December 2024 Progress Report

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The seven-member Ad Hoc Bylaws Committee has been meeting regularly since its inception in late October. To properly meet its mission to recommend changes which modernize and update the bylaws, the Committee has undertaken the following.

1. Scope of Review: an examination of the voting provisions of the current bylaws and a limited number of other topics, with specific attention to circumstances pertaining to what happens with a “No” vote.

2. Historical Reference: a review of past bylaws and supplementary materials to gain a historical perspective on the Caucus’s evolution and decision-making processes.

3. Theoretical Foundation: The Ad Hoc Bylaws Committee looked outside our community for guidance and perspective in its work. This included a review of the strengths and weaknesses of other local caucus systems. It recognized written sources on successful democratic institutions in order to incorporate the best principles of democratic governance and their application to the Lake Forest Caucus's bylaws.

 

Throughout its deliberations, the Ad Hoc Bylaws Committee recognizes that the Lake Forest Caucus's operations are influenced by a complex interplay of several central factors, including:

• Formal Documents: The Lake Forest Caucus’s bylaws and supplemental materials provide a structured framework for decision-making and operations.

• Supplemental Lake Forest Caucus materials: Supplemental materials, such as brochures, mailers and social media postings provide additional direction on procedures.

• Tradition and Custom: Long-standing practices and unwritten norms have shaped the Lake Forest Caucus's culture and behavior.

• Democratic Practices: Broader democratic principles in the Lake Forest Caucus Annual and Spring Meeting voting policies and procedures.

• Prior Events: Historical events in Lake Forest have given rise to difficulties under a number of Bylaw provisions.

• Professional Drafting: Needed for providing the best possible work product.

 

The Ad Hoc Committee must navigate its role in addressing the bylaws in the presence of all the above considerations.

 

The Ad Hoc Committee will be holding meetings throughout the months of December and January in its efforts to submit recommendations to the Lake Forest Caucus Committee by January 31.