The veterans board has been missing one commissioner since Tom Stamper’s five-year term expired Jan. 15. Filling Stamper’s vacant seat has been delayed over the past month due to a series of snafus with the candidate nomination process.
Being down a commissioner had been only a mild inconvenience for the board until Wednesday when only two of the four remaining members showed up for the meeting and no business could be conducted due to the lack of a quorum, or majority. Board Vice President Ken Smith didn’t make the meeting because of the snow and icy conditions, and Commissioner Lowell Stewart is vacationing in Florida for two months.
Commissioner Bob Perry said the board knew the quorum issue could be a stumbling block, and they have tentatively scheduled a meeting for Tuesday to take care of business.
“We’re doing the best we can with the commissioners we’ve got to work with,” Perry said.
It remains unclear exactly when a new commissioner will be sworn in. Presiding Common Pleas Judge Patricia Oney said as of last week, she only had one valid recommendation in hand to fill the vacancy.
Under state law, the county’s common pleas judges must select commissioners from a list of recommended candidates compiled by area veterans chapters, including the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans and AMVETS.
This year, it was the American Legion’s turn to recommend names, so Oney sent a letter to the posts in Hamilton, Middletown and West Chester Twp. in September. In the notifications, Oney left out the requirement that each post was to send in three names — no more and no less — for consideration.
Hamilton sent in three names, but then Stamper, who is a member there, turned in his own application, bringing the number of nominations up to four. West Chester Twp. sent in two names, and Middletown didn’t send any.
Oney then ordered a do-over to rectify the situation. The Hamilton American Legion post sent back the same three names it did the first time (Stamper’s was not among them), and West Chester Twp. Post Commander Chuck Miller said the executive board was meeting Wednesday night to whittle down four names to three. Weather permitting, Miller said Oney should have the post’s recommendation by Friday.
The Middletown post’s recommendation is invalid at this point, Oney said, because it contains Stamper’s name. Stamper apparently switched from the Hamilton post to Middletown, but he wasn’t an official member of that post when he was recommended.
“If they send in a corrective thing, and he is a member, we’ll address that when we get there. If they don’t send in a corrected thing, these (the Middletown names) won’t be considered,” Oney said. “They should have taken a hint because I said you have to send in three names of post members.”
Middletown post officials have told this newspaper they won’t discuss their recommendation. Oney said she doesn’t understand the confusion.
“At least in seven or eight years they’ve not done anything like this, so I don’t know where they’re going or what they’re thinking,” she said.
And while the veterans board couldn’t conduct any business at its meeting Wednesday that didn’t stop Fred Southard from announcing that he is stepping down as president of the Butler County Veterans Service Commission after 13 months at the helm. Southard said it’s time for new leadership.
“I’ve done my time; it’s time for somebody else,” Southard said, adding his term actually ended Jan. 14. “When I agreed to continue on, I was hoping we’d have a fifth commissioner by now. As it stands, I have no idea when the fifth commissioner is going to be named.”
Smith will go from vice president to interim president as a result of Southard’s decision, but he said he doesn’t want the position permanently.
“I really didn’t want to, but I will,” said Smith, who has been president of the board in the past. “You know how it goes, you done that, you been there. I just kind of want to lay back and do my little bit, kind of keep quiet and be off to the side.”
Southard, who didn’t want to talk about his term as president, said he has tried to effect change on a board that has a reputation of being dysfunctional. Southard has pushed for several new initiatives such as a new travel policy for commissioners and a performance audit of the agency, but with no success.
Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser said Southard has tried to right some perceived wrongs during his term as president and has been a “stabilizing influence” on a board that has important work to do.
“I was always appreciative of the input that Fred gave, and the actions he attempted to take for the benefit of the veterans,” Gmoser said. “The veterans commission is not a veterans retirement club. This is a very active commission by law, and I think Fred expected everyone on the commission to follow that lead.”
About the Author