A Win for Everyone

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June 3

Last Thursday the Lake Forest Caucus General Membership (all registered voters residing in Lake Forest) collected several wins.  First, a majority of voters approved the Officer slate of 2024/2025 prior to their installation, as required by the bylaws. A second win occurred when Joe Oriti, the now-incoming Caucus President, acknowledged “the frustrations and anger of community members” and committed the Committee to addressing all members’ concerns.  Third and most importantly, the Membership won a community victory, as civil discourse proved more effective than open vitriol.

Prior to Thursday’s vote, Oriti sent an email to the entire community stating that the bylaws need to be addressed and codified.  This is something that concerned Caucus members have been asking for since late 2022. Additionally, Oriti stated that he’d quickly assemble a committee of former Caucus Members and residents to work toward legal bylaws (or rules) and clearer direction to address a “no” vote from the General Membership.

This is a positive sign for our community.  It is reassuring that our Caucus Committee recognizes the importance of the bylaws to the general membership they represent.  It’s what LF4T has advocated for since its inception, through our website and emails and community meetings.  Voters who are aware of how our Caucus system should work are voters best prepared to make informed decisions on the Committee’s recommendations and actions.

This is what led a handful of members to step forward to challenge the planned installation of the Officer slate that was not approved by majority vote at the Spring Meeting. The Committee pivoted at that point, announcing a second interim election for the slate. Oriti’s email went further, informing members that the Committee will move towards addressing their concerns.  Accountability needs to start somewhere, and this is a hopeful beginning.  

Now the work begins. New candidates for aldermen and School Board Districts 67 and 115 will be the focus of the Committee’s work this summer.  A Bylaw Committee will be formed. Caucus members are encouraged to follow these activities and attend the Fall Meeting in early November. 

Your voice and your vote matter. 

-LF4T

May 30

It’s Decision Day for members of the Lake Forest Caucus. The day to decide whether to vote for or against the recommended Executive Officer Slate. By now, many have received emails from the Caucus Committee, friends, neighbors and acquaintances urging a “yes” or “no” vote.

It is now up to you. What do you think? Given the information out there, what is most important to you? Do you want the Committee to work on our behalf without any further delays, trusting that underlying issues will eventually be addressed?  Are you waiting for acknowledgement from the Executive Officer slate that yes, there are issues, here is a timeline for addressing them, and we value your input?  Are you conflicted and waiting for clarity?

Some people have suggested that a resident review committee be formed to address the issues. Others have asked for a Town Hall meeting where everyone would have the chance to speak. Still others ask for the Committee to submit a proposal for reform and review. There are a lot of ideas out there.

This afternoon Joe Oriti, the Committee’s recommended candidate for President, sent an email out pledging his commitment to restoring trust in our Caucus system. His response to residents’ concerns and his commitment to restoring our Caucus as a legally binding organization with clear, enforceable bylaws is encouraging. The whole slate did not sign the email, but it would be reasonable to expect the rest of the Officers will fall in line with Oriti’s lead. While the details are still unknown regarding the exact process and associated timelines, this is a good first step towards openness and community trust. Putting words into actions will be the next best step.

Whichever way this election turns out, there is hope that the best ideas to restore trust are acted upon.

The past is known. The future is not. Your vote matters.

__________________________

Vote Today, Thursday May 30th

2-8 pm

Gorton Center

May 25 

“Save Lake Forest”.  A pretty stark statement from the current leadership of our Caucus.  “Save Lake Forest” from what? Or whom?  The Facts? Or could it be us, the general members of the Caucus (all registered voters in Lake Forest)?

This is the second time in seven months the Committee has asked to be “saved” from their own members. First it was with the Caucus Preservation Act (CPA), which would have taken our general membership vote away entirely, and now there’s an appeal to vote for the Executive Committee slate, nearly the same slate (with one exception) that was narrowly rejected last month. In fact, it took the possibility of being taken to court to prevent the Executive Committee from going ahead and installing the rejected slate of Officers. That’s why there’s a new vote for the Officer slate on May 30.

