To the Editor:
Re: The Nov. 30 story about member initiative funds.
The story failed to acknowledge the persistent efforts Sen. Pam Althoff made in the last five years to retrieve the "frozen" funds that former Sen. Dick Klemm accumulated which he designated for emergency use.
For example, Turning Point was in desperate financial crisis; he promised $193,000. The new governor in January 2003 "froze" that money and the other funds that were to be used for the new Senator, Pam Althoff's district (McHenry County). She had to keep fighting to get this money released.
Althoff and I were members of the Conference of Women Legislators (an effective, influential bipartisan group) which was one of our contacts. She reached out to everyone. And guess what? That check for $193,000 reached Turning Point a year later, March 2004. Even if the governor's office chose to credit another representative with that check and others, as the article noted, Turning Point and the other agencies know who "went to battle" for them.
I would suggest a follow-up story showing Althoff's success in getting back for our county those 'frozen funds' which Gov. Rod Blagojevich credited to other representatives.
Rosemary Kurtz
Crystal Lake
