Vets Affairs Commission votes to table retreat plans

As much as the Jasper County Veterans Affairs Commission was looking forward to putting on a powerful retreat event next month, it seems things simply didn’t happen fast enough to have it come together.

At Wednesday’s monthly meeting, the commission decided to indefinitely postpone a veterans retreat that was planned for the weekend of Sept. 25-26. With the event slightly more than one month away, and little activity having taken place of late — including not receiving a contract from the Military Resilience Project, a collaborating nonprofit — it would have been tough to pull everything together quickly.

“Without a contract, what exactly are we getting, and what if they bill us for $3,000 instead of $2,000?” asked commissioner Sue Springer.

In other action, commission chair Marta Ford announced she is going to relinquish that position, having been chair for the past seven to eight years. Since commissioner Randy Wagner has already served as chair, and Springer and fellow first-year commissioner Brian Sims have only been to four meetings, John Billingsley was chosen as the new chair.

Billingsley was elected in absentia, as the attorney couldn’t get away from court business in time to be at Wednesday’s meeting. The vote was taken with the stipulation that Billingsley be willing to accept being chair, and when he arrived shortly after the meeting ended, he didn’t decline to accept his role.

The board voted to send all five commissioners to the Iowa Association of County Commissioners and Veterans Services Officers “Fall School” in October in Des Moines. Veterans Affairs staff member Keith Thorpe and volunteer Kurt Jackson were also approved to attend a limited amount of the training.

Thorpe praised the efforts of Jackson. He said some quick thinking, patience and knowledge of veterans issues allowed a veteran to get treatment at the VA hospital in Des Moines instead of going to jail. Thorpe thanked Jasper County Sheriff John Halferty for his role in resolving that incident.

Wednesday’s meeting took place without Jasper County Veterans Affairs Director Chris Chartier, who is on family medical leave until late August. Chartier, who was arrested for a second-offense OWI in May, wasn’t at the board’s regular July meeting, but participated by conference call in a July 22 meeting about the Military Resilience Project retreat.

Thorpe, who has taken over many of Chartier’s day-to-day duties, also discussed office hours. At its July meeting, the commission agreed to increase his office hours from 20 to 24. He is in the office from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays and 8 a.m. to noon Tuesdays through Fridays.

Other items that came up at Wednesday’s meeting included a $10,000 annual state grant that cannot be spent on direct benefits for veterans, a brief discussion about how to handle transportation of veterans who have extreme hygiene issues, and a decision to purchase a new voice recorder that can easily be operated by anyone.

The commission is set to meet again at 3 p.m. Sept. 9 in the county annex building.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com