misunderstanding of Illinois campaign finance law.
“LF4T does not endorse candidates or engage in electioneering communications on behalf of any candidate or ballot initiative,” Trkla said in a statement. “As such, LF4T is not required to register with the State Board of Elections or file campaign disclosure reports because it does not meet the legal definition of a political action committee. We are confident the complaint will be summarily dismissed.”
ISBE spokesman Matt Dietrich confirmed the agency had received Weiss’s complaint and it will have a preliminary hearing with a staff member serving as hearing officer sometime in February. As part of the process, the complaint then could have a hearing in front of the full ISBE board, possibly at their March 16 meeting if scheduling permits.
LF4T was formed in the spring of 2023, Trkla said. The group has been critical of certain operations of the Lake Forest Caucus, and recently opposed a proposed bylaw amendment that would have allowed electronic voting. That measure was defeated for a second time on Jan. 24.
Weiss, a former elected official from Morton Grove who moved to Lake Forest in 2022, said he supports the Caucus but filed the complaint independently and not in coordination with Caucus officials.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
