The Gary Common Council is preparing to see some new members — all depending on the results of the Nov. 3 general election.
The Lake County Democratic Party announced Monday that it’ll have a caucus at 6 p.m. Nov. 5 for the third, sixth district and at-large Gary council seats at the Calumet Township Multipurpose Center, 1900 W. 41st Ave.
The third district seat opened after the early October death of longtime Councilwoman Mary Brown. The sixth district and at-large seats will open if Dwight Williams and Darren Washington win seats on the Lake County Council.
Both Williams and Washington said their resignations are only final if they win county council seats in November.
“God willing, I’ll win the election,” Williams told the Post-Tribune. “If I don’t win, I’ll probably stay where I am on the city council, trying to run again.”
Whoever wins the third district seat will take over immediately, said Lake County Democratic Chair Mike Repay. Those who win the other seats will take over Jan. 1.
According to Post-Tribune archives, a caucus is a closed meeting of people in the same political party to select candidates. Since all three Gary seats were filled by Democrats, the next council people will be from the same party.
“We get together, and it’s like a miniature election,” Repay said, “with voting machines and the whole thing.”
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A caucus must be held within 30 days after a vacancy.
Those interested in filing must do so by noon Oct. 30, Repay said, and forms are available online at lakecountydemocrats.com. Candidates must email forms to Repay by that time.
Repay is unsure if the Democrats have filed three positions in a caucus before, he said, but they’re taking the necessary measures to ensure candidates file for the correct district.
If not for Brown’s death, the caucus would have likely waited for the end of November, Repay said.
“(Brown’s death) caused us to rethink the scheduling of everything and make it simpler for the residents of Gary and the precinct committee people,” he added. “It’s better to have them all in one event in the city.”
Ahead of the Nov. 5 caucus, Washington is hosting a forum with candidates, where they can meet the current council and answer questions from precinct committee members. The forum will take place at the Gary Public Library from 5:50 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29.
The forum is only open to precinct members and invited guests, Washington said.
Only candidates who have filed by the evening of Oct. 29 will be eligible to participate.
“The focus of the forum is to have the potential candidates questioned by current city council persons and myself,” Washington said. “In the next couple years … there’s some very important decisions that the council is going to have to make, and we can’t afford to have people on the council that don’t know about Senate Bill 1 or pertaining to the property tax burden the city will undertake.”
During a caucus, candidates typically give about a two-minute speech where they explain their reason for running, but by having a forum, Washington said, precinct members and the council will get to know candidates more.
“In two minutes, you can’t possibly allow precinct committee persons to know what your qualifications are for that position,” Washington said. “So I think this will help with that.”