You will receive the Caucus Connection in the mail with a mail in ballot to vote for candidates (below) in your ward. If you have not received the Caucus Connection by March 28th, email info@lakeforestcaucus.com and we’ll get back to you!  To find out what ward you are in, enter your address here and click the Alderman tab.

Steps to vote

1. Review the candidate bios (below).
2. Vote on the enclosed postcard.  One vote for each registered voter in your household.
3. Drop it in the mail by April 8th.

Lake Forest residents will have candidates for City Council in all 4 wards in the 2023 election.

Ward 1 - Terence (Terry) Mieling
Ward 2 - John Powers
Ward 4 - Richard Walther

Ward 3 - Ara Goshgarian

Terry and his wife Nancy have lived in Lake Forest for over 35 years and raised two sons who attended Lake Forest public schools.  Their sons have blessed them with four grandchildren.

Professionally before his retirement, Terry was Fiscal Director for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Chief Financial Officer for a hospital in the Hospital Sisters Health System, Senior Manager at Ernst & Ernst (Ernst & Young), Vice President at John Nuveen & Co. (Nuveen Investments), and Director with Merrill Lynch & Co.  During the last thirty years of his career he provided investment banking services to a variety of health care providers and other non profit organizations in their access to tax exempt debt in the municipal bond market.  He was also a member of the Audit Committee for the American Dental Association and a long time mentor for students in the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Terry was a member of the Lake Forest Caucus for the First Ward, Cub Master for Pack 46, Assistant Scout Master for Troop 48 and Regional Commissioner for the American Youth Soccer Organization Region 163.  Currently, he is a member of the Audit Committee for the City of Lake Forest and a member of the Investment Committee for the Franciscan Alliance health care system.

He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana where he received his B.S. in Biochemistry and Masters of Business Administration.  Terry is also a Certified Public Accountant.

John Powers has lived in Lake Forest for the past 27 years. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Missouri - Columbia and an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. John is currently the Director of National Accounts for Abbott Diabetes Care and has 35 years of business experience with both public and private companies in the area of distribution and logistics, commercial sales, marketing services and health care. John and his wife Robin have two adult children and are proud to call Lake Forest home. John has served on the Lake Forest Caucus, The Friends of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Board, various roles at the Church and School of St. Mary, District 115 Board of Education and most recently a Trustee of Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep in Waukegan, IL.

Ara Goshgarian has lived in Lake Forest most of his life.  He attended Everett School, Deer Path Middle School and Lake Forest High School prior to graduating from Carroll College and the University of Illinois, graduating with a DDS.  He completed his orthodontic specialty program at Loyola University.

Ara returned to Lake Forest with his wife and four children to practice orthodontics with his father and has been in the community ever since.  His children are currently attending and have attended both Districts 67 and 115 schools.  Ara served on The Friends of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Board, most recently as its Vice President.  He is a past President of both The Illinois Society of Orthodontists and The Midwestern Society of Orthodontists.  He is currently serving on the Council of Government Affairs and have served on the AAO’s House of Delegates, which has financial, policy and bylaw oversight over his professional organization.

Ara is active in the community, having served on the Lake Forest Caucus, and firmly believes the mechanism of the Caucus system best serves Lake Forest.

Richard Walther is a 17-year resident of Lake Forest who has served in various volunteer community roles, including member of the Lake Forest Building Review Board (BRB) since 2018, member of the 2018-2022 Strategic Planning Committee, Deer Path Road Streetscape Committee, and Route 60 Corridor – Vision for the Future Committee.  His work with the BRB has included participation in several subcommittees to assist petitioners resolve outstanding issues with city staff and bring new and renewal building projects to fruition.

Rich and his wife, Leanna, have been married 29 years and have two sons, Timothy (26) and Andrew (23), both of whom attended Lake Forest public schools.  Rich and Leanna have been very active in supporting their sons' interests while growing up in Lake Forest.  Both sons earned their Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America.  Rich, a fervent advocate of servant leadership, also thrived within the BSA programs serving as Cubmaster for Pack 148 (Everett School) and Scoutmaster for Troop 46 (First Presbyterian Church).  In these roles, Rich guided more than 90 youth to complete their Eagle Scout Award and values the positive contributions these young men made to our community.

Rich is a licensed structural engineer who specializes in the evaluation and repair of bridges, infrastructure, and buildings.  After earning BS and MS degrees in Civil Engineering from Purdue University, Rich joined the firm of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. (WJE) where he has recently completed his 34th year of employment.  Rich is very active in organizations aligned with his professional interests and has received local and national recognition for his committee leadership, research, and publications.

Lake Forest residents will have three candidates for District 67 School Board.

Megan Heraty Engelberg has been a resident of Lake Forest for nearly all of her life. She attended Lake Forest Public Schools as a student at Everett, Deer Path Middle School, and Lake Forest High School (Class of 1995). She and her husband, Brent, have three children who have also attended District 67 schools.

