All rise. Pledge of allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America.
And to the Republic for which
it stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Larry, would
you give us an invocation? Yes.
>> I'm just going to take a few
minutes to read this. Really a
a poem. It was given to me by a
sergeant, first Class Conway in
Vietnam 60 years ago, and I
carried it in my wallet ever
since. He gave it to me and
said, read this every once in a
while and it's called take time
to Live. Take time to work. It
is the price of success. Take
time to think. It is a source
of power. Take time to play. Is
the secret of youth. Take time
to read. It is the foundation
of wisdom. Take time to be
friendly. It is the road to
happiness. Take time to dream.
It is hitching your wagon to a
star. Take time to love and be
loved. It is the privilege of
the gods. Take time to look
around. It is a short a day to
be selfish. Take time to laugh.
Is the music of the soul. God
bless our. Good.
>> Explain to. That gentleman
was. A relationship to you?
>> Yeah. All my platoon
sergeant. Yeah, yeah. He was
killed after I left.
>> Okay, Abby, would you give
us the roll call?
>> Yes. 488. Representative Bob
Brennan.
>> Please seek a doctor's
orders.
>> Okay. Excused. Alternate
Mark Lacey. Don't hear. Mark.
American Legion 14,
representative gene Kutcher.
>> Where is everyone?
>> American Legion 44. Jim Bone.
>> Yeah.
>> Darren Wertz. American
Legion 168. Representative Bob
Nichols, American Legion 176.
Representative Michael Gibson
here. Jonathan Frederick.
>> Excuse, excuse excused.
>> American Legion six. John
Lovejoy.
>> Here present.
>> Vanise Pratt excused. Thank
you. DAV. Chapter four. Bruce
Moss.
>> Present online.
>> And Roy de here. Thank you.
Korean War Vets 321 Patrick
Locke.
>> Please excuse excused.
>> And Earl Edwards. Marine
Corps League. 826 Steve Slegers
here. Thank you. VF W 4278
Thomas Brandt. Looks like
Thomas Bryant is here online.
And Deb Proctor here. Great VFW
7824. Greg Gilbertson here. And
Stewart Bauer.
>> Not here.
>> Excused excused. Vietnam
vets. 512 Greg Whitson.
>> I think.
>> I think Greg is online. And
Nick Herber.
>> Throw him out.
>> Members at large Brian
McGillis here. Thank you.
Boerke Ma here. Larry Smith
here. Lloyd Bowman here.
Michael Langsdorf and Tonya
work. All right. Back to you,
Bob.
>> I need a motion to approve
the minutes so moved as as
written.
>> Second as written.
>> Those in favor?
>> Aye.
>> Those opposed? Motion
carried. Committee reports
appeals. Gene is not here. I
don't have any. Who's online
for the center?
>> I am Judy, there were there
were no appeals that were not
resolved.
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> Also, Sonia is here, right.
>> Greg? Policies and
procedures.
>> I have nothing, sir.
>> Okay. And Bruce course is
not here except online. You
have nothing on nominations,
right, Bruce?
>> I do not, Mister Chair. Not
at this time. Thank you.
>> Okay. And the budget
workshop. Mike, you got
anything? All right.
>> I don't think they have
anything. We finished.
>> Okay. Work session. Abby.
>> Thank you. Bob. All right.
So thank you to all of the
veterans advisory board members
who attended the work session
on June 3rd. There was a great
conversation with the county
Council about the assistance
center's budget request. Given
the general support expressed
by the council, the Budget
Office will work with the
Department of Community
Services to submit the budget
request of $222,433 on behalf
of the Vabbe, and it will
follow the timeline on the
screen, which Emily is going to
speak to.
>> You with these things. Sorry.
Hi, everybody. Good to see you
all again. Thank you again for
the work session. That did go
very, very well. As Abby was
talking about, everything is
going to roll into our county
wide annual budget process now,
which this is the timeline of
how everything comes together.
Again, we'll be working with
DCS to submit the budget
request on behalf of the
Veterans Assistance Board, and
that will ask for the
additional funding needed for
the new positions. Once that
rolls into the budget process.
There's quite a few months of
work that's done to collect
everything and to process that
and publicize that to the
county. The budget office does
receive all of those requests
from all of our county
departments and offices in
August, and it takes us about a
month to really validate
everything and produce the
first round of reports, which
your request will be in there.
