Health & Fitness
What is the Northbrook Caucus?
The Northbrook Caucus recommends candidates for Northbrook board positions. Without a Caucus endorsement, a candidate has typically had a much more difficult time winning his or her election.
Time to think about running for Northbrook office in 2013. And in my last blog post, , I addressed what I thought was important in a board member.
However, what was missing from my blog was a discussion about the Northbrook Caucus. The Caucus is actually a political party that endorses candidates and they run on the Northbrook Caucus ticket as a block. Without a Caucus endorsement, a candidate has had a much more difficult time winning the election. In addition, many exceptional candidates will not run if they are not selected by the Caucus.
In case you aren’t familiar with the Caucus, I have pulled a blurb from its 2011 website below:
Find out what's happening in Northbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“The Northbrook Caucus of 2011 is a citizen's screening committee made up of volunteers interested in ensuring the best possible leadership in local government. The end result of the Caucus process is the recommendation of a slate of candidates for the board positions that will be up for election in April 2011. Technically, the Northbrook Caucus is a political party that forms anew every two years, and the work of prior Caucuses has played an instrumental role in the community for decades.”
The Northbrook Caucus slates candidates for Village President and Trustee, Park District Commissioner, Library Board, and School Districts 27 and 28.
Find out what's happening in Northbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
I do believe an organization that interviews and reviews applications for the Village and School Boards is beneficial for our town. In the past, the Caucus has also recruited candidates for board positions that are empty.
The Caucus is made up of people just like you and me; people who want to get involved and make a difference.
However, I believe that it might be the right time for Northbrook residents to revisit the Caucus model and either completely redesign its structure or start a new group that will recommend candidates.
The days of secret meetings and exclusivity are long behind us now that the Internet and Facebook have allowed discussions to occur with not just twenty people, but with two hundred.
Over the course of the next few months, the Caucus will be forming. Let’s see how they address the Internet age and what new ideas they have for the 2013 election.
Kati Spaniak is a 36-year resident of Northbrook, a former Northbrook Village Board Trustee and a Real Estate Broker with @properties specializing in selling real estate in Northbrook. She has created a Get Involved Northbrook Facebook page to keep the residents of Northbrook involved and active in the community.
