Pursuant to Section 5.01 of the Bylaws, the Caucus President, Joe Oriti, has created an Ad hoc Bylaws Committee that will be comprised of independent community members. Melanie Rummel and Kent Novit will serve as the Co-Chairs and will recommend appointments to this Committee. This Ad hoc Committee will be comprised of 8-10 volunteer community members.

In addition, a Focus Group will be created that will meet throughout the process as necessary to provide input to the Ad hoc Committee which will also be comprised of volunteer community members.

If you are interested in serving on either, please email Melanie Rummel and Kent Novit at adhoc@lakeforestcaucus.com by August 20, 2024.

The Caucus Committee has commenced its search for candidates for Lake Forest City Council. The election on April 1, 2025 will include four positions, one for each Ward. The deadline to submit candidate petitions to appear on the April 1, 2025 ballot will be the end of November. The Lake Forest Caucus will present its candidates to the community at its Annual Meeting in early November.

The Aldermen Search Sub-committee is now accepting Volunteer Profile Sheet (VPS) for Ward 3 candidates who are interested in serving on City Council. The Sub-committee will conduct interviews of VPS submissions in August and September and select two finalists for the 43-member Caucus Committee to vote on and present as a candidate for the Community to vote on at the Annual Meeting.

We encourage all interested and qualified individuals to create or update your VPS as soon as possible but no later than August 21, 2024.

Candidates must meet certain qualifications. You can view those qualifications, along with key details on the role and responsibilities of an Alderperson, here.

We strive to identify and recommend individuals whose talents, interests and experience will best serve the constituents. If you have questions about the process or what it entails to be an alderman, please visit LakeForestCaucus.com or contact us here.

Below is a summary of the current positions up for election on April 1, 2025 and the current status of the process for each position:

Ward 1
Aldermen Pete Clemens: Incumbent, currently serving his 1-year fill-in term. He has expressed interest in serving another term and per tradition will appear before the full Caucus Committee for re-endorsement vote.

Ward 2
Alderman John Powers: Incumbent, currently serving his first term. He has expressed interest in serving another term and, per tradition, will appear before the full Caucus Committee for re-endorsement vote.

Ward 3
Alderman Ara Goshgarian: Serving final term. The Caucus Committee is seeking a new candidate for recommendation.

Ward 4
Alderman Richard Walther: Incumbent, currently serving his first term. He has expressed interest in serving another term and, per tradition, will appear before the full Caucus Committee for re-endorsement vote.

The Caucus Committee has commenced its search for District 67 and District 115 School Board Candidates. The election on April 1, 2025 will include four positions for D67 and four positions for D115. The deadline to submit candidate petitions to appear on the April 1, 2025 ballot will be the end of November. The Lake Forest Caucus will present its candidates to the community at its Annual Meeting in early November.

The School Board Search Sub-committee is now accepting Volunteer Profile Sheet (VPS) for candidates who are interested in serving on either School Board. The Sub-committee will conduct interviews as VPS submissions are received throughout the summer and into September and select candidates for the 43-member Caucus Committee to vote on and present as candidates for the Community to vote on at the Annual Meeting.

We encourage all interested and qualified individuals to create or update your VPS as soon as possible but no later than August 21, 2024.

Candidates must meet certain qualifications. You can view those qualifications, along with key details on the role and responsibilities of school board member, here.

We strive to identify and recommend individuals whose talents, interests and experience will best serve the school districts’ constituents. If you have questions about the process or what it entails to be a school board member, please visit LakeForestCaucus.com or contact us here.

Below is a summary of the current positions up for election on April 1, 2025 and the current status of the process for each position:

D115

• Dr. John Venson – Potential Incumbent for 2nd Term.
• Ms. Anne Geraghty Helms – Recently appointed to fulfill Dr. Marcus Schabacker remaining one-year term and is a Potential Incumbent as she has been a Lake Forest Caucus endorsed candidate for her service on D67 board.
• Ms. Sally Davis – Currently serving her 2nd year term and is a Vote Lake Bluff* endorsed candidate.
• Mr. David Burns – Potential Incumbent for 2nd Term and is a Vote Lake Bluff* endorsed candidate.