And that's published the first
part of October. From that
point, there's conversations
that the county manager has
with all the departments and
offices based on their
submissions, and she from there
develops her recommendations to
the council, which are
published the first part of
November, and then it goes into
work sessions to present those
those pieces of information,
those recommendations
collectively for the entire
budget. And then the council
does have its public hearing to
adopt the budget, that it's the
very tail end of November, the
first week of December this
year. The public hearing is on
December 1st, and that will be
an opportunity to definitely,
if the VAP would like to come
back and participate in that
public hearing and provide
support to those requests,
that's a great opportunity for
a public hearing setting. We
can make sure Abby keeps you
guys up to date as those work
sessions are scheduled. You're
of course, welcome to come and
listen to those and just, you
know, listen in. Those aren't
really participation with the
public, but are there any
questions? I feel like it's
pretty much laid out, but I, I
live that every year. So.
>> The public hearing, when is
that again? 1st December.
>> Yes.
>> Okay.
>> They're quiet, but I can I
can fix that. Okay. Go ahead.
Emily, thank you for being here.
I'm not sure we would have ever
navigated navigated the work
session and our presentation
without you. There's no doubt
in my narrow military mind that
we could have at least received
some of the some of the
positive comments that we did
without your your help. We know
veteran services, we don't know
budgeting. We we don't know
county budgeting, you know, so
there's a little gap there.
Yesterday's work session was
was interesting. And I sent a
document out to a lot of you
all. And hopefully you'll be
able to go on to Abbey. The
Abbey produced. What. But
anyway, the link and listen to
it. I will as a comment though.
Emily, I will tell you that is
difficult to understand. A lot
of the conversations between
those folks are difficult for.
For us to understand. I asked
Emily, I mean, I asked Abby to
get a transcript for you all. I
think if you read it, it'd be a
lot easier than to digest than
trying to hear it. I've been
through it three times and have
and find it very difficult to
understand. So in no particular
order, what what should we be
concerned about? Emily? We
heard I thought I heard
yesterday that the Council made
one declarative, and that was
to roll the three subordinate
levees outside the general fund.
That's the implications of that
for us.
>> Well, the implications are
that it will they will be
separate levees. So it it will
make the conversation less
competitive for general fund
dollars, because we don't have
to have that be a subordinate
levee and actually reduce the
general fund. But I don't think
there's any implications as far
as that decision. It's really a
a mechanism of how those levees
will be put out forth to the
community. I think more of the
conversation coming up is
through the budget process. And
as the council talked about
yesterday, there'll be some
conversations about whether
those those now not going to be
subordinate levees will be at
the minimum rate, or they'll
propose and adopt an increased
rate.
>> Okay. That that leads to
then a specificity question.
What talk to us about this
reserve fund, the minimum
reserve fund. It sounds like
from. A runoff, it sounded like
being a novice that the reserve
fund, we almost have to compete
for funding with the reserve
fund. You were talking, I think
three, $300,000, right? Is that
right?
>> Yes. If I remember, we
looked at the six year forecast
recently with the work session
that you guys did. It is
estimated to be about a $300,
$300,000 recommended reserve.
And that is really about being
able to sustain payments for
services at the first part of
every year as, as these
property tax revenues don't
come in January 1st, they
usually come in in April and
October. I, I don't necessarily
think it's a competition for
those dollars. I think it's a
conversation on how we would
address that reserve. And I do
think the Council is aware of
the need to have that. And
there were some proposals,
proposals made yesterday about
how they might want to address
that. That, again, will be the
council's decision on if they
want to provide more funding
for that or not. I would
recommend we look at the six
year forecast again if if it
doesn't have to be today, but
we can look at it.
>> Excuse me, what.
>> The six year forecast for
the fund.
>> Okay.
>> I think, Abby, can.
>> I have it? And I'm happy to
pull it up now, if that would
be helpful, please.
>> So why she's doing that?
Emily, thanks for your your
support. Buck spent a lot of
time came over to my house and
I know Abby helped me out with
the PowerPoint. So it was a
team effort. So yeah, I just
had to spell check buck a
little bit, you know, here and
there. I'm just kidding.
>> I am from Arkansas.
>> So the question I have
before we go over this, that
timeline, it seems to me like
the 1st of August is really
when I think it said the
development budget development
stage. So that timeline is
going to be is pretty
consistent every year.
>> Yes. Yeah.
>> From between August and
early December. Yes. Okay.
Thank you.
>> All right. So I think, Abby,
if we can, is this the second
tab that shows the. 222 okay.
If you look down at the the
bottom where we look at where
that proposed minimum fund
balance is, I can't really see
it.
>> It's impossible. Yeah.
>> It's a little bit easier.
>> It's okay for us Air Force
guys.
>> Yes, yes.
>> I'm just trying to figure
out I always do this with these
forecasts. Like what year are
we in. So is that bracketed
year? Is that 2027. Okay. Yeah.
So as you guys probably
remember, with the six year
forecast and the increase to
the new minimum rate, the fund
basically balances with
existing services by proposing
the additional staffing
increase for the Veterans
Assistance Center. There is a
need for additional revenue on
top of that to sustain that.
