LAKE FOREST – According to its website, the Lake Forest Caucus, pursuant to Section 5.06 of its Bylaws, will hold a public meeting on “how the Caucus system works” on October 6th at 7pm at the Gorton Community Center. This early Fall meeting’s purpose also includes encouraging “the public to participate” and for interested members of the community to provide datasheets in order “to be considered for the Caucus or a Caucus recommended elected or appointed position for the upcoming year.”
Restore the Caucus commends the Caucus’ Executive Committee for organizing such a meeting for interested residents and encourages residents to attend this meeting in order to reinvigorate participatory democracy in our community.
Restore the Caucus further recommends that the Lake Forest Caucus Executive Committee adopt best practices in its operations, as can be ascertained from other North Shore Caucus organizations such as in Winnetka, Northbrook, and in Lake Bluff.
For example, during the third week of September, the Winnetka Caucus Council helpfully provided a useful example for our community and put out an open call to Winnetka residents, seeking candidates for Village Trustee, whom will be selected in October and voted on at Winnetka’s Annual Meeting on November 9th. Correspondingly, we call on the Lake Forest Caucus Executive Committee to consider Winnetka’s aggressively transparent model of behavior and similarly put out an open call to our community for candidates for Aldermen, interview these candidates in public meetings, and recommend a slate at the Annual Caucus Meeting November 17, 2015 (and not simply re-interview existing Aldermen in a confidential process as has been the case in the recent past.)
Finally, Restore the Caucus encourages all interested community members to attend the Caucus’ Annual Meeting at the Gorton on November 17th at 7pm. Under the Caucus’ Bylaws, the Caucus Committee solely recommends a slate of elective office candidates at the Annual Meeting. These candidates do not become Caucus-backed unless and until they are affirmed by a majority of Lake Forest registered voters who attend this meeting, according to Section 5.07 of the Bylaws of the Lake Forest Caucus.
Therefore, again, to reinvigorate participatory democracy in Lake Forest, we encourage all Lake Forest registered voters to attend the Annual Meeting on November 17th at 7pm.
Participate! It’s Your Right!
By Restore the Caucus
Lake Forest
Restore the Caucus (RTC) is a non-partisan, “interested civic group,” which is working to “assure the best possible representative government” for the citizens of Lake Forest, as covered in Section 8.06 of the Bylaws of the Lake Forest Caucus. RTC’s primary goals are (a) to restore the operation of the Lake Forest Caucus to what was originally contemplated under its Bylaws; (b) to invite vigorous public participation in the Annual Meeting, Spring Meeting and all Interim Meetings of the Lake Forest Caucus, as explicitly provided for in Article IV and Article V of the Bylaws; and (c) to protect the Bylaws from amendments, except under the conditions described in Article XI of the Bylaws. For more information (and to provide any constructive criticism) on Restore the Caucus, please visit: http://www.restorethecaucus.com or write to us at restorelfcaucus@gmail.com.