Generally, no one likes to hear the word “no”, and certainly not the Committees of the last two years. Without going into the whys, let’s look at the facts. In reaction to the word “no” the Committees have:

1. Gone ahead with the Caucus’s endorsement of the majority membership unapproved mayoral candidate Randy Tack.
2. Brought forward the CPA and tried to take away our vote.
3. Nearly installed their recommended but majority membership unapproved Officer slate.

The current Officer candidates served on one or both Committees. These Committees made clear choices and efforts to exclude general members’ votes. The Officer candidates have given no assurances that general members’ votes will be valued and the majority vote will be honored going forward. No discussion of clarifying or modernizing bylaws to address what to do if the general membership rejects the Committee’s recommended candidate(s). No pledge to uphold the bylaws and work to ensure future Committees follow them.

Those asking for adherence to the bylaws are being called leftist.  Partisan.  Anti-Caucus.  Hell-bent on destroying Lake Forest.  None of it is true.

They say many things, but they can’t say the facts aren’t there.

Please Vote at the Caucus Interim Election on May 30th

_________________________

Caucus Interim Election

May 30th

2:00 – 8:00 PM

Gorton Community Center

May 22

My wife Laura and I joined LF4T at the beginning of this year after living through the political divisiveness that began in our town in Nov 2022 when current Mayor Randy Tack was NOT endorsed by the registered voters of Lake Forest.  Since then, LF4T has tried to bring transparency back to LF politics in general and our Caucus system in particular.  As LF4T developed a voice, and gratefully a following, accusations began flying from establishment partisans.

Some of those attacks specifically label LF4T as a left-wing politically oriented organization. Moreover, and let me be clear, in our opinion national politics and party should not be brought into Lake Forest.  But to set the record straight, although we don't think it's relevant, Laura and I are life-long Republicans.

We are as conservative as they come.  We believe in Individual Freedom, Limited Government, The Rule of Law, Human Dignity, Free Markets, Fiscal Responsibility.  Those are our values.  We don't accuse anyone of being against these things, and we respect your choice to hold whatever values you choose.

Further, we do not think national partisan politics has a role to play in local issues.  Lake Forest politics should not have any Red or Blue jerseys.  In fact, this is the genie that the founders of the Caucus championed against. They didn't want partisan politics to infest Lake Forest so they created ONE party, The LF Caucus.

The Caucus has done a very good job in LF for decades.  They veered from the narrow path in the 1990s and have had some sloppy driving of late when the Committee ignored two votes against their recommended candidates. Then they tried to eliminate the ability for general members of the Caucus (LF registered voters) to have a vote AT ALL with their so-called "Caucus Preservation Act” to change their bylaws, which they lost.

We appreciate the tireless volunteer hours that the Caucus Committee puts in to vet and staff the Commissions and Committees that do the work to run our town. But there needs to be oversight by the voters. Votes should be binding.

Finally, in the past, the Committee wanted and welcomed public input but it doesn’t seem so in recent years.  Their dismissal of community input and constructive public opinion is of major concern. All residents bear the consequences of Caucus recommendations and decisions. The Committee should want our objective help. 

In an environment of growing mistrust, sunshine is the best disinfectant.  That is the mission of LF4T and Laura and I will fight for it and for you with everything we have.

Thank you for reading about what is motivating us.

Geoffrey Luce

-LF4T

May 18

A second election for the Caucus Executive Committee slate is coming up on May 30th. When considering how to vote, it may be helpful to reflect on what they did -  until they didn’t:

• The Caucus Committee filed as a Political Party Committee (PPC) with binding bylaws - until they didn’t.  In 2011, without full public disclosure, the Caucus Committee changed from filing as a Political Party Committee to a Political Action Committee (PAC).  Under Illinois election law, this was a monumental change where only the President and Treasurer of the PAC have all decision-making power and the bylaws became advisory. 

• However, the Committee continued to abide by the bylaws, establishing a contract with the community, until they didn’t. Although the Caucus’s bylaws were no longer recognized under their PAC status, the Caucus Committee honored them until the 2022 election defeat of Randy Tack as their mayoral candidate.  At that time, they declared the vote “advisory” because they were now legally a PAC and could ignore their own bylaws, including the results of their own election.

