Nation to be new Veterans Services officer
“I look forward to doing great things, I hope,’ he said.
The Veteran Services Committee chose him from a pool of candidates.
He will replace outgoing Veteran Services Director Leon Jaquet.
The office is in charge of helping military veterans and their families figure out about benefits from Veterans Affairs, and providing some other forms of assistance.
Commissioner Tracy Wandell made the motion, and Tim Isbel seconded. Jaquet said at the March 18 meeting that he still had four more days of work.
At the same meeting, in a split vote, the commission failed to pass a motion to create an oversight committee for the Animal Shelter, with several members arguing that the committee would be redundant and add too many people to a task already overseen by county Mayor Terry Frank.
Currently, there is an Animal Care Advisory Committee, but not one with any official oversight role.
Wandell made the motion and Commissioner Steven Verran seconded to create the oversight committee, but their motion failed to pass.
If it had been approved, the oversight committee would have included nine voting members, including two appointed by Frank; two members from the County Commission; and five selected by the Anderson County Nominating Committee and confirmed by the board.
While Frank and her staff would still have run the shelter day to day, the committee woud have assisted the mayor “when requested, and make a decisions concerning supervision, operational oversight, policies, programs and the creation of best practices,” the resolution stated.
Several commissioners objected to the proposed committee’s unclear role.
“This is Mayor Frank’s department whether we like the way she’s doing it or not,” said Commissioner Phil Yager regarding the Animal Shelter. Commissioner Aaron Wells agreed.
“The mayor has the authority,” Wells said. “As a conservative, why do we need more government oversight when we don’t actually have authority to give it?”
Wandell argued that the current system isn’t working, however.
“After 661 days on the current advisory committee, it became apparent to me that progress was not being made,” he said.
“ ... I suggest we have a board made up of experts that can help the mayor get us in a direction that we need to be,” he said, before citing current issues, including one concerning a runaway animal that was picked up from the shelter.
“I had a constituent in my district this weekend go pick up his animal, who lived in feces,” Wandell said. “And when he got to his animal, his animal was shaken, scared.” He also cited some escaped pit bulls in the Ben’s Mobile Homes area who he claimed had killed about 10 cats.
“The mayor’s the one that’s responsible for it,” Isbel said.
“And County Commission are the ones that’s responsible for the money, the finance,” Isbel said, adding that more commissioners needed to be involved with the shelter.
At the same meeting, the commission approved an agreement to allow youth leagues to use the soccer fields near the Anderson County Detention Facility, which the inmates maintain but do not use. Frank said the Clinton city schools are no longer interested in using the facility, but youth leagues still are.
