The Lake Forest Caucus leadership captured a big victory Thursday when its general membership easily approved its proposed officer slate in a special election.
The officer slate proposed by the Lake Forest Caucus Committee received 1,042 yes votes, with 375 against, according to results provided by the caucus. This outcome sharply contrasted with the first election in April, when essentially the slate was voted down 132-125.
Following the April election, the caucus leadership initially said it was going to proceed with the slate despite the general membership vote. After a group of residents threatened litigation, the leadership then opted to hold a special election.
More than 1,400 people voted in the special election held at the Gorton Community Center. (Daniel I. Dorfman/Pioneer Press)
With the approval in the election, Joe Oriti, who had been a caucus vice president, will move up to a one-year term as president.
“I am excited to continue the great work for the caucus,” he said in an interview.
Oriti said he was not surprised by the much larger number of voters in Thursday’s election held at the Gorton Community Center, compared to April’s election.
“We did a lot of effort to increase engagement to get people to turn out,” he said. “I expected 1,000 people to turn out and vote, so we exceeded that by roughly 40%. Despite the large differential, it was a victory for the whole community.”
The special election was the latest in a series of unusual events for the caucus, which vets residents interested in serving on various city boards and commissions. Candidates with caucus support for public office such as mayor, City Council or school board, often run unopposed in the municipal elections.
In November 2022, the general membership did not approve the Caucus Committee endorsement of Stanford “Randy” Tack for mayor. However, the caucus moved to proceed with the endorsement and he was elected last year, but after a contested election.
Last November, the Caucus Committee proposed removing the general membership acceptance vote out of the process, but members voted down that idea.
Then in April, the officer slate was rejected, leading to the second vote.
Before voting started, Oriti sent out a community e-mail saying he had heard the anger and frustrations of community members and promised changes were ahead for the organization.
“The best thing for the community going forward would be to address the current bylaws and either amend or rewrite a new charter,” he wrote.
Oriti added in the interview he wants to have an improved process and guidance to operate the caucus, which has been part of Lake Forest since 1935.
“It needs to happen sooner rather than later so that we can operate and avoid what has happened and eliminate any anger, frustration in the community, and strive the operations continue and they are carried out to fulfill the mission,” he said. “The vast majority (of residents) like the caucus and want to see it succeed.”
Oriti said he wants to talk with different community members to establish trust in the caucus process and assist with any process improvements.
John Trkla, the co-founder of Lake Forest For Transparency, an advocacy group created amid all the recent controversy, acknowledged Oriti’s pledge to make some changes.
“I am very pleased with Joe Oriti’s commitment to restore our caucus bylaws … and to address the bylaw on what to do in the case of no vote,” he said.
At Gorton, some residents spoke of their reasons for their votes on the slate.
“I like to keep our town the way it is,” Carl Middelgge said. “The caucus does a good job of vetting candidates to keep the character of Lake Forest.”
Gordon Lamphere said he was another yes vote.
“I think the caucus does a good job of keeping our politics nonpartisan, and there is too much partisanship in life in America,” he added.
One person who said she voted against the slate was Kari Arouca.
“I don’t think the caucus has the best interest of the community with the leaders at the top of the slate,” she said. “That is based upon their track record and ignoring community votes.”
Besides Oriti, the other newly elected officers include Regina Etherton as vice president, Fred Brewer as treasurer, Dale Tauke as secretary, Jennifer McGregor in fundraising, with Armando Guzman and Mark Pickett in communication positions.
Oriti said a meeting would soon be scheduled for the officers to formally start their new roles.