• In Fall, 2023, the Committee proposed a bylaw amendment to eliminate the general membership’s right to vote altogether, granting complete authority for all Caucus decisions to themselves - until they didn’t get it passed.  The vote on the Caucus Preservation Act (CPA) amendment failed to garner even a majority vote (much less the 2/3 vote needed) and was overwhelmingly defeated.

• They placed all candidates wishing to be Ward Representatives on the ballot that gets mailed to Lake Forest residents for their vote - until they didn’t. The Caucus Committee changed from a democratic procedure, where residents choose the Ward Reps from a list of anyone who wanted to be on the ballot, to a self-vetting process where the Committee vets and chooses the candidates appearing on the ballot.

• They provided a yes/no ballot option for each candidate in every Caucus Officer election - until they didn’t.  They recently presented voters a ballot with a yes/no option for the entire slate of Executive Committee Candidates, and in 2023, a ballot with a Yes only option for the entire slate.

• They again threw away the results of their most recent Caucus election for their slate of officers - until they didn’t, or rather were forced to backtrack.  The Caucus Committee made the decision to violate their bylaws (and the reliance they had established with the Caucus General Membership) and install the rejected candidates as the new Executive Committee. Residents legally challenged that decision and the Caucus Committee cancelled the meeting to install them.

The Caucus is now holding an interim election of what appears to be the same candidates that were not affirmed at the Spring meeting.  These are the same leadership candidates who participated in the decision to throw the bylaws away because they thought they legally could under their PAC status. This is the same leadership that proposed an amendment to permanently eliminate our voting rights altogether. The same leadership that follows the bylaws, until they don’t. 

Here's some other questions to reflect upon: Has our Caucus Executive Leadership demonstrated and acknowledged culpability for their actions? Have attempts to restore our Caucus to fair governance practices been made? Or has leadership stood firmly by their statements and actions, rejecting our votes and participation, and taken the stance that they alone know what is best for us? 

We need to restore trust within the community, and it begins with restoring our Caucus to operating the way they did.

If you have questions for the candidates, or simply want to meet them, stop in at Gorton Center from 1-2 pm today, May 18th. The meeting is in the 1861 Room, second floor. 

Let your voice be heard and vote on May 30th at the Gorton Center from 2:00 to 8:00 PM.

May 15, 2024

Bylaw Breaches: Lake Forest Caucus To Hold Re-Vote In Response To Legal Challenge

Jonah Meadows, Patch Staff

Posted Wed, May 15, 2024 at 11:18 am CT|Updated Wed, May 15, 2024 at 4:22 pm CT

An upcoming meeting aims to resolve a leadership dispute after the votes of Lake Forest Caucus members were twice ignored by its leadership.

An "interim" meeting has been scheduled for May 30 at the Gorton Center, 400 E. Illinois Road, to hold a second vote on the Lake Forest Caucus' proposed leadership slate. After the slate was rejected in the first vote, caucus leaders installed it anyway. (Jonah Meadows/Patch, File)

LAKE FOREST, IL — In an effort to avoid legal consequences for its latest violation of its own bylaws, leaders of Lake Forest Caucus have scheduled an interim public meeting for later this month.

At the May 30 meeting at the Gorton Center, caucus officials will present their slate of officers for a public vote.

Last month, that same slate of officers was rejected by attendees at the caucus' general meeting by a vote of 132-125. 

Voters were not given a chance to vote on individual candidates, only the whole slate. 

And when the results did not align with the desire of caucus leaders, they decided to ignore them, ending the April 2 meeting and installing the officer slate anyway.

That move is the second time in two years that the caucus, under the leadership of President Chris Benes, has snubbed its voters and ignored the vote of its members at a general meeting. 

When a clear majority of voters at the 2022 fall meeting voted against the nomination of Randy Tack, who would go on to win a contested election, caucus leaders decided the vote was non-binding.

The caucus is an 89-year-old organization that dominates local elections for City Council and local school boards.

"The Lake Forest Caucus helps sustain our way of life here in Lake Forest," according to a message announcing the re-vote.

It was previously organized as a political party, but since 2011 it has been organized as a political action committee.

