Defends townships and work they do

I cannot permit the printing of Edie Phillip's letter on Sept. 13 questioning the purpose of townships without my rebuttal.

As a caretaker at my local church for the past 30 years, I have worked with the wonderful staff at Palatine Township in cooperation toward alleviating the needs of those persons in our community who, for no fault of their own, are in deep need.

Their caregivers who patiently and tirelessly attend to any and all who apply for help are living saints who cheerfully respond to a variety of requests. Their food pantry is open to all regardless of race or creed and has sustained thousands over the years.

Countless families have been saved from eviction or a loss of utility service such as electric, gas or water.

And these are only a fraction of services offered to any within the township boundary. As a senior citizen, I must relate my personal experience this past year when, for the second time in 10 years, my signed application to keep my Senior Freeze exemption was lost in the revenue department, resulting in a real estate tax bill for 400 percent in excess of the proper amount.

Because they had closed the office in the Rolling Meadows Courthouse, I was forced to drive to the Skokie Courthouse, waited in line four hours with a copy of my original application before it was corrected.

I then discovered that Palatine Township has a revenue office on Quentin Road in Palatine where my Senior Freeze application for the current year was accepted in less than 15 minutes.

I say God bless them all. I would hope Ms. Phillips might take the time to visit her local township to discover the treasure we all have in this area of public service.

John Connor

Rolling Meadows