And that's a council decision
that will happen through the
budget process. What we do need
to talk about is the risk to
the fund. Right now if the fund
is spent down. So if we in 2026
spend that fund down to a very
minimal amount, there's nothing
in the fund January 1st to make
payments for invoices that
would come in. And I know I'm
not the expert on this. DCS
manages those payments, but
from my understanding, that's
what we need to figure out how
to either massage or have the
council, if they choose to
approve some additional funding
to create that buffer so that
each year, as the funds are
spent down, there's adequate
reserves to pay those first to
the year bills until the April
property tax revenue starts
rolling in. Does that make
sense?
>> Now? Now we know that the
last several months of the year
are the busiest at the center.
So running the money down, it
may just happen that way
because they get more veterans
in and need more help. It's
always been that way. So how
are they going to continue to
fund those last few months if
they have to save money for
January, February, March?
>> Well, the concept would be
in my kind of big picture
perspective is that whatever's
approved for the 2027 budget,
through this process where
we're working together, DCS is
submitting a request for the
additional funding that you
guys are requesting. Once that
budget is established for 2027,
those are the guardrails that
the Veterans Assistance Center
and the other two contractors
would have to remain within to
be able to balance that budget
year. If there's additional
funding needed for some
emergent or crisis reason
beyond what's already been
agreed to. That's a
conversation about like an
emergency conversation for
additional funding, and it may
not be available if the fund is
spent and completely allocated.
There's not really a process
just to infuse more money into
that without having a budget
process to ask for that. Does
that make sense? So I think if
you know the center's spending,
if that's what you were talking
about, like it's the busiest
time of year towards the end of
the year, that should be all
part of that yearly allocation.
You know, maybe we'll spend
less at the beginning and more
at the end. But at the end,
that bucket of a million or
whatever the contract amount is,
that's the parameters. Those
are the guide rails for those
services for that year. And
that's pretty similar to every
other service and allocation we
have in the county, that the
budget serves as a strategy
document and an approved,
agreed upon kind of financial
roadmap. And we all have to
kind of stay within those
guidelines and live within
those parameters. Once that
budget is adopted.
>> I understand that. Thank you.
But as we all know, even our
own budgets at home and
everywhere else, what you plan
on doesn't necessarily happen.
You know, you can they may have
a rush middle of the year. They
get a lot of veterans in that
need help and they have to help
them. And then they're out of
money. So that's there's a
thing that you can plan a
budget, but like they say,
everything's fine until you get
hit in the nose, right?
>> So from my, my perspective,
and that's this kind of bigger
structure, there may be other
conversations with the Veterans
Assistance Center and how they
can manage their overarching
expenses if something urgent
comes up. But the way we're
looking at it right now with,
with what the Vannis presenting
and asking the council for,
we're planning on fully
allocating the revenue that is
slated to come in for that year.
There's no other process unless
it was like a separate general
fund request, like it wouldn't
come through this normal
process because it's already
happened. But we could talk
more about, you know, nuances
and things like that. If there
was some critical emergency
during the year, the county
does do a fall supplemental
process and the deadlines are
fairly the same. So having
things come up in October,
November, December make it
difficult for us to react to
based on the way the process
works. But I think that's
something that we'd have to
discuss at the time, and there
would be no guarantees that
there'd be additional funding
from this source unless it
could go through the process.
Okay. You're welcome.
>> Thank you.
>> Can I just jump in here,
please? So when I do the budget,
I typically try to account for
the rush that we get in October,
November and December. And if
that rush uses up all of the
money, then unfortunately, we
haven't been in a position in
the past where we were able to
ask for supplemental funds
because there were none. So if
the levy is increased to the
legal minimum limit of one Anne
one $0.08, I think it will
permit us to have some more
flexibility and. And I
recognize that the county wants
to have a reserve, and I
recognize the need for that.
I'm hopeful that that reserve
can put in be put into place
incrementally, not all at once,
so that we can figure out a way
to work through those first few
months of the year, especially
in 2027. So thank you, Emily,
for all the help and all you do.
We appreciate you very much.
>> You're very welcome. You're
appreciated as well. And we can
talk more about, I think, what
our strategy will be. We need
to wait and see what the
council is going to approve,
because they may consider some
of these things that make these
a conversation or not. But I
definitely think we can have
some more conversations on how
that minimum fund balance can
either be implemented right
away or, or phased in.
>> Thank you. I think so too.
>> While the yesterday during
the work session, Councilor
Young kept bringing up several
times freeing up money from the
general fund. Quote unquote.
Remember, what is he talking
about?