In a letter to Benes dated April 23, election lawyer Ed Mullen said the PAC's executive committee appears to believe that it can "disregard a majority vote of Caucus members at its whim."

Mullen said he was writing on behalf of more than 10 caucus members who voted against the proposed officer slate on April 2.

"The Caucus’ website uses the tag line 'It’s All of Us.' However, the Caucus Executive Committee only seems to follow this principle when the majority of voters at a Caucus meeting agrees with them," Mullen said. "The Caucus’ rejection of the majority vote at the November 2022 Annual Meeting and the April 2024 Spring Meeting violates the letter and spirit of the Bylaws." 

The Chicago-based election attorney told the committee president that his clients had authorized him to file suit in Lake County court to ask a judge to order the caucus to follow its bylaws and properly elect officers for the coming term.

"As members of the same Lake Forest community, the Caucus Members would like to resolve this matter without divisive litigation. However, they are prepared to file a lawsuit promptly to enforce their legal right to a binding election of the Caucus Officers," he said. "The Caucus Members hereby demand a new election of Officers be conducted immediately and that the slate of rejected Officers not be installed."

Mullen gave Benes a week to resolve the matter. Then on May 3, the caucus leadership announced plans for an interim meeting to present the officer slate to its membership again. 

According to the caucus website, the committee's leadership did not know what to do after a no vote because it was not clearly stated in the bylaws. 

The text of the bylaws calls for candidates for officer positions to 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."

"The Caucus Bylaws do not clearly state what to do after a 'NO' majority vote at the Spring Meeting for recommended Officers," it said. "This resulted in the Caucus Committee’s recommendation to proceed with the previously proposed Officer recommendation and with Joe Oriti as President at the Spring Meeting."

Benes, the PAC's current chair, has so far declined to answer repeated written questions about whether he believes the caucus does not have to respect the vote of its members.

The group Lake Forest for Transparency has argued for reforms to the caucus organization, including amending the bylaws to make it clear that the results of elections must be honored and calling for an oversight committee. 

"Unless the Committee is willing to adopt changes necessary to restore trust and inclusion with their membership (us), we will have a disconnected government with residents becoming ever more resentful and distrustful of those who hold such unchecked and unilateral power in our community," group representatives said in a statement after caucus leadership announced a second officer election. 

Last month, Mullen explained the significance of the caucus' 2011 reorganization as a PAC at an April 17 meeting convened by the group at the Gorton Center. 

The Illinois Election Code, according to the prominent election attorney, only recognizes a committee's president and treasurer — not the executive committee and not the general membership — as its legal representatives.

"So if you were to go to the state board of elections and say, 'Wait a minute, this person should be the chair and this person should be the treasurer because we had this vote under the bylaws,' the state board of elections is most likely going to say, 'Well, that's up to the chair and the treasurer, because those are the only people who we recognize under the law as the representatives of the committee. So if the chair and the treasurer are telling us one thing, then that's what we have to follow, not what the general vote is,'" Mullen said.

"So that doesn't mean the bylaws are not enforceable, what it means is: it's a question of whether the bylaws create a contract, though there is a body of law in Illinois that says, if you have an unincorporated association, and that unincorporated association has bylaws, those bylaws are considered a contract between the people who are members of the unincorporated association and that is enforceable," Mullen said. 

"So, just because the State Board of Elections might not recognize it, a court, using contract principles, is is likely to recognize that the bylaws are enforceable to the committee, to the members. But that is something that would, you know, require legal action to enforce."

https://patch.com/illinois/lakeforest/lake-forest-caucus-hold-re-vote-response-legal-challenge

https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/b2526418-2c95-4a55-9228-87df11b70e5d/downloads/Bylaw%20Breaches.pdf?ver=1715876308520

May 4, 2024

Yesterday the Caucus Committee announced they would hold a second election seeking approval for the Officer slate. This was certainly encouraging news, since Lake Forest Caucus bylaws state that the Officers must be approved by the General Members who vote at the Spring Meeting. Also, a letter from Attorney Ed Mullen was referenced, written on behalf of a group of concerned General Caucus Members who asked that it be delivered to the Committee. How did we get here? Why is an attorney needed to goad the Committee into following the bylaws? 

