Lake Forest Caucus Leader: Why I Can No Longer Support Randy Tack

From Philip Arouca:

I am the current Ward 2 Lake Forest Caucus Chair and can definitively say that Randy Tack should never have been endorsed by the Lake Forest Caucus.

At the 2022 Annual Meeting on November 9th, Lake Forest residents voted in a 2/3 majority against endorsing Dr. Tack. Caucus bylaws establish that a majority vote of those members present at this vote are required to proceed with the Caucus’s recommendation to endorse any candidate. Of the eleven candidates put forward by the Caucus for endorsement that day, Dr. Tack was the only candidate not to receive a majority vote.

The Caucus leadership will tell you that a legal opinion allowed the group to ignore the vote against endorsing Dr. Tack – that upon consulting with “outside legal counsel”, it was determined that “the vote is non-binding”. These are direct quotes from the Caucus website.

However, the “outside legal counsel” named by Caucus leadership confirmed, in writing, that the firm “does not represent the Lake Forest Caucus” and they “have not provided an opinion letter to the Caucus”.

This means that the Caucus nullified its November vote without the legal advice it is citing as the reason for doing so. The Caucus disenfranchised over 500 voters by attempting to justify its endorsement of Dr. Tack. Viewpoints of Caucus committee members and friends who happen to be lawyers do not rise to the level of legal advice.

With this new information, the Caucus should rescind the endorsement of Dr. Tack immediately. I also encourage members of our community who have previously served on the Caucus, been supported by the Caucus, or supported past Caucus candidates to no longer feel beholden to support Dr. Tack.

As Lake Foresters vote on April 4th, the choice in most voters' minds is between Dr. Tack and Prue Beidler, who is running as an independent candidate and has been a leader and public servant in our community for over three decades.

In a recent email to the community, the Caucus included a letter originally sent to Mrs. Beidler from a former City Council member. The former City Council member accuses Mrs. Beidler of orchestrating “an attempted stuffing of the ballot box”, implying she was part of a possible voter fraud scheme. As a leader on the Caucus, I can tell you that the Annual Meeting vote was not only legitimate, but it also represents the many concerns that our community has with Dr. Tack’s endorsement.

I know what the Caucus can be with solid leadership that follows the rules and abides by its bylaws, and I want to see the Caucus restore its credibility in our community. Reform and new leadership on the Caucus and in the Mayor’s office are needed right now, and that is why I will be supporting Prue Beidler for Mayor. Philip Arouca Lake Forest Caucus, Ward 2 Chair

This letter to the editor was provided by Philip Arouca. The views expressed here are the author’s own.