The League of Women Voters of the LaGrange Area held its Annual Meeting on June 23, 2026, with a strong turnout, including many new members. The meeting provided an opportunity to reflect on the League's accomplishments over the past year, conduct annual business, and set priorities for the year ahead.

During 2025–26, the League focused on three key goals:

• Educating the community on important public issues and encouraging participation in the electoral process
• Strengthening communication with members and increasing the League's visibility in the community
• Growing membership and creating opportunities for members to become actively engaged in League activities

Committee chairs presented reports highlighting the work accomplished during the year in Membership, Programs and Events, Communications, Voter Services, Criminal Justice, Community Housing, and Great Decisions. Those reports are included below.

In addition to committee reports, members conducted the League's annual business and:

• Approved the 2027 budget, which reflects the League's strong financial position and a projected balanced budget.
• Adopted Voting Rights, Election Protection, and Individual Liberties as the League's 2026–27 program priorities.
• Approved the Board of Directors for the coming year, welcoming Monica Bhandarkar, Denise Dean, and Lara Taylor to the Board and thanking Jean Klotter and Andrea Martonffy for their service as they conclude their Board responsibilities.

The meeting also looked ahead to the League's role within the broader work of the League of Women Voters of the United States. In response to the LWVUS Unite and Rise initiative, members discussed opportunities for local engagement and advocacy. Planning for related programs and events will continue at the July 9 member event-planning meeting.

With the November midterm elections approaching, the League remains committed to voter education, voter engagement, and get-out-the-vote efforts throughout the LaGrange area.

Committee Reports

LWVLGA Housing Committee

Over the past year, the LWVLGA Housing Committee worked closely with representatives of the La Grange Village Board to introduce a proposal to establish a La Grange Housing Task Force. This was the result of several years of effort by the League Committee to examine the issues surrounding housing affordability in La Grange and the surrounding area. 

In April of 2026, a proposal to create a La Grange Housing Task Force was introduced by Village Trustees Beth Augustine, Glenn Thompson and Shawana McGee.  The proposal was a product of collaboration between the Housing Committee and Trustee  Augustine, who has supported the League Committee’s efforts since our first meeting with her four years ago.  

After our success in securing language for the 2024 rewrite of the La Grange Comprehensive Plan, specifically the creation of a Housing Task Force, the League committee continued to advocate for its formation. Earlier this year, Trustee Augustine met with the League Housing Committee and suggested that she attempt to get a proposal on the agenda for a Village Board meeting. She was able to engage Trustees Thompson and McGee as co-sponsors, as support from three trustees is necessary to introduce an ordinance.  

Both the document explaining the Housing Task Force Initiative and the actual Housing Task Force proposal were crafted by the League Housing Committee members and Trustee Augustine and were included with the Trustees’ request to place it on the April 23, 2026, agenda. Discussion at the meeting did not result in action, and the proposal was deferred until the next Board Meeting

The League Housing Committee reached out in the intervening two weeks and encouraged friends and neighbors who we believed were supportive of the need for a study of affordability in La Grange to attend the May 11 Village Board Meeting and to speak in support during the Public Comments section of the meeting or send supportive emails to the Village President and Board Members.  The response from the Board at this meeting, prompted by overwhelming and eloquent statements from some attendees, led to approval of a Volunteer Citizen Task Force on Housing.  At that point, the Village President invited any La Grange Village resident who wished to volunteer for the Task Force to email him, a member of the Board, or the Village Manager to express their interest in serving. He was very clear that this would be a totally citizen-run task force and that neither he nor any trustee would be involved after the initial kickoff meeting.  

Since that Board Meeting, we have worked with the Village President, Village Manager, and Trustee Augustine to create a Welcome Packet for the 28 residents who volunteered. The packet will include a list of books and articles, relevant legislation, links to village websites where affordability has been addressed through ordinance changes, housing commissions, etc., and other background information.  This is to help the Task Force get off to a good start.

The Welcome Meeting for the new La Grange Housing Task Force will take place on June 30, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. in the Village Hall.  Members will have the summer months to absorb the material in the Welcome Packet so that everyone is up to speed on the issues. The first working meeting is scheduled for September. Peg Moster and Curt Hansman, both members of the LWVLGA Housing Committee, will be serving on the Task Force.  