>> I'm not exactly sure I could
speak on behalf of his ideas
about that, but I think he's
asking for some consideration
if there's flexibility within
the general fund to possibly
help establish a minimum fund
reserve, rather than changing
the levy rate. But I, I do know
there'll be a follow up work
session. So yesterday was
specifically on the House Bill
two, four, four two. And if the
Council wanted to make those
levies stay subordinate or take
them out of the general fund,
there was a firm movement and
direction to move them out of
the fund. That will be followed
up with a formal staff report
in a future council meeting.
But that decision is basically
in place now. The council wants
to consider all of the
potential needs, including the
additional staffing for the
Veterans Assistance Center and
the minimum fund balance needs
for 1019 in a separate and
subsequent work session, which
I don't know when that will be
scheduled for, but I think
maybe probably early August.
And we can keep you posted.
That would be something I would
encourage you to listen into,
and we'll have further
conversations about that.
>> Okay.
>> Thank you. You're welcome.
>> I guess failing another
question. This is more
declarative, but at the end of
the of the session, as usually
happens in some, some meeting,
the conversation kind of
dribbles down a little bit. And
one of the little dribble downs
that we caught was the, was the
council Marchel indicating that
she wants to know more about
mental health services that
could be available through the
VA. Did you hear her?
>> I did.
>> You hear her? Yeah. Well, we
we got pretty concerned about
that because trying to if she's
thinking about subsidizing and
I think it's important for us
to talk to you and others that
get involved. But this crowd
doesn't know much about
budgeting. But we know about
VA's. Yeah. And to think that
she might have been implying.
But we weren't going to accuse
her of that. But we were going
to be very nervous about that
kind of a comment because our,
our recommendation, our ask was
for mental health assistance
professional in the center,
right? Because, you know,
that's where we have mental
health problems. And I listed
two on one of my briefing
charts. And if she's thinking
that, that we could get VA help
for a mental health issue that
occurs on the spot at the
center, you know, she's
dreaming, right? And we went
ahead that off at the pass.
Emily.
>> I, I think that's fair.
Again, I wouldn't speak for
Chair Marshall, but I'm
assuming it's more of a an
inquiry to understand the scope
of services available and how
what's being requested probably
differs from what already
exists. I think it's just
trying to understand, you know,
the scope of services available.
>> And if if everybody would
understand that the VA first,
you have to be eligible for VA
health care. Number two, you
have to have a primary care at
the VA. And number three, the
primary care has to recommend
you for mental health services.
And then you go to mental
health. And then you've got to
find a provider.
>> If I can jump in here, I
think that it would be really
beneficial and valuable for the
Veterans Assistance Center and
Veterans Advisory Board to
respond directly to Counselor
Marshall's questions in this
regard, as the ones making the
request and as the subject
matter experts on this topic,
I'd be happy to help you all
facilitate a response. So after
this meeting, now that the
recording is posted, I'll go
back and consolidate, summarize
those questions in writing, and
I'll send that to the
assistance center and the board
and help figure out a timeline
to get those responses and
facilitate getting those to
counselor Marshall.
>> I appreciate that, Abby. And
I think that's the right course.
If if that's what the chair
would like is a formal response
about mental health services
that are available either short
term or long term. But as I
said, it was kind of a
conversation that was dribbling
off at the end of a of a long
meeting. So I don't want to I
don't want us at the VA be to
suggest to the chair that she
doesn't know what she's talking
about in the in the mental
health business, just to be
blunt, you know, so maybe
Abby's suggestion, maybe the
chair would like to form, make
a formal request that we could
respond to blah, blah, blah.
You know, you, you're you're.
>> I think Abby's idea is an
excellent one. I think it's
just an inquiry for some
general information. And I
think what Abby said, you know,
you guys are familiar with the
details and we could, you could
perhaps something to, to share
with the chair and that's just
for her to take in, I think, as
her overall approach and maybe
the council's approach as they
gear to head into some decision
making through the budget
process. So yeah, I wouldn't, I
wouldn't I wouldn't take it as
a negative thing at all. I
think it's more just inquiring.
>> That's very good. We'll
we'll ask Abby to to help
facilitate that. But again,
with, with you all that are
going to be involved in this
budget process for some time, I
need to realize that our ask
was because Judy and her, her
gang will get a mental health
incident on the spot down there,
and to think we could had to
turn to a VA or something. That
wasn't the point of Judy's ask.
>> Right. And maybe just my
humble suggestion was maybe
drawing a comparison in your
response and saying, you know,
here's what the scope of
services are. But the
challenges in, in accessing
these and how these don't
really apply to what you're
trying to accomplish through
the Veterans Assistance Center.
Sorry, I can't breathe today.
And with the Veterans
Assistance Center position will
do that. Those things don't do
just comparing and contrasting
I think would be would be
helpful.