*Vote Lake Bluff endorsed candidates are Lake Bluff residents and are not recruited, interviewed, and vetted by the Lake Forest Caucus. It is has been a long standing tradition for two of the seven D115 Board seats to be filled by Lake Bluff residents.

D67

• Mrs. Emily M. Bernahl – Currently serving 1st term and will not be seeking reelection. We thank Mrs. Bernahl for her dedication and service to the D67 District.
• Mr. Carl Kirar – Currently serving 1st term and will not be seeking reelection. We thank Mr. Kirar for his dedication and service to the D67 District.
• Mrs. Shyama Parikh Chauhan – Recently appointed to fulfill Ms. Anne Geraghty Helms remaining one-year term and will be included in the process as a new candidate.
• Mr. Gregory Adamo – Recently appointed to fulfill Mrs. Alice LeVert remaining one-year term and will be included in the process as a new candidate.

Why are we having another election for the Caucus Officers?

The Caucus must have leadership. Caucus Executive Committee recommends and presents the eligible, best qualified, and willing candidates for the Officer slate to Caucus Members for election each year to lead the Caucus.

What is the role of Caucus Officers?

Caucus Officers provide the administrative leadership to the Caucus Committee so it can fulfill its mission to serve the residents of Lake Forest by identifying, vetting, and recommending the best qualified volunteers to serve on boards and commissions and elected positions in Lake Forest municipal government without bias or agenda. Officers, like other Caucus Committee Members, have only one vote during Caucus Committee meetings.

Who is the proposed slate?

• Joe Oriti, President
• Regina Etherton, Vice President
• Dale Tauke, Secretary
• Fred Brewer, Treasurer
• Jennifer McGregor, Fundraising
• Mark Pickett, External Communications
• Armando Guzman, Internal Communications

Why are these the most qualified Officer candidates?

Five of the six Caucus Committee Officers eligible for President per the Bylaws do not want to serve in that role. This leaves one eligible member – Joe Oriti – to serve as President. Joe is also, in the judgment of the Caucus Committee, the best qualified to serve as President. All Officer candidates have demonstrated the skills (leadership, problem solving, project management, finance, technical, marketing, communication, collaboration, teamwork, etc.), experience, dedication, and willingness to serve.

Why should you vote for these Officer candidates?

Officer recommendations are merit based, just like the process the Caucus Committee uses to recommend volunteers for appointment to Lake Forest municipal government board, commission and elected positions. These are the eligible, best qualified, and willing Caucus Committee members to do the work.

Why isn’t there a vote for each Officer candidate individually?

A strong Officer team is optimally constructed by considering the skills and abilities of candidate members together, not individually, and selecting members who will make the team stronger by utilizing their collective strengths. The Caucus Committee has the deepest insight and clearest perspective into this to determine who is eligible, qualified, and importantly willing to serve as the next Caucus Officers, to ensure that the duties of the Caucus Committee are fulfilled on behalf of all Lake Forest residents.

Were other Caucus Committee members considered for Officers?

Yes. Some of the Caucus Committee members who would be eligible for non-President Officer positions have chosen not to take on this significant responsibility, for varying reasons. Some are fairly new to the Caucus Committee and don’t yet have the requisite experience. Others, who have not demonstrated the requisite skills to execute the responsibilities of Officers, would not be good candidates to take on the more demanding responsibilities of an Officer.

Why are most of the Officer candidates from Ward 4?

Officer recommendations are merit based, not geographic based. Where one lives in Lake Forest has no bearing on an individual’s ability to do the work required of Officers – to lead, create strategy, communicate, market, fundraise, maintain websites and technical systems, etc. The Caucus Committee does not make decisions – or take action – based on biases influenced by the geographic location of Officer – or any Caucus Committee member – housing.

Why are the Officer candidates largely unchanged from the previous slate?

