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Dear Editor,
I recently read some articles about the Hamilton County Commissioners and the County Veterans Service Officer failing to do a good job for our county’s 14,000 veterans. Most recently, I read statements by County Commissioner candidate Charlie McMillan in the April 22, 2020 edition of The Times. McMillan claimed some Hamilton County veterans “…are driving to Tipton County for veterans (sic) services due to current issues at our county’s veterans service office.” This bothered me tremendously since I am a disabled Special Forces veteran living in Hamilton County.
The CVSO assists veterans who need to file initial compensation and pension claims, or need other services like the Aid and Attendance program, which is an extension of the VA’s low-income pension provision for veterans or their surviving spouses.
I met with Hamilton County Commissioners Steve Dillinger, Mark Heirbrandt, and with Lisa Charles, the Acting County Veterans Service Officer. I learned that some negative information I read came from a disgruntled former CVSO who was not reappointed by the county after working there for five years. The former employee claimed that Ms. Charles was not qualified for the job because she did not meet a five-year residency requirement, even though she was otherwise capable and had successfully completed the required accreditation training. As a result, Ms. Charles was renamed “Acting” CVSO while the county interviewed a number of potential candidates. Ultimately, none were found.
Commissioner Heirbrandt learned that many CVSOs in other counties had not been residents for five years either. County leaders across the state were much more concerned about hiring capable CVSOs than meeting an arbitrary residency rule, so Commissioner Heirbrandt and others worked with state lawmakers to remove this unnecessary obstacle. The new law requires the CVSO to become a resident within six months of accepting the position. The law goes into effect in July, when Ms. Charles will once again be appointed as the Hamilton County VSO.
The county is doing much more for veterans too. In order to meet the increasing demand for veterans’ services, this year Hamilton County increased CVSO staffing. A new part-time position was filled by a U.S. Air Force veteran and another part-time position was made full-time. This increases CVSO availability, capacity and response time.
The office space was improved by turning a former conference room into two offices with separate workspaces for each Assistant CVSO. This affords privacy for veterans and their families who often discuss very personal medical and financial information.
To show respect and pride in our veterans, the county recently invested over $46,000 in renovations to the County Veterans Memorial. Repairs involved replacing sidewalk, repairing the memorial’s foundation, re-caulking joints, and completing some repairs to the monument itself.
In addition, much emphasis was placed on the unique needs of veterans returning to civilian life in the county’s State of The Workforce study, published last September. Former service members are highly sought-after by employers due to skills and personal attributes developed during military service. These attributes include personal integrity, discipline and teamwork, so the county initiated a unique recruiting and training program to encourage more veterans from other states to move to Hamilton County. The study also identified other veteran issues, like helping veterans translate military skills and accomplishments into language civilian employers can understand and value.
In short, Hamilton County is very proactive in terms of understanding and responding to the needs of its veterans. I can think of no reason why any veteran would need to go to Tipton County for assistance. My initial concern led me to look into this issue, and it seems to be much ado about nothing. More importantly, it has verified for me that Hamilton County definitely cares about us veterans and our particular needs.
Matt Rowe
Carmel