>> Good. Super. Because we've
got a piece of paper here that
shows Clark County residents
are challenged for mental
health services.
>> Yeah.
>> And when you when you're
talking about vets who are,
according to the national
statistics, as 1.5 times more
likely to commit suicide as a
result of a mental health, you
know, we can't be fiddling
around waiting on the VA, right?
>> That's understandable.
>> Anyway, yeah, I, I.
>> Also see Roy Dyches hand
raised online.
>> Thank you. I just wanted to
clarify something. The
statements about the
availability of mental health
services through the VA is not
entirely correct. There. It is
a lot more available. I'm not
saying that that the the ask
for mental health services at
the Veterans Advisory, excuse
me, the Veterans Assistance
Center, I'm not trying to take
anything away from that. But
you don't have to be rated. You
don't have to be signed up. The
there's there's a lot of stuff
that that is available without
any prerequisites. Yeah. So I
just wanted to put that out
there. So it's not, it's more
nuanced than just. No. Yeah.
Okay. Yeah.
>> It's just not helpful. Yeah.
>> Thank you Roy.
>> What else? What else.
>> Do we need to know? We were
told there might be another
work session as as early as the
17th.
>> Is that true.
>> So there, there are work
sessions every week. Usually
there is a work session coming
up next week that's pertaining
to the 2027 budget process.
It's more about our internal
finance team, talking with the
council about potential
recommendations for the general
fund structural deficit. So
it's not specifically about
what you guys are having
conversations about the next
work session that I think that
would be a good thing to watch
out for is the follow up to
yesterday's work session, and
it's not scheduled yet. I'm
thinking it will be in probably
early August, but that's yet to
be determined.
>> Session.
>> Yes. Yeah.
>> If and when that does come
up, it would be great if a
greater number of the board
would show up at that work
session to support us, to
support Judy and the center
rather than yesterday. It was
just Chuck and myself.
>> Well, Mr. Chair, I think
part of that is we were all
built up to come to the work
session or working group
session on June 3rd, but the
follow up wasn't quite you know,
we didn't have the momentum.
>> I understand.
>> That, and I just got back
from a rafting trip yesterday
right when that was going on.
So or I would have been there.
But I think, I think if we just.
>> You get a lot of sun.
>> I did you see that?
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> But I wore a dry suit. It
totally covered.
>> It would just help us to
present ourselves to the
council if we could get more
people showing up is my entire
point.
>> I understand. I'm just
saying we didn't. We didn't
have a we didn't have this
meeting prior to where we're
March, April and May. We were
all gearing up for this June
3rd working group session. In
fact, it was supposed to be in
May, right. And it got
rescheduled. So yeah, so that
that would help if we had more,
you know, momentum.
>> Or notice to.
>> And that's, that's, that's
the other half of it.
>> Yeah. So it's just, it's
just, it's just a matter. I'm
just suggesting that more of
the board show up if they can
to these work sessions.
>> And when that happens, I
would ask the board members,
you show up to stand up. Do you
have that impression in front
of the council? Because they
can say who they are. In fact,
if I had the time and we don't
have the time with that council
is let the board members
introduce themselves so they
become more familiar of who we
are, who we represent and what
we're all about.
>> One of the best things, one
of the best things for us to
show that we are at least
veterans and are interested in
it, is to wear a cap.
>> Get a little.
>> Advertisement here. Yeah.
>> All right. Anybody have
anything for additional for
Emily? Do you have any final
final notes, suggestions on how
this little August group can
try to stay ahead of the curve?
You don't want to find
ourselves at the end of this
realizing we're not going to
get the asks.
>> Well, the ultimate decision
on the ask will come through
the budget process, right? And
we won't know that final
determination until December
1st. That goes for everything
that's that's going through
that process, including this.
But I would suggest just keep
an ear out and Abby can keep
you informed for when that work
session gets actually scheduled.
We'll do our best to give you
notice. It's it's been a very
busy year and things are coming
fast and heavy, so we'll give
as much notice as we can. And
also those materials are
usually posted the week before.
So you'd have a couple days
before the work session to take
a look at those. It is not a
setting. That's like a public
meeting where there's comment,
but you can show up and show
your support by being in the
audience. And then also the
material will be presented. You
can listen in too, and we can
always follow up after that.
>> And I just want to add my
appreciation of you and your
involvement. Thank you. And
concern about what we're all
about. That's so important. I
sense that when you talk and
your enthusiasm of who we are.
>> You're very welcome. I
appreciate all of you and truly
appreciate your service. And if
there's anything I can do, I'm
just down the hall. You're
welcome. Anytime. Michael Buck,
you guys have been to visit me,
so we're here to help you guys
navigate any of this that we
can, and we'll be seeing each
other again very soon. Okay.
