To the editor:
Winnetka Caucus poohbahs are upset. Three independent souls decided to run for the village council without asking for caucus permission. So the independents are said to be insufficiently open. “Open” is a funny word coming from an un-elected group that winnows would-be candidates behind closed doors, that conducts its interviews out of the public eye and that decides whom to anoint using secret criteria.
Marilyn Podromos, Carol Fessler and I bypassed this medieval process and put our views and qualifications in front of voters directly. See our website WinnetkaIndependents.com, for example. Podromos and Fessler have been in the public eye for nearly two years as trustees. They have excellent records that voters can judge for themselves. I have a long history of service to this community and have knocked on the doors of more than 1,000 Winnetka households, opening myself up to any questions voters care to ask. In hundreds of great conversations, I’ve been listening to people and letting them know where I stand on the major issues this village faces.
Talking with hundreds of residents is as open, grass roots, and democratic as you can get. This is also how local politics plays out in most towns around the country.
Winnetka should phase out the caucus and its insular ways. The caucus encourages only like-minded people to join and provides an un-welcoming atmosphere for others. I have seen first-hand how the caucus discourages people with whom it disagrees from even applying for candidacy.
There are some well-meaning people on the caucus. But they do not represent Winnetka. Winnetka voters don’t need a guardian council to select its candidates and tell them whom to vote for.
Kristin Ziv, village trustee candidate
Winnetka, IL