In 2011, the Lake Forest Caucus Committee changed its organizational status with the State of Illinois to become a Political Action Committee (PAC) after Illinois election laws changed. The registration as a PAC was not approved by the General Membership but did not seemingly affect the workings of the Committee. After the change took place, the Caucus Committee continued adhering to the bylaws, hence establishing reliance, or a legal contract, with the General Membership (the registered voters of Lake Forest). However, this did not stop the Committee from ignoring the majority vote and declaring two of three recent elections as advisory.

The trigger that set-in motion the uncovering of this organizational status change was the disenfranchisement of residents who attended the November 2022 Annual Meeting Election. It was then that the Caucus Committee first informed the residents who voted that the election was merely advisory. This decision spurred many residents in Lake Forest to ask: “How can they do that? How can they not honor their membership’s vote?” As it turns out, the answer was simple. It's because since 2011, every bylaw is advisory and can supposedly be ignored under their status as a PAC. In a PAC, only the Chair (President) and Treasurer have decision-making powers. What is shocking is that the Caucus Committee neglected to tell us they were relying on their status as a PAC to decide the vote was advisory.

Did anyone know about this dramatic change designed to exclude every General Member’s voice and vote? It would certainly be a surprise to anyone who voted against the proposed bylaw amendment to eliminate our Caucus voting rights, the Caucus Preservation Act (CPA). If the CPA had passed, it would have closely aligned the bylaws with the Caucus’s PAC status. There would have been no need to explain why the General Members’ votes were advisory because they would have simply ceased to exist. As noted earlier, Caucus bylaws serve as an agreement or contract between the General Membership and the Caucus Committee. Unfortunately, the Committee has breached that contract twice by asserting election outcomes were “advisory”.  When an agreement is breached, notice must be given to the offending party. 

Many concerned citizens have had conversations with Caucus Committee officers and members, urging them to follow bylaws and restore public confidence in the system. When the Committee ignored those requests and set about installing their Officer Slate without the approval required in the bylaws, the only recourse left was legal action. Thus, the need for an attorney. 

Many of us hope to restore our Caucus Committee. We want it to act in accordance with the practices and traditions that have been in place for almost 70 years, and suggest it begins with:

• Filing the Lake Forest Caucus as an organization with legally binding bylaws.
• Put on the mail-in ballot for Caucus Committee Members all candidates who submit their names for consideration that year, taking away the Committee’s control over who is on the ballot and enabling the General Members to select their representatives from all interested parties.
• Amend the bylaws to ensure all residents have a voice in the decision-making of the Lake Forest Caucus, by providing that:

                     1. All ballots are presented with a Yes/No option for each    candidate.

                     2. Elections are held, honored and all results accepted.

                     3. Criteria for what to do when NO votes occur, including:

                        i. Presenting new candidates and holding another election until all candidates are accepted.

                       ii. Presenting and promoting all candidates to the community, prior to the election for public acceptance.

                    4.Third-party oversight is instituted for all Caucus elections.

• Adopt an oversight committee to ensure the Caucus Committee is acting in the best interests of the residents of Lake Forest in all practices and procedures.

Ultimately, the success of any system depends on the actions of its leaders. The Caucus Committee cannot keep us guessing. Will they adhere to the bylaws, or will they invoke their PAC status and ignore them? Is this the type of representation we want? We deserve? This isn’t what we thought our Caucus Committee was or would ever become.

Unless the Committee is willing to adopt changes necessary to restore trust and inclusion with their membership (us), we will have a disconnected government with residents becoming ever more resentful and distrustful of those who hold such unchecked and unilateral power in our community.

-LF4T

The Caucus Committee ignored the vote - again. What’s next for Lake Forest?

Come to the Gorton Center Auditorium tomorrow night at 7 pm for a community discussion of next steps. An election attorney will be present and will answer general questions.

That’s TOMORROW, Wednesday, April 17 at 7 PM, Gorton Center, John & Nancy Hughes Theater. See you there!

Gorton Center

400 E Illinois Rd

Lake Forest, IL 60045