>> Outstanding. And I hope we
all realize we're only here
existing to help those that
need help. And there are a lot
of them in this county.
>> We're veterans helping
veterans.
>> Thank you. Emily.
>> Thanks a lot.
>> Abby, can you make sure
we're notified ahead of time
for these meetings so we can
prepare for them or attend?
>> Absolutely. I'll be sure to
send an email to the board as
soon as I have information on
when that's scheduled.
>> Thank you.
>> Okay. Moving on. Contractor
reports. Abby.
>> All right. This is the April
2026 contractor and fund report
for the Clark County Veterans
Assistance Center. There were
648 visits to the center for
Essentials and Food, with 877
breakfasts and lunches and 83
food boxes provided, for a
total of 5,413 pounds of food.
Provided. There were 500 and
19.5 volunteer hours, totaling
$20,935 in value. There were 37
veterans served through the vet
fund in April, with services
totaling $26,595.72. You might
notice when you look on your
report on the demographics page,
there is a slight change from
previous reports. It now has a
column which marks which.
Veterans in that report were
served through the vet fund
versus through the assistance
center's other grants. So you
can see a bit more information
there. Of these veterans, 34
were male, zero female, three
widows and zero others served
through the vet fund. So you'll
see there were a few others on
that report served through
their grants. There were 13
denials, zero of which were
subject to appeal. At the free
clinic. There were two veterans
served in April. Services
totaled $922 in value, and they
build $594.72 to the fund. And
for the Veterans Assistance
Fund. April is a month where a
lot of the property taxes come
in, so the revenue was
$350,292.63. There were $99,897
in expenditures. At the end of
April, the fund balance stood
at $634,542.97, which was a
$250,394 increase from the
previous month. Any questions
on this?
>> I have one, Abby. Yeah. Go
ahead. It's for Judy on. Yeah,
I lost my place on the 23rd of
April. You did a mortgage rent
for $5,000 to one individual.
>> That was probably for two
months.
>> And even probably for two
months. Isn't that a lot of
money?
>> Of course it is. But
nowadays, rent for a one
bedroom apartment is $2,500. So
a mortgage two months for
$5,000 is probably still pretty
reasonable. Rental rates are
out. Outrageous. Through the
roof.
>> Okay, just just a question,
because that kind of stands out
to anybody who reads this
report.
>> Of course.
>> Thank you, Judy.
>> You're welcome.
>> Abby.
>> That is all I have for
contractor and fund reports.
>> Okay. Next, veterans
assistant Senator Judy. And
before you get into that, my
post has a table at the gala,
but they don't have any open
tickets. Do you have any?
>> What do you mean, no, no.
Open tickets.
>> Their table is all taken.
>> Okay, so you have extra
people that want to come to the
gala. Is that what you're
saying?
>> Well, you asked me about me,
and I can't come to the gala
without a ticket.
>> Okay, well, I can certainly
help you go on to our website
and get a ticket.
>> That's. Thank you.
>> I can do that.
>> All right.
>> Okay, so meantime, let's
talk about the gala. It's June
20th at Aleasha. Doors open at
530. It's a masquerade, which
is based on the old TV show
Mash. Some of you who are young
won't know what that is, but us
older folks know, and we will
have some games and lots of fun
drinks. A DJ, an emcee where we
will have some of the Mash
characters there. And it's for
a really good cause. We're
raising money so that if the
fund runs out next year and the
center has to supplement the
budget, we'll have some
fundraiser money to be able to
do that. So hopefully that
won't happen. But if it does,
and we also every day, as you
can see from the the new column
that we put up on your list, it
shows which clients are helped
with the fund and which clients
are helped with the grants. So
you can see that we do use our
grants when the fund is not
able to help someone, we do try
to use grants for that
assistance. So the fundraisers
help with those monies, and
we'd love to see all of you
there. I know that some of you
have bought a table and some of
you have bought tickets, and we
appreciate that. And we're
looking forward to seeing every
single one of you. So, Bob, if
you need help, I can I'll send
you an email with instructions
about how to do that. How's
that?
>> That's okay. I can come
visit you.
>> Yes, you can, and I'd love
to have you do that.
>> Hey, Judy, this is Greg.
This is Greg. So I talked with
Sonia yesterday, and we are
going to buy a table as well.
Our post is. I was going to
bring the check by tomorrow
because we have to do a vote
tonight, but I already know
where it's going to pass. All
right. And we have we have
veterans that we we don't have
all eight eight seats filled
yet. Close to half. Okay. But I
understand that the Veterans
Assistance Center has veterans
that they will put in those
seats that are that are open.
Is that correct?
>> I'm I'm very sure.
>> And I would come to you, but
it's always on the same weekend
as as our, our state convention.