These are the eligible, best qualified, and willing Caucus Committee members to lead the Caucus and do the work. They have the time to do the work. Only one person is eligible – and willing – to be President. Joe Oriti is also, in the judgment of the Caucus Committee, the best qualified to serve as President. This is the leadership team that has the skills and experience to help him fulfill the Caucus mission.

Why should you come out and vote to support the Caucus and these candidates?

To help sustain the wonderful quality of life we have in Lake Forest. The Caucus for over 90 years has helped make Lake Forest great by identifying, vetting, and recommending the best qualified volunteers to serve on boards and commissions and elected positions in Lake Forest municipal government without bias or agenda. The Caucus keeps partisanship out of Lake Forest municipal government.

• Joe Oriti, President
• Regina Etherton, Vice President
• Dale Tauke, Secretary
• Fred Brewer, Treasurer
• Jennifer McGregor, Fundraising
• Mark Pickett, External Communications
• Armando Guzman, Internal Communications

Only one current Caucus Committee member who is eligible to be President in 2024-25 per Caucus Bylaws is willing to serve. This person – Joe Oriti – is also the most qualified. The other Officers all have the requisite skills, experience, and willingness to effectively execute their roles.

Over the last five years, the Caucus Committee has recommended over a hundred volunteers who capably served (and are capably serving) Lake Forest. All our candidates for elected positions have been decisively elected, and re-elected, by Lake Forest residents. The hard work of these volunteers has helped make Lake Forest the best run city in Illinois with extraordinary resident satisfaction as confirmed by a recent city survey. This tremendous success is achieved by effective Caucus leadership, and the contributions from 43 elected Caucus Committee members.

The Caucus Officer team is committed to lead the Caucus Committee forward to do the work which has served Lake Forest well for over 90 years: recruit, interview, and recommend highly qualified Lake Forest residents to serve, without personal agenda, bias or politics, on city and school board elected offices and city appointed governmental boards and commissions.

Last Updated 5/15/24

Officer Election – Thursday, May 30th, 2-8pm, Gorton Center

An election for 2024-25 Officers will be held at Gorton Center on 5/30, 2-8pm.  The proposed Caucus Officer slate is here.

Threatened Legal Action against Caucus

On April 23rd this letter and Exhibit 1 was received from attorney Mr. Ed Mullen representing certain Lake Forest residents including Liam Connell, David and Diana Moore, Patrick and Kara Boyd, Lori and Dean Thuente, Sue Kruesi, Scott Zuhr, and “other individuals who are members of the Lake Forest Caucus” threatening legal action if their demands were not met.

Letter

Exhibit 1

To avoid disruptive litigation and to ensure that the volunteers on the Caucus Committee can continue to serve the residents of Lake Forest by identifying, vetting, and recommending the best qualified volunteers for municipal government without distraction, the previously recommended 2024-25 Officers have not been installed and there will be another election for 2024-25 Officers in a timely manner.

The Caucus Bylaws do not clearly state what to do after a “NO” majority vote at the Spring Meeting for recommended Officers.

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.

How the Leadership Selection Process Works

Lake Forest residents elect new Caucus Committee members each Spring by returning a postcard mailed to their residence with their candidate choices. These elected volunteers do all the work of the Caucus.

The current Executive Committee of the Caucus Committee recommends the best qualified and willing Committee members to serve as the next year’s Executive Committee from those Committee members who are eligible under the Bylaws. Executive Committee members have no more votes during Caucus Committee meetings than any of the other Committee members. Recommendations for Executive Committee are merit based, just like the process the Caucus Committee uses to recommend volunteers for appointment to Lake Forest municipal government board, commission and elected positions. The Executive Committee consists of seven Officers and four Ward Chairs who are appointed by the Officers.

From their experiences working together, Caucus Committee members gain the knowledge of who among them is doing an exemplary job (or not) and who has the requisite skills (e.g. leadership, problem solving, project management, finance, technical, marketing, communication, collaboration, teamwork, etc.) to justify them being on the Executive Committee. Moreover, the Caucus Committee members alone possess insight into who on the Committee consistently attends and participates in Caucus meetings and events, completes work by requisite deadlines, and makes decisions without bias or agenda.

