Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Veterans Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Supervisors recommend CVSO resolution after debate over consultation and timing
Summary
The Government Audit & Oversight Committee advanced a resolution urging coordination for veterans services after a year‑long vacancy in the County Veterans Service Officer post; supervisors and the Veterans Affairs Commission debated whether an interim nomination was still necessary because a permanent hire had reportedly started June 29.
Supervisor Matt Haney asked the committee on July 2 to urge the city administrator to nominate or affirm a qualified County Veterans Service Officer (CVSO) and to direct a coordinated plan for veteran services during the COVID‑19 emergency.
Haney, who introduced the resolution, said the CVSO post had been vacant since May 1, 2019, and described outreach from veterans’ groups and a roundtable of veterans’ service leaders that raised alarm about the absence of a central advocate. "There are an estimated 27,000 veterans in San Francisco," he said, adding that many live in shelters or nursing homes and that the vacancy undermined coordination with the city’s emergency operations center and federal VA outreach.
Miles Tucker of the Veterans Affairs Commission told the committee the commission had been alarmed by the length of the vacancy and by lack of consultation in the most recent hiring steps. Tucker said the commission did not receive a resume or supporting materials for the current nominee and recommended giving the commission a defined role in future hiring and oversight, similar to how the Planning Commission is engaged in planning director appointments.
Supervisor Stephanie said she had worked with the city administrator and Human Services Agency (HSA) to post the position and that, to her understanding, a candidate had started on June 29. "I went through the process to inquire with our city administrator ... and then I immediately entered a formal letter of inquiry to get the process going," Stephanie said, arguing some early 'interim' language in Haney’s resolution was now moot.
Supervisors discussed edits to the resolution to reflect the apparently changed circumstances. The committee approved an amendment removing the clauses urging an interim nomination and then voted to forward the resolution, as amended, to the full Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation.
What comes next: The Board of Supervisors will consider the amended resolution at its agenda; if the committee’s recommendation holds, the board will decide whether to confirm the nominee and whether to change the CVSO hiring or oversight process.
