Letter to the Editor: A kinder tone would have helped

I am writing this in defense of Alyssa Wilson, the administrator for Jasper County Veterans Affairs. She was very wrongly accused in her job in Friday, June 21 article in the Newton News.

Ed Spangenburg (a commission on the board) very rudely and harshly accuses her of not answering or returning veterans’ phone calls. What the newspaper article did not point out, Alyssa’s very busy everyday schedule. She is very overworked and has only 8 hours to get it all in. Not only does she divide her time with home visits for veterans who can’t get to her office because of health reasons, she is there to offer assistance to those veterans who can get to her office. She is only one person with many daily tasks helping her beloved veterans.

Alyssa is a very sweet, caring, devoted person. She loves her veterans and they love her. Most of them have finally got justice and service since she came into this office. Veterans told the commission that at the commission meeting in May.

She is very rudely and hatefully being scrutinized by the leader of the group and Commissioner Spangenburg. The true story was not told in the Friday, June 21 paper. That is very unfair to Alyssa. Spangnburg could have used a more loving tone in his attack on her at the most recent commissioner’s meeting. In a loving way, he could have said, “Alyssa, we know we have a problem with the phone calls. We know you are overworked in your 8 hours. We as a commission are here to help you, not criticize you. We need to have a full-time assistant to take the workload off of you. Please let us work with you to solve this problem. We know you are overworked and you need assistance.”

This would have been so much kinder than the route Spangenburg took. She doesn’t need your unwelcome stress as she has enough of that already.

Judy Jones, veteran’s widow

Newton