The LWVLGA Housing Committee will no longer meet regularly as we have in the past, but will continue to monitor what happens with the Task Force and look forward to seeing their final report. 

Membership Committee

Membership highlights 2025-26:

• Current membership – 6/23/2026: 134 members
• Since the end of January, our membership has increased from 119 to 134, a 12% increase.
• # of new members joining by month this fiscal year: July 1, January 3, Aug 2, Feb 7, Sept 5, Mar 4, Oct 4, April 4, Nov 1, Dec 3
• Where we live (as of 6/6/2026):

• La Grange: 54 members (40.60%)
• Western Springs: 22 members (16.54%)
• La Grange Park: 18 members (13.53%)
• Brookfield: 10 members (7.52%)
• Riverside: 7 members (5.26%)
• Westchester: 6 members (4.51%)
• La Grange Highlands: 3 members (2.26%)
• Burr Ridge: 2 members (1.50%)
• Countryside: 2 members (1.50%)
• Hinsdale: 2 members (1.50%)
• Indian Head Park: 2 members (1.50%)
• Chicago: 1 member (0.75%)
• Clarendon hills: 1 member (0.75%)
• Elmhurst: 1 member (0.75%)
• Evergreen Park: 1 member (0.75%)
• North Riverside: 1 member (0.75%)
• History of membership numbers: 

• Ways that we have reached out to members this year:
• Each new member is invited to meet for coffee with the Membership Chair or a Board member in an email when they join.
• Board members have been very helpful in calling new members for our May 3rd meeting, calling members whose memberships expired, and meeting with new members at Hillgrove Tap before our monthly Board meetings.
• In March, we reached out to some members with expired memberships in the old-fashioned way, by mailing them a paper membership application. We received six renewals, and I’ll try it again sometime in 2026. 
• Members have participated in two No Kings protests -- in October 2025 and March 2026. LWVLGA has been more visible in our communities through our events, our involvement in speaking out on affordable housing at the LaGrange Village Board meetings, at voter education/registration at the high schools and at Grace Central Food Pantry, and in increased publicity from the local newspapers.
• Redefined roles of Membership and Roster Manager/Treasurer:
• With the new Membership Portal, the Roster Manager role has changed, and become more aligned with membership payments. Our Treasurer Sara Heinlein agreed to combine both roles.
• Development of a Membership Committee: 
• We need to focus on a Membership Committee and test out ideas other Leagues use to engage members: “Books and Brews”, “Drinks for Democracy”, “Meet and Greet with an Elected Official” and “League 101” yearly meetings.

Program Committee

Completed LWVLGA events as of 6/17/26:

• September 6, Kickoff: Dole Hall, Plymouth Place, lunch, followed by a presentation by recently retired immigration lawyer Craig Mousin on changes to immigration law since 2005, detention, deportation and due process, asylum law and refugee protection

• September 25, Brookfield Library: A presentation by Jan Goldberg on Recent SupremeCourt Decisions

• October 29, La Grange Library: A presentation by Jack Bentley, Executive Director of the Citizen Advocacy Center on Project 2025: What are its details?  What has been implemented?  How can we respond? 

• November 19, La Grange Library: Presentation by CEO Tina Rounds of BEDS on affordable housing in our local communities. 

• December 11, La Grange Library: Presentation by Ed Yohnka of ACLU on presence of ICE, Border Patrol, and possible National Guard on our streets. 

• December 16, Holiday party: Acacia, hosted by Kathi Graffam.

• February 12,  La Grange Library: Presentation by Debra Shore on impact ofclimate change on the Great Lakes. 

• February 26, La Grange Library: Book discussion on Abundanceby Ezra Klein, discussion  led by Laurie Braun and Marian Honel-Wilson. 

• March 12,  La Grange Library and on Zoom, in collaboration with GoGreenLaGrange, facilitated by Ann Lee: presentation by Montclair State University and Jenny Bechtold of Park District of La Grange on pros and cons of artificialturf.

• April 16, La Grange Library, Book discussion of Democracy Awakening by Heather Cox Richardson, facilitated by Curt Hansman.  

• May 3, Acacia, presentation by Cynthia Schilsky, Curt Hansman and Barb Lamb on LWVUS positions, leading to a consensus vote by LWVLGA members. 