A strong Executive Committee is optimally constructed by considering the skills and abilities of candidate members together, not individually, and selecting members who will make the team stronger due to their collective strengths. At any given time, the then current Executive Committee has the most in-depth insight into all of this. This group therefore has the clearest perspective to determine who is eligible, qualified, and importantly willing to serve as the next Caucus Executive Committee, to ensure that the duties of the Caucus Committee are fulfilled on behalf of all Lake Forest residents.

Potential Leadership Pool

Of the 43 elected Caucus Committee members:

• ~15 are first year members; and
• ~11 members are terming off and no longer interested in serving.

First year members do not typically serve on the Executive Committee because they are still learning how the Caucus Committee works and developing experience to contribute effectively. The four Ward Chairs are typically selected from Caucus Committee members who have served at least one year. That leaves 12-13 Caucus Committee members each year as candidates to fill seven Officer positions. Only six Caucus Committee members are eligible to serve as President because the Bylaws stipulate that the President must have previously served as an Officer on the Executive Committee.

For the 2024-25 Caucus year, five of the six Caucus Committee members eligible for President have chosen not to serve in that role. All of this leaves one eligible member – Joe Oriti – to serve as President. Joe is also, in the judgement of the Caucus Committee as a whole, the best qualified to serve as President.

As is understandable, some of the 12-13 remaining members this year who would be eligible for non-President Officer positions have chosen not to take on this significant responsibility, for varying reasons. Others, who have not demonstrated the requisite skills to execute the responsibilities of Officers, would not be good candidates to take on the more demanding responsibilities of an Officer. With these considerations in mind, the Caucus Committee arrived at the previously presented Officers for 2024-25, selected from a short list of eligible, qualified and willing Caucus Committee members.

Unsubstantiated Claims

Numerous claims about the Caucus Committee have been made by various residents which lack empirical evidence or basis in fact, including:

• the Caucus Committee is conservative;
• the Caucus Committee is liberal;
• certain Officers are not acceptable because they served on the Caucus Committee during the recent unsuccessfully contested mayoral election;
• the Caucus Committee is pro-development, and is “stacking” Lake Forest boards and commissions with volunteers who wish to destroy Lake Forest’s unique community character;
• the Caucus Committee is responsible for articles written in the Lake County Gazette;
• the Lake Forest Podcast is a “voice” of the Caucus Committee;
• yard signs from elections were stolen (implying Caucus Committee members were culpable);
• women should be in certain roles;
• the Caucus Committee will not honorably conduct a vote and must have outside supervision to ensure results are accurately recorded without subterfuge;
• the Caucus Committee does not respond promptly to people who are interested in volunteering; and,
• the Caucus Committee doesn’t treat candidates fairly during the interview process.

These unsubstantiated claims are without merit.

Please vote “Yes” for these highly qualified Caucus Committee Members on Thursday, May 30th from 2 to 8pm at Gorton Center. These experienced leaders have the time and dedication to do the hundreds of hours of work to lead the Caucus, the planning, management, financial, problem solving, communication, and technical skills and experience to lead the Caucus, the institutional Caucus and Lake Forest City government knowledge to operate the Caucus, and strong relationships with city staff and volunteers on boards and commissions and elected officials to help support Caucus initiatives. Their individual skills and experience – consolidated as one leadership team – will ensure the Caucus continues to execute its 90-year old mission to identify, evaluate, and recommend the most qualified, unbiased volunteers for appointment to Lake Forest city boards and commissions and election to city council, mayor, and school boards.

Joe Oriti, President

Joe, his wife, and 4 children have lived in Lake Forest since 2015. He looks forward to educating them all in Lake Forest’s renowned public schools (Districts 67 and 115) and participating in the many programs our community offers.

Joe has more than 20 years of experience advising corporate clients in strategy, operations, and finance. He has previously served as Caucus Vice President and Treasurer and on numerous Caucus subcommittees leading searches for elected and appointed volunteers for various positions. He also serves on the Friends of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation Board.

Joe is honored to spend his time, skills, and experience to maintain and improve the many wonderful programs, institutions, and benefits that are available for Lake Forest residents.

Regina Etherton, Vice President

Regina and her husband have lived in Lake Forest for 23 years where they raised their daughter. Regina is currently the Owner/Director of Regina P. Etherton & Associates, LLC., a Chicago based law firm that specializes in prosecuting Personal Injury and Wrongful Death cases on behalf of significantly injured plaintiffs. Regina has been the Chairman of the Chicago Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Service since 2015, on the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association’s Board of Managers since 2008, and on several other Boards. Regina has been practicing law for almost four decades and has achieved many noteworthy settlements and verdicts.

Regina received her J.D. from Loyola University Law School, Chicago, and her undergraduate B.A. degree from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, where she graduated with honors (Cum Laude).  She has served as Caucus Ward 4 Chairperson and on numerous Caucus subcommittees leading searches for elected and appointed volunteers for various positions. Regina has been an active participant in the Lake Forest schools her daughter attended and enjoys the wonderful activities/clubs and amenities available in Lake Forest. Regina is excited to continue to give back to the community that has been a wonderful place for her family to live.

Dale Tauke, Secretary

Dale is a musician and retired attorney with over four decades of legal experience. His legal practice ranged widely in areas of corporate law, including finance, securities, M&A and energy contracting. He and his wife of 40 years have lived in Lake Forest for nearly 36 years. All five of his now-grown children attended Lake Forest public schools.

Jennifer McGregor, Fundraising

Jennifer’s position as Chief Revenue Officer and Managing Partner for a virtual reality design technology platform leverages her relationships and leadership experience throughout her 25-year career in the architectural design industry- previously leading teams in the Middle East & Asia.

Mark Pickett, External Communications

Armando Guzman, Internal Communications

Fred Brewer, Treasurer

Fred lives in Lake Forest with his wife Leslie and their two young children. Fred graduated from the University of Wisconsin with an English degree. After working at an advertising agency, he started his own full-service agency where he helps companies grow their businesses. Fred has served as Caucus Treasurer and assisted on searches for elected and appointed volunteers for various positions. He has helped plan and develop numerous Caucus communications including the annual Caucus Committee member election.

Fred enjoys the outdoors, traveling, and spending time with family. Fred fell in love with the architecture and beauty of Lake Forest and enjoys giving his time to the community to help sustain it.

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Our city has long been a place of natural beauty, historic significance, and a vibrant sense of community. It is this very community spirit that makes Lake Forest a truly special place to call home.

The Lake Forest Caucus is an essential organization that plays a vital role in maintaining and enhancing the unique character of our city. Comprised of dedicated volunteers, the Caucus tirelessly works to identify, recruit, and support exceptional individuals for leadership positions, both appointed and elected, within our local government. By doing so, the Caucus helps to ensure that our city remains a place of non-partisan responsible governance, fiscal responsibility, and open discourse.

It is essential that we all support this vital organization to continue its nearly 90 year mission of fostering good governance and community unity. However, we cannot do it without your help.
We are asking for your financial support. Your generous contribution will enable the Lake Forest Caucus to carry on its important work, supporting candidates who prioritize the well-being of our city and its residents.

Every donation, no matter the size, makes a difference. Whether it’s $25, $100, or more, your contribution will go a long way in ensuring that Lake Forest remains a place we are proud to call home. You can make your donation easily and securely here on our website, using the QR code below, donating at our upcoming Annual Meeting on November 7 at Gorton Community Center, or by sending a check payable to “Lake Forest Caucus” to 736 N. Western Ave, Suite 256, Lake Forest, IL 60045.

Your support will have a lasting impact on our community, preserving the values and character that make Lake Forest a wonderful place to live, work, and raise a family.

Thank you for considering this request, and for your commitment to our remarkable city. Together, we can ensure a bright future for Lake Forest.