What began way back in 1636, when the Pilgrims adopted a formal Constitution pledging support for disabled soldiers, has—some 300 years later— become the most comprehensive system of assistance for veterans of any nation in the world.
Authorized by Congress in 1930—in the midst of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl— our country’s Veterans Administration was established to “consolidate and coordinate government activities affecting war veterans.”
Minnesota’s support for veterans, on the other hand, began with a Soldiers’ Home in 1887– shortly after the Civil War. It wasn’t until the end of World War II (1945), however, that Minnesota’s Legislature created County Veterans Service Offices to help veterans and their families obtain the federal and state benefits they earned because of their military service.
State law requires that each county board appoint a Veterans Service Officer (VSO) and provide the necessary funds for officers to carry out their responsibilities.
While a service officers’ primary clientele are those veterans living within their county boundaries who have been discharged from the armed services, VSOs may also assist veterans living outside their county’s jurisdiction.
Jim Golgart, former president of the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers, served 20 years in the Army before assuming duties as director of the Veterans Service Office in Le Sueur County, Minnesota.
Golgart explained the role of VSOs in a 2015 article titled: “A closer look at the role of the county veterans service officer,” authored by the National Association of Counties’ (NACo) Executive Editor Bev Schlotterbeck: “County veterans services offices are the at-home, back-to-the-community stop for veterans who have served the nation, fighting its wars and keeping its peace. They are the local link in an intergovernmental chain serving the country’s 21.8 million veterans.”
A look at the numbers . . .
According to the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs’ 2017 annual report, there were 337,000 veterans living in the state of Minnesota in 2017. The greater majority of these veterans– 27 percent–were between the ages of 65-74.
As one might surmise, veterans’ numbers are declining nationwide. Minnesota’s veteran population declined 8.71 percent from 2014 to 2017 and the trend is predicted to continue. In fact, the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics projects that, in the next 30 years, Minnesota’s veteran population will decline 57.35 percent! A significantly higher percentage than nationwide veterans’ statistics depict; anticipated to decline 39 percent over the same period.
It is also worth noting, Minnesota’s veterans age 65 years and older comprise 52.89 percent of our veteran population; compared to 46.88 percent nationwide.
The number of veterans living in Cook County in 2017 was 458; down 12.43 percent from the 523 who resided in the county in 2012. Of Minnesota’s 87 counties, there are only six that have fewer veterans living in their county than Cook County.
When I began my term as county commissioner–January 2013–Cook County veterans were being assisted by Clarence “Clinker” Everson, who assumed his role as Veteran Service Officer in 2007.
Then, due to some yet unclear reason, the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs Office determined a VSO could not work for both the state and a county. “Clinker” was forced to make a decision. He chose to work for the state.
As a result, in 2013, the county board appointed Pat Strand as the county’s VSO. Pat divides her time between Public Health & Human Services and the Veteran Services Office duties.
That first year, the VSO annual budget amounted to $44,202, with a veteran population of 511. The budget jumped 43 percent over the next six years (2013 to 2018) to $63,333– still part-time–with a veteran population that slumped by nearly 13 percent.
My last year as commissioner– during the 2016 deliberations to establish the 2017 budget–the VSO requested the position be changed from part-time to full-time. The board of commissioners chose to maintain the present part-time status for the department; however, each year, the appeal continues to be advanced and is, once again, included in the proposed 2019 budget presently being debated.
Consider . . .
Should commissioners determine to move forward with the proposal to expand the VSO position from part-time to full-time, it will reflect a VSO budget increase–from 2013 to 2019–of 118 percent ($44,202 to $96,756) with 89 percent of these dollars dedicated to wages and benefits.
This, while Cook County’s veteran population continues to decline; this, while state Veteran Services Officer Clarence “Clinker” Everson continues to service a portion of the 458 veterans still living in Cook County.
Former Cook County Commissioner Garry Gamble is writing this ongoing column about the various ways government works, as well as other topics.
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