So maybe next year.
>> Maybe next year.
>> Hopefully my seat at the VFW
table.
>> Yes. Okay.
>> So Judy, just as a strategy,
Larry Smith as a strategy, I go
to a lot of events, fundraising
events, and you've probably
been through it before. It's
really politically savvy to
reach out to some of our
elected individuals and invite
them as guests. And that's
starting at the very top, the
third Congressional District,
if she's in town Perez. And
then you've got seven councils,
city councils in Clark County,
representation from them to
include Clark County Council
and invite them.
>> Right. And I'm sure that Kim
Kim Hamlet is our fundraising
chair, and I'm sure that she
has reached out to every single
one of them.
>> Okay. And I, I offer my
services because I know most of
them. It tells you how long
I've been here. I'd be more
than happy to talk to them and
solicit their support about
attending.
>> Very nice. Well, I know she
told me that our mayor is
coming and some of the
representatives. So I believe
there will be a lot of
representation for the city and
the county there. I will check
with Kim further. I haven't
spoken to her today yet, but we
will find out how many are
coming and if if she needs help
with those, I'll sic her on you,
Larry.
>> Okay. Yeah. I can hardly.
>> Wait so much. We appreciate
you.
>> Okay.
>> So the other thing that I
wanted to talk about is our
upcoming Standdown. On
September 25th, we have
submitted our request for the
stand down grant. We probably
won't know about that for
another month, maybe another
six weeks. But we are in the
process of accepting vendor
applications. And if you are
out there listening and you
want to be a vendor at our
stand down, please give a call
to the center and let us know
so we can send you an
application. I believe that we
have sent out about 150
requests to vendors that might
want to be there. So don't wait
till the last minute because we
do fill up fast at the stand
down. But I'm hoping to see all
of you there. So it's a great
event for our veterans. It's
something they look forward to
every year, and it gives us an
opportunity to help our
homeless veterans get geared up
for winter weather until we can
get them off the street and in
housing.
>> Judy.
>> Thank you all.
>> I was at I was at the last
stand down, and that was the
one that had more vendors than
I'd ever seen at the several
stand downs I've been to. So it
was great.
>> Yes, I believe we had 65
vendors last year, so we had
them inside and outside, and we
will continue to do that. So we
want to add as many services
for them as we can, and we want
to make it as big a day as
possible for our vets. So
budget and with attending the
meetings and attending the
fundraisers, and each and every
one of you is special and I
want you to know that. So thank
you very much to each and every
one of you. And that's all I
have.
>> Thank you Judy.
>> You're welcome.
>> Okay. Old business. New
business.
>> I have an item under new
business. So last week, Bruce
reached out to me asking if I
could help the board update the
board's strategic plan. The
last time this document was
updated was 2015, so I am happy
to help update that. There's a
lot of data in there,
demographics, etc. that I'll
definitely be able to pull
updated information for. What I
could use your feedback on is
the overall goals of the board
moving forward. And you know,
the type of information that
you really want highlighted in
this strategic plan. So in the
follow up email for this
meeting, I will include a copy
of the most recent strategic
plan from 2015 for you all to
review. And then feel free to
send me any feedback that you
have over email. Otherwise, we
can discuss it at the next
meeting in August. Or if the
board is interested in forming
another specific committee to
talk about this, we can do that
and set up some separate
meetings before August. So just
let me know how you all want to
proceed, and I'm happy to help
in any way that I can.
>> Okay, Abby. Thank you. Now,
remember, no meeting next month,
no meeting. That gives us all a
chance to go to our conventions.
Except for you guys.
>> We're going in June.
>> Yeah, you got to be
different, right?
>> Are we going to your house
for a barbecue next month, Bob?
>> No, no. I don't have a
barbecue anymore.
>> Yeah, I'm going to make a
motion.
>> What a what a muckraker.
>> Any more new business?
>> I don't know if I am new
business or not. You know, I'll
just make one comment whether
it's new or not. You and I have
Bob and I have talked about it,
but it's just an FYI for
everybody on the board. Most of
you that have known me for some
time know that my wife and I do
not live here full year, and so
we'll be departing the fix. As
we say in flying business.
We'll be departing the fix on
about the 18th and headed over
to Montana. But I'll be
available. Bob and I have
already coordinated a little
bit. I'll be available
electronically, and we continue
to keep a ball moving forward.
The VA has, in my tenure here
has improved immensely. You
know, we need to be engaged in
veteran issues in this county.
We don't need to come in here
every every meeting and look at,
you know, charts that about
something that are meaningless.
But I've been so proud to work
with the with a lot of you this
this year on the budget
business that we've been that
we've become engaged in, we're
actually a useful tool in the
tool kit of the county now
where we weren't a few just a
few years ago. So thanks a lot,
guys. End of speech.
