Supervisor urges review of veterans services; board directs comprehensive study

Supervisor Williams pressed county staff on whether the veterans services department has enough staff and proposed that the board consider creating a deputy director position once recently hired staff are certified.

"Our veteran population is 30,000," Williams said, arguing the county’s veteran and dependent population is much larger than some counties being used for comparisons and that the county should invest more in the department to ensure veterans receive timely services.

County staff responded that turnover, vacancies and certification requirements have constrained operations and that the department is currently at one of its highest staff complements in recent years—but many positions still need to be filled and certified. Bill and other administration staff said they would work with Director Sims to get positions certified and then reassess workload and staffing needs.

During public comment Director of Veteran Services Mister Sims, speaking as a combat veteran and as the department director, said the office lacks redundant management when he is absent and that comparable counties maintain more managerial support. Sims said the office served about "9000 new, never before seen veterans in our county" in the last fiscal year and urged the board to provide management backup.

The board directed the county administrator's office to perform a comprehensive review of the veterans services department—examining staffing, location, organizational and management structure and the possibility of consolidation with another department—and to report back to the board with findings and recommendations.