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Dear Editor,
In the Jan. 29 article in The Reporter, “Commissioners temporarily rescind appointment of Veteran Service Officer,” what it failed to tell the readers and veterans of Hamilton County is that this has been an ongoing pattern of violating the law.
I was fired as the County Veteran Service Officer because I had fallen behind on filing claims. What was NOT reported in the Dec. 12 article, “Veteran Service officer relieved of duties,” about my firing was that I had been and still was on FMLA because of a carpal tunnel surgery with major complications and ongoing dexterity issues and chronic pain.
Ms. Charles and State District Service Officer Mark Smith were able to use my two-year ongoing medical disability to get me removed. It was their plan so she could get my job because I had refused to bring her on full-time back in June 2019. There was no funding approved for a second full-time position in the office. She felt that since she had just completed her one-week accreditation training she was due a full-time position.
Per current Indiana Code, Lisa Charles is not eligible to replace me, but the Commissioners are doing all they can to get the residence requirement stripped from the law for their own benefit, not for the benefit of veterans. Their effort is to change the law so that County Veteran Service Officers will no longer be required to be an Indiana resident. In addition, every Veteran Service Organization and the Indiana Veteran Service Officers Association all unanimously opposed the residency change.
Ms. Charles just moved here from California in August of 2018, completed her first year of employment with the county on Feb. 23, and has had only one week of actual accreditation training in June of 2019. She has less than one year of actual experience on the job. I have since found other employment, but I still want to make sure our county veterans are taken care of going forward.
The committee that selected Ms. Charles was far from impartial. The committee didn’t even know the basic eligibility requirements for the position and that makes their selection very questionable for many reasons.
The Commissioners have continued to allow Ms. Charles to work full-time and will be going before the County Council on March 4 to ask for an additional full-time position. If the Commissioners are successful in getting the current Indiana Code changed for their convenience and put her back in as the County Veteran Service Officer, Hamilton County will be responsible for this change without consulting with other County Veteran Service Officers.
Veterans need to show up and demand a qualified and EXPERIENCED person be appointed as the County Veteran Service Officer and contact their local elected Officials and request the resident requirement be left in the current Indiana Code.
I had begged for three years to have the veteran service office area redone because we were on a daily basis violating veteran’s privacy, and I was put off. Now that Commissioner Altman is President, she can finally get the private “ladies” restroom built that she has wanted for years as part of the veteran service area remodeling project.
I just wanted the record corrected so the veterans and voters here in Hamilton County know exactly what is going on behind the scenes.
Sincerely,
April Lynn Epperson
Noblesville