Township critics miss the big picture

In your Sept. 9 editorial "Spend township aid funds on needy, not salaries," you determine whether a township is doing a good job based on the ratio of dollars paid out in assistance compared to the administration cost shown for that line item. While I generally applauded the watchdog function of the media, I think you may have missed the mark on this one.

It is dangerous to take one number and use it to draw a broad conclusion as you did here.

I can only speak for my township, Lake Villa, where we administer general assistance and emergency assistance that are paid for with taxpayer money. But we also run a food pantry and a giving garden (providing fresh vegetables for our food pantry) that served over 3,000 people last year.

We administer Salvation Army funds for our residents as well as four surrounding townships, we coordinated benefits with many other organizations for our residents. We host job fairs to help our unemployed and underemployed residents find employment.

These are all valuable services that do not pay out taxpayer dollars. In fact, we are proud that we search for non-taxpayer funded remedies before we spend taxpayer dollars.

As for our administration costs, Lake Villa Township provides a host of other services, including senior transportation and senior entertainment lunches. We have over 110 acres of active recreational areas including parks, trails, shelters, a gymnasium, beaches, football, soccer and baseball fields and a pool. We run a summer camp. Our entire administrator staff is one person plus one we share with the Highway Department.

For budget purposes, we share the cost of our one administrative staff with the assistance line item.

That is why it is inappropriate to use that one number to draw a broad conclusion.

Daniel Venturi

Lake Villa Township Supervisor