Since 1935, the mission of the Lake Forest Caucus has been to provide an open, independent, nonpartisan process for recommending qualified citizen volunteers to serve in Lake Forest government and on the school boards. All registered voters residing in, and eligible to vote in municipal elections of, the City of Lake Forest are members of the Caucus.
The Caucus Committee are 43 elected representatives from Lake Forest’s 4 Wards who represent all Lake Forest residents to operate and govern the Caucus to execute its mission to find, vet and recommend volunteers to serve in City government. The Caucus Committee finds, interviews and recommends candidates to the Mayor for appointment to fill over 100 volunteer positions on the boards and commissions, and endorses candidates for the elected positions.
We estimate to save residents more than $100,000 each year through the work we do. Everything the Caucus does has checks and balances for added trust and transparency.
You can think of the Caucus as an insurance policy for the City, by giving community members confidence that a community based search and review process has been conducted for all volunteer candidates. However, the Caucus Committee only recommends and endorses candidates. The Mayor approves all appointments that do not require public vote by the residents of Lake Forest. The public may or may not vote for Caucus endorsed candidates in the general election.