State hires Gaming Board lobbyist over objections

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2005 | 9:14 a.m.

CHICAGO -- The Illinois Gaming Board, unable to operate because Gov. Rod Blagojevich has waited months to appoint new members, has hired a politically connected lobbyist over its remaining members' objections.

Linda Freveletti, a former manager at the government agency that runs Navy Pier and the McCormick Place convention center in Chicago, began her $55,000-a-year job as the board's legislative liaison at the beginning of the month.

Her hiring comes amid a six-month period during which the regulatory board has been essentially defunct because it has only two members -- one short of a quorum. Blagojevich has not filled any of three vacant positions and has hinted he might wait until July, when the current members' terms expire, to appoint an entirely new board.

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