Lake County Gazette

A triple-A bond rating, the lowest property taxes of any municipality in Lake County, a parks and recreation system that is the envy of the North Shore, a world-class historic district balanced by a strong corporate base; these and more are the legacy of Lake Forest's 88-year-old Caucus system and the integrity of its process.

Over many decades, thousands of Lake Forest citizens have volunteered to serve on the city's Caucus, a non-partisan group tasked with recruiting, interviewing and recommending dozens of volunteers each year to serve by Mayoral appointment on the city's boards and commissions or to stand for election to the city's school boards, city council, or as mayor.

These volunteers come from all areas of the community, with varying life experiences and differing political persuasions and most are not native to Lake Forest. As a Republican and someone who knows the impact partisanship is having on civil discourse, having gained first-hand experience when running for state senate in 2018 and now seeking to bring balance back to a failed state government here in Illinois, one of the things I love most about local government is its non-partisan nature and specifically in Lake Forest our opportunity as citizens, all of us members of our Caucus system, to step up and volunteer to serve on the Caucus and various city boards and commissions. Volunteers aren't always selected the first time around, but having now met dozens of participants in this process, one thing is for sure: this process is filled with a diverse group of citizenry attempting to work together and ultimately following a process, a process with long-standing integrity, to guide our city forward.

The Caucus keeps partisan politics out of the municipal electoral process and the focus on the fundamental interests of our community. Is it perfect? Of course not. It involves people, and we all come with flaws and biases, such is the human condition. However, it is a process steeped in integrity and that integrity, year over year, leads our city to where it is today. It's a gem not only on the North Shore, but in our state, and as an example across our nation.

This year, we are faced, for the first time in two decades, with a contested election for Mayor.

On 1/19/23, Rommy Lopat provided an opinion concerning this contested election. In her characterization of the Caucus selection process, Lopat suggests it is a good thing for the citizens of Lake Forest that a participant in the Caucus selection process, in this case, Mrs. Prudence Beidler, 1) renege on her commitment to support the selected nominee - Dr. Randy Tack, 2) recruit disgruntled interest groups to vote against Dr. Tack in the Caucus' confirmatory vote, 3) support an email campaign assaulting his character as well as attributing knowingly false opinions and public positions to him, and 4) draft her own email to her supporters telling them what she was doing, and encouraging them to act similarly, ultimately in an effort to manipulate the Caucus process to then stake a claim that the people had spoken and that this process now needs upending.

Lopat goes on to reference the handing down of "mayoralties" from one "aristocrat" to another.

Is it her contention that all of the citizens of Lake Forest who volunteer their time are part of some aristocracy engaged in a cabal to disenfranchise the voters of Lake Forest? As a native Chicago south sider and child of a Chicago cop, I appreciate the meritocracy our society offers, one allowing me to land in a place like Lake Forest, and one which I believe is on full display in the Caucus participation and selection process.

It seems to me the type of actions taken by Mrs. Beidler are exactly the types of actions taken by aristocrats of old. These are actions meant to manipulate and control power. They are actions meant to pervert the very system of volunteerism nurtured here in Lake Forest over the last 88 years.

I'm new to this and have now only served on the Lake Forest Plan Commission for the last 1.5 years, however, it seems to me that if residents are concerned about the integrity of the Caucus process, rather than encourage its destruction, we should encourage more participation in its process.

Ultimately, the Caucus has reaffirmed their choice of Dr. Tack as the most qualified candidate for Mayor of Lake Forest and I hope our citizens come out to vote in support of this choice.