>> Can you give us your address
in Montana?
>> It's on Lake.
>> I'll think about it.
>> Margaret. You would want
Tanon.
>> It's under advisement.
>> Yeah.
>> Any more new business? If
not, I'll open it up to Open
forum. And I would like to ask
Mike. Mike, you got anything to
say?
>> Good afternoon. Michael
Torres. I'm program manager
with Clark County Community
Services, and thank you for
putting me on the spot. The
only thing I'd I'd say is just
thank you and appreciation to
the B&B. I know it was a lot of
work to get ready for that work
session, and I know it was
probably, you know, kind of
stressful. And we are local
government, we are government,
we are local government. There
is no way that we can get
around processes and public
disclosure and accountability.
And, you know, we all try to be
good stewards of public funds
and, and the structures that go
with it. And what that also
requires is your patience. And
you have been very patient.
You've been very willing to
work with us as county staff as
we try to support you and
support the council both. And,
you know, so thank you. That's
that's really all I would say
right now.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you Mike. Any more
open forum?
>> Yeah.
>> Roy has his hand up.
>> Say what.
>> Roy.
>> Can I jump in for a second?
Bob.
>> Yes.
>> So I believe that one of our
service officers, our Vsos, is
there in your audience today.
And I just wanted to say that
the two vsos that we have here
will actually two and a half
our amazing. They do so much
work. They help so many
veterans. They get so many
benefits for our veterans. Oh,
I see her. Diane. Hello. Anyway,
I just wanted to give a shout
out to our Vsos. We love them.
They work so hard and they
really, really do a great job
for our veterans. Every other.
We have a survey that we give
to our veterans, and every
veteran who fills out a survey
about our Vsos says how great
they are and their. Their
approval rate is up around 93,
94%. And that is almost unheard
of. So thank you. We want you
to know how much you're
appreciated.
>> Thanks, Judy.
>> Judy, is your backlog
getting better with the
addition of having. Oh, okay.
>> Yes. Yesterday morning we
were under 500.
>> Wow. Hey. Good.
>> They're working as hard as
they can.
>> Bob, there's another hand
raised online, Kim Doty.
>> Go ahead. Yeah, yeah.
>> Hi. Hopefully you all can
hear me. So I work over at the
VA, and I'd like to try to
advocate if possible due to
mental health. So I appreciate
all y'all speaking up about
wanting mental health on site.
I'm wondering about funding for
veterans who need mental health
treatment, but they don't have
any supports to watch their
their pets. And that would that
really holds people back on
going to get help, whether or
not they're actively suicidal
or they're deep in addiction,
they kind of just refuse to go
because they don't want to
abandon their pets. And they've
got they've got nothing. Those
are the only things they have.
So is there any way there could
be a grant or written into the
budget or, or something that
would just be able to support
these veterans while they're
getting the treatment that they
need?
>> Judy, you still there?
>> I am, I'm thinking about
that.
>> Okay.
>> Right now, we don't have any
policy in the vet fund. And I
see some logistic problems with
that. We've had a couple of
instances where we've had
veterans that have gone to
mental health, and they've left
their pet with someone that
they trusted, and it turned out
to not be such a trustworthy
person. So I think there would
have to be some plan in place,
and I don't know how we would
make that work. It's certainly
something that we could speak
with, with Kim about. We just
would need to know that we were
not putting ourselves in a
position of liability by
placing that veterans animal
with someone and, you know,
making it. I want to make it
possible for every veteran to
obtain mental health help. And
I get the fact that they don't
want to leave their pets. But
at the same time, I don't feel
like we could put the center in
a place of liability. By
placing that animal ourselves,
we'd have to work with another
organization, like maybe the
Humane Society or one of the
dog training facilities that
perhaps have the wherewithal to
be able to have the dogs. So
it's certainly something that
we can talk about. And if any
of you have any ideas or
suggestions, shoot me an email
and we can certainly talk about
it.
>> Thank you. And I completely
agree. Some people just aren't
trustworthy. I have been
looking into shelters, and I
have been looking into boarding
places that will house cats and
dogs. So I understand sometimes
the vet center is great with
doing another fee for under
$500, which is great and
helpful, and I'm hoping that
can, if we find a reputable
place certified within budget
and trustworthy, not just some
random friend that they have,
but somewhere that's
trustworthy, if the veteran
picks it out, works with us. We
just need the funding so that
we can get them help.
>> So that other category that
you're talking about is only
other rental assistance. That's
only another category for
something that is going to get
them evicted. If they don't
have that assistance. So that
would not be a category that we
could use for that. But we can
certainly come back to the VA
and ask them to help us
establish a category. Once we
get all