Dineen resigned last month, and Chief Service Officer Matt Jones has led the board in the interim. Jones told the Journal-News he did not want the directorship because “I like what I am doing right now too much to part with it and I really like helping individual clients.” Farmer starts the job Aug. 3 with an annual salary of $70,222.
Farmer, 38, has been a service officer with the agency since August 2015. He is a retired Marine with a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology from Miami University. He said he will miss dealing directly with the veterans but felt he had a lot to offer in the executive position.
“It took a good amount of time to consider the position, simply because I’m going to miss sitting down face-to-face with the veteran or the family member,” he said.
Prior to joining the board, Farmer was adjunct faculty with Miami working with former veterans who were students to acclimate and become successful in their quest for higher education and in the library for two years working with technology.
Board President Chuck Weber said Farmer’s credentials are impeccable and his command of AmVets Post 1983 is proof he is up to the challenge.
“He has had a very successful run as post commander for the AmVets in Hamilton. It’s the most prosperous and well run post I’ve ever seen and I’ve been to a lot of different veterans posts,” Weber said. “Those guys run it like a top, like a business and to me it’s a good reflection on his management ability.”
The other veteran commissioners had similar praise.
“He’s got the maturity and the drive to do an outstanding job,” Commissioner Dave Smith said. “He’s intelligent and got a lot of drive and I think he’ll do very well.”
Board member Bruce Jones mentioned Farmer’s background in technology, saying Farmer has already suggested technology upgrades the office can access for free and ways the board can expand its outreach to younger veterans, using their preferred avenues of communication. Reaching younger vets has been a goal for the board for some time.
“I think he’ll be a good leader,” Jones said. “The thought process was he had a lot of what we were looking for and he was someone that already knew what our vision was. If you look at Mike’s background, that IT portion of him, that’s something we can probably expand on and he can definitely lead us down that road.”
The board is responsible for serving about 26,000 veterans, helping them navigate the Veterans Administration system to get medical help and other services, arranging and paying for transportation to medical appointments and finding local services for everything from legal issues to marriage counseling.
They have been operating during the pandemic using virtual rather than in-person visits and other technology to serve clients. The number of vets served dipped to a five-year low in May at 274 but rebounded to 414 last month. The board served 657 residents. For now Farmer’s clients will be divided among the existing service officers and Weber said Farmer plans to keep a couple of his own files (to get them over the hump” until they find a replacement.
Farmer joined the board as a service officer at the tail end of the turmoil that plagued the agency for years. In 2014, the board experienced some issues that included accusations against the former executive director of bullying and making racial slurs and against a former board president of creating a hostile work environment.
There were disagreements about advertising — which the board has found to be an important outreach tool — and other matters were routinely stalled by arguingcommissioners.
Former Executive Director Curt McPherson resigned, and the board hired Dineen.
She resigned once due to the mistreatment she said she suffered under former commissioner Fred Southard. She quit after 11 months on the job but rescinded her resignation four days later, after Southard left the board.
Smith credits Dineen for fixing what was once a broken the vet board.
“She did a wonderful job,” Smith said. “She was the glue that put it together and that’s great. She endured some tough situations and handled them with grace and intelligence.”
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