"Whenever people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government."
- Thomas Jefferson
It’s real. 24/7 Wall St. said so. In 2020 – the last time anybody checked – it declared Winnetka the #1 suburb in Illinois and the #2 place to live in the US.
( We’re working on that.)
Four square miles. Four-thousand-plus households. Twelve-thousand-plus residents. Lakefront. Greenspace. Transportation. Grade A schools, a 4th of July Parade straight out of The Music Man, Concerts and Arts in the Park, Friday walk-and-wines, Soccer Saturdays and Sundays, a movie-set-worthy downtown, and everybody’s favorite, Spring Clean-Up.
Stuff like this just doesn’t happen.
This is a DIY town. Been that way since 1915 when residents, frustrated with party infighting put progress over politics and adopted the Caucus system. One voice, one vote. Use it or lose it.
It’s 2022. The Caucus Council Says it Could Use You
Read me in.
Every voting age resident in Winnetka’s a member of the Caucus. Dem, Republican, Independent, doesn’t matter. You take the Annual Survey, show up (or log on) to the Annual Town Hall, vote on the platforms and candidates, then rinse and repeat at the polls.
Four residents from each of the Village’s 16 districts plus up to four at-large non-residents who live within the Library, Park, or School districts serve on the Caucus Council. Ideally.
That’s their work product you vote on at the Town Hall.
Each Caucus Council member serves for 3 years – 4 if they get the itch. Their timecards are stamped with about an hour a month. Some months more, some months less, some months not at all.
{Full disclosure: YourWinnetka started here. Each of our members has served multiple terms, as district reps, Committee Chairs, and even Caucus Council Chair.}
Heavy Lifting for Heady Issues
Last year, fewer than two dozen residents served on the Caucus Council.
Those fewer-than-two-dozen discussed and debated Winnetka’s empty storefronts, work-from-home opportunities, changing demographics, diversity, community involvement, school curriculum, the perennial community pool, overhead utility lines and more.
They wrote and floated the Annual Survey. From 1,142 responses and an unprecedented 656 comments, they culled and created marching orders for the town’s four boards – Parks, School, Library, and Village(AKA the folks who spend your $20K property tax check) and selected and slated three Village Council trustees to carry them out.
The chances of those fewer-than-two-dozen getting it wrong – 60093's collective not-so-average IQ and road-tested professional problem-solvers being what they are – were slim. But still...
And That Was A Light Year
This year, all four boards are in play. Open seats, unfinished business. How those seats get filled, how finished that business gets, and what their '23 to-dos look like will be jump started by this year's Caucus Council.
Here's some of what's at stake.
Winnetka Public Schools - AKA D36
Four open seats and sticky issues like keeping schools open in between mandates and unions, social isolation sequelae, Referendum Redux (we’re on it, we’ll be following it, stay tuned), curriculum relevance and evolving demographics, and the nothing-if-not-primary role of the educator.
Winnetka Park District
Four open seats and implementing the waterfront reno before Mother Nature has other ideas, outlets for COVID-weary residents, park vs beach for the plethora of pups – COVID and otherwise – and eventually providing Winnetka’s duffers with a golf course worthy of their skills. Oh, and the Stormwater Solution roll-out, Duke Child's Field reno, and courts for new sports.
Winnetka-Northfield Public Library
Three open seats, the three-year roll-out of a $650,000 strategic plan some residents consider somewhere between a waste of taxpayer dollars and an attempt at a solution without a problem, the on-going search for relevance in the digital age (as in what makes a library a library?) and understanding what Winnetka thinks "library" means.
Village Council
The mother of all to-dos. Three open Trustee seats plus Village President, One Winnetka, the Stormwater Solution, and Phase 4 of the Downtown Reno (lookin' at you, south of Elm and Chestnut).
Back for round two is the Post Office site – we own it, USPS rents it, many want it back.
And burying utility lines that still blight some – but not all (you noticed?) of our neighborhoods. Roll-out, cost out, dig, done.
Finally, a problem with a solution: square footage looking for love in downtown, reimagined as co-working space. Hang on, work-from-homers, your mancave or yoga studio reclaim could be just a signature away.
Think the Caucus Council could use you? Yeah, we do too.
What We're Watching
Each year, 1/3 to 1/4 of the Caucus Council terms out. Somebody's got to keep track. We do. We will. You're welcome.
The makeup of the 2022 Caucus Council. Will outreach be aggressive enough to deliver a diverse, all-ages, all-neighborhoods Council? Will Winnetka’s best and most curious minds take that DIY bait and make the call?
Candidates. Those 15 open seats. Lots of incumbents - but shoe-ins? Not so fast. Personalities vs problem-solving chops? Will the choices be so clear they make independent challenges moot? And the biggie: enough candidates to make sure the job actually did seek them?
Annual Survey. Will the questions be insightful – or agenda driven – and be well-enough written to drive actionable data that launches platforms with teeth? Will the comments be thoughtful, useful, printable?
Almost There?
Caucus Rules – How the Caucus is organized, what it does all year and how it does it.
How the Caucus fits in Winnetka's Council-Manager form of government.
Click on this fun little piece of interactivity, compliments of the Village. (How curious are you?)
Ready to raise your hand? Want more info first? Contact hello@winnetkacaucus.org. Winnetka will be better for it.