• May 14,  Dole Hall, Plymouth Place: luncheon featuring speaker Daniel Jassica, Lake County Chancery Court Judge. 

• June 4, Guided Walk at Fullersburg Woods, led by Conservation Foundation representatives Stephen McCracken and Deanna Doohaluk.

Communications Committee 

2026 Year-to-date activities:

• Established a monthly Communications Team call 

• Conducted 2026 Member Survey to identify members’ areas of interest and communication preferences

• Launched Communications Request Google Form to streamline how events and information are promoted across communication channels

• Audited existing communication channels and processes, which informed:

• Creation of an email newsletter policy to establish timing and approved topics

• Refreshed email newsletter design to increase open and click rates

• Updated publicity materials and outreach list

• Refreshed website design

• Ongoing promotion of League-hosted and/or -sponsored events across press, website, social media, and newsletter

• Distribution of monthly email newsletter, as well as ad hoc email campaigns

Planning ahead for July 2026 - June 2027

• Develop 2026-27 communications plan that supports League goals for the year ahead (to be created once League goals are finalized)

• Collaborate with Voter Services to promote election information and activities ahead of the November 2026 general election

• More proactively share and celebrate our League’s work - and the people behind it

• Additional website updates, including newsletter and volunteer signup integrations, and a list of upcoming events

Criminal Justice Committee

My name is Jan Goldberg. I am Chair of the LWVCC Criminal Justice Interest group. We formed in 2014 after reading a scathing report from the AOIC (Administrative Office of Illinois Courts) about the inequities of the Pretrial System in Illinois, We lobbied to get rid of cash bail, among other reforms. Today, we still meet every other month for regular updates and have a book discussion in the month we do not meet. Four times a year, we meet with a group of Appleseed lawyers (a subgroup of the Chicago Council of Lawyers). They help us stay informed about all that is happening in the legal world. This year was an active one.

Spring 2025: We met right after the LWVCC Annual Meeting in 2025. We discussed the FAIR Act (Funded Advocacy and Independent Representation) that was just passed in Springfield. It aims to establish a statewide office of the public defender so that all parts of the state have representation for indigent clients. The implementation of this act will be slow going,  We also talked about a recent court observation at 26th and California, the main criminal court, We were quite happy with the length of the pretrial hearings (30 to 60 minutes, as opposed to 2 to 3 minutes when we first started observing), We were also happy with the care that the judge took with each case, She explained her rulings with great detail.

The Electronic Monitoring program was moved from the Sheriff’s jurisdiction to that of the Chief Judge.

Summer 2025: We had a very long meeting with the University of Chicago Crime Lab’s Director Katie Hill. The lab started 18 years ago after a murder took place on campus. One of their own grad students was the victim. They focus on collecting data and publishing it in reports (Ms. Hill admitted that they sometimes publish too much data). They also train police in de-escalation techniques. They work with CVI (Community Violence Intervention) groups and help train their leaders. They also tutor high schoolers all over the nation who are struggling academically,

Fall 2025: We saw many personnel changes. Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis retired and was replaced by P. Scott Neville. He was active in training judges in the new rules of the SAFE-T Act. Cook County Chief Judge Evans was not re-elected. Judge Charles Beach was elected to succeed him. 1st Assistant State’s Attorney Anna Demacopoulos left for other opportunities. She was succeeded by Craig Engebretson. We discussed the Cook County budget hearings. Both the State’s Attorney and the Public Defender asked for funding to hire more staff. The Chief Judge shared statistics about the success of the SAFE-T Act.

Winter 2025: Our highlight of this past winter was a long meeting with the new Chief Judge Charles Beach. We were impressed that he put together 7 teams of judges to address different areas of concern during his transition period. He would like to give the Electronic Monitoring Program to the Office of the State Pretrial Services. He was about to set up a meeting with the head of OSPS, Cara Smith, a former judge and chief of staff for Sheriff Dart. He would also like more cases to be sent to Restorative Justice Court. He aims to speed up long, drawn-out cases by having judges in various diversions put pressure on the judges overseeing the longest cases.

Spring 2026: We are meeting with the 1st Assistant State’s Attorney Craig Engebretson on April 30.

Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer’s Report is available to view here, and the estimated 2026-27 budget is available here.