Megan graduated from Indiana University with a major in Journalism and Psychology, and went on to have a 16 year career in sales and sales training, working for Black and Decker, Johnson and Johnson, and Forest Pharmaceuticals.

As a parent leader, Megan has served many roles and on a variety of committees within District 67. She has held leadership positions in both the Spirit of 67 Foundation and the District 67 Association of Parents and Teachers (APT). She has been a three- time chair of the Spirit’s fundraisers including the Home Tour and Stand up for Spirit, and has been a member of the nominating and grants committees. Megan has held various roles on the Everett, Sheridan, and Deer Path Middle School APT boards and served a two-year term as the Deer Path Middle School APT President.

Megan currently leads the APT as the District 67 Executive Board President, providing oversight for the five boards and 230 volunteers that make up the organization. In this role she has served as a partner to the administration and has worked to implement innovative leadership for the APT by developing programming with the Lake Forest Police Department (Parent Community Safety Series), Lake Forest Library, Paws for Patrick, CROYA, District 65, District 115 and others. Megan has also exemplified collective leadership with the District to spearhead, fundraise, and oversee the DPM staff lounge remodel that took place this past summer.

Megan is also an active participant in the Lake Forest High School APT having acted as the Freshman Class Parent Representative and a two-time chair of the Be True to Your School fundraiser. She also participates on the Lake Forest High School Foundation Board.

Megan currently is a member of the CROYA adult board, the Infant Welfare Society Board, and Women’s Board of Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital.

Megan looks forward to using her strong leadership experience and intricate knowledge of our community and the District to help pave the path of excellence Lake Forest District 67 strives to reach for every student, every day.

Mark Remus has lived in Lake Forest with his wife Laura since 2006. They are proud to call Lake Forest home because of its strong sense of community and excellent school system.  Mark and Laura have three children, all of whom attend Lake Forest public schools.  Mark believes in community service and he has volunteered with several organizations, including the American Youth Soccer Association (AYSO), Cub Scouts, Legal Prep Charter Academy, and the Boys & Girls Club of Chicago.

Mark is a partner at Crowell & Moring LLP. For over twenty-five years, Mark has defended companies that are accused of patent infringement and helped innovative companies enforce their patent rights. Mark has served in many law firm leadership positions, including as a member of the board of directors and as a practice group leader. In 2019, Crain’s Chicago Business included Mark on its list of Notable Gen X Leaders in Law.

Mark grew up in St. Charles, IL and attended the University of Illinois, where he earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, with distinction, and a J.D., cum laude, from the College of Law.

Monica Yaun moved to Lake Forest in 2009 with her husband, Roshan Navagamuwa, and their son Evan, who is currently in 8th grade at Deer Path Middle School. She hails from the small town of Genoa, Illinois. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a BS in Economics in 1997.

Monica spent 12 years working at Hewitt Associates where she did software development and led software implementations that spanned several months across hundreds of team members for Fortune 100 clients across health care benefits platforms to deliver a product that was on time and on budget. She left her career with the arrival of their son, and focused her time on the parent-teacher organization in the school (the APT). She spent four years on the executive board of the APT, and is currently the President of the APT at Deer Path Middle School. She also served on the board of the League of Women Voters - Lake Forest/Lake Bluff area, and still serves on their voter services committee where you can find her doing voter registration events around town.

When she's not busy volunteering, she enjoys traveling with her family, watching independent movies, and reading.

Lake Forest residents will have three candidates for District 115 School Board.  The Caucus Committee voted to put forth three incumbent candidates for another term.  The Caucus Committee has previously vetted, voted for, and supported the incumbent candidates.

John is finishing his first term on the D115 School Board and currently serves as the Finance and Operations chair as well as the district legislative lead.  He helped form the current tri-district legislative committee with districts 67 and 65.  In his legislative lead role, he has been a part of leading multiple legislative update discussions, as well as working directly with IASB, ED-RED and our local legislators to draft, update and change legislation issues based on the district's stated priorities.

John grew up in Lake Forest, graduating from Lake Forest High School in 1986 and Ball State University in 1990 with a BS in Marketing and a Minor in Math.  He played five seasons on varsity athletics, all conference varsity soccer and tennis: IHSA Team Champion (86), IHSA Team runner-up (85), IHSA State Doubles champion (86) and High School All-American (86).  Mr. Noble was inducted into the Ball State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009 individually for his achievements in tennis and then again in 2016 with his senior year teammates who achieved the highest school ranking in NCAA Division 1 Tennis (20th).  John went on to play professionally and achieved a world ranking.  In the 90's he served as the LFHS Boys Tennis Varsity and F/S head coach for 4 years and was the assistant varsity coach for the LFHS Girl's Tennis Team.

John has served on several boards; the American Platform Tennis Association Board (APTA) for 6 years (where he was presented with the Distinguished Service Award in 2015), the Chicago Platform Tennis Charities (CPTC) board for 12 years, The CPTC League, and has been Director of Tournaments for the CPTC. John is also a two-time Tony Award winner as a producer and has helped produce many local Chicago area productions and nationally since 1995. Other boards that he has served on have been Citadel Theater (President for 2 years) and Glen Flora Country Club (Tennis and Social Chair).

He currently lives with his wonderful wife, Susan, in Lake Forest and has three beautiful daughters attending LFHS, DPM and Everett. John works as COO with his brother in a unique healthcare company, PathFinder Health, in Lake Forest that focuses on connecting people with doctors and checkups, so that they can become better engaged and follow-through to improve their health risks and condition.

Dewey Winebrenner is a co-founder and managing member of Spindletop Capital, LLC, an investment adviser that manages two private investment partnerships focused on the U.S. financial services sector.

Dewey has lived in Lake Forest for 25 years with his wife Anne (Karlblom).  Dewey and Anne have five children that have attended Lake Forest’s public schools including twin boys that were 2022 graduates of Lake Forest High School.  He is finishing his first term on the D115 School Board.

Dewey has served in a variety of roles at The First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest over the last decade, including serving as a member of the Personnel Committee and as a co-moderator of a committee focused on youth.  Over that period, Dewey was also very active on the sidelines for youth sporting events serving as a volunteer coach for boys’ and girls’ soccer, basketball and lacrosse teams.

Dewey holds a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, and law and business degrees from the University of Chicago.

Jenny Zinser and her husband, Jim Perkins, have been residents of Lake Forest for 27 years. Their three children attended Everett Elementary School, Deer Path Middle School, and Lake Forest High School. Jenny has served on the District 115 Board of Education for the past three and a half years and is seeking a second term in the April 2023 election.

Before moving to Lake Forest to raise her children, Jenny was Vice President and General Manager of HQ Chicago, a commercial real estate firm specializing in the shared office industry. Prior to her role as a LFHS Board of Education Member, she spent twenty years volunteering for the Lake Forest public schools serving in various roles within the District 67 APT, Spirit of 67 Foundation, District 115 APT, and the LFHS Foundation. Since joining the District 115 Board of Education, Jenny has served on the Education Committee, Policy Committee, Facilities Master Planning Committee, and Portrait of a Learner Design Team. She was also the District 115 lead on the recent Superintendent Search and served as the Board Liaison to the parent leadership organizations for two years. Jenny represented our District each year at the Triple I Conference where she acquired training certificates in the Open Meetings Act, Professional Development Leadership Training, Performance Evaluation Reform Act, The Basics of Governance, Balancing Effective Governance & Transparency, The Happiness Advantage, and Mandated Reporter Training. She currently serves on the Strategic Planning Design Team, Facilities Master Planning Committee, and has been serving as the District 115 BOE President since May of 2021.

Jenny is honored to be endorsed by the Caucus for a second term on the District 115 Board. Her role as a Board Member has been both challenging and rewarding over these past three and a half years and she looks forward to being able to continue supporting and representing her community. There is a great deal of progress and positive change occurring inside our school and our district right now and she believes the ability to achieve the highest level of success will be increased by maintaining the strong commitment shared with her fellow District 115 Board of Education Members. It gives her great pride to be able to offer her services and work alongside them for an additional term.

The Caucus Committee candidate for the 55th Mayor of Lake Forest is Dr. Stanford "Randy" Tack.

Dr. Stanford "Randy" Tack was born in Chicago and grew up in the suburbs of Elmhurst and Glen Ellyn where he attended Glenbard West High School.  He graduated from the University of Illinois with a BS in Biology, and was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.  He earned his doctorate of medicine from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, completed his orthopedic surgery residency at the University of Illinois, and went on to specialize in spine surgery via a fellowship at Rush Medical Center.  Upon completion of his fellowship, Randy, his wife, and two children moved to Lake Bluff and subsequently to Lake Forest.

Randy began his post-fellowship career at Lake Forest Orthopedics, which was subsequently merged into Illinois Bone and Joint Institute (IBJI), of which he was a founding board member.  He was subsequently appointed Vice President of the Midwest Orthopedic Network and managing partner at IBJI.

In 2011, he was asked by a friend to interview for 3rd Ward Alderman. He was selected and served from 2012-2018 in that role. While Alderman, Randy served as Chairman of the Public Works Committee and Fire Vision 2020 Committee. He previously served as the President of The Lake Forest Club and the Vice Chairman, Department of Surgery at Lake Forest Hospital. He is currently serving as Chairman of the Lake Forest Central Business District Planning Committee. He has found his time working with the City challenging and rewarding in ways quite distinct from his practice of Orthopedic Spine Surgery. As he transitions out of the practice of clinical medicine Randy looks forward to continuing his contribution to the City of Lake Forest, a community that has provided he and his family with such remarkable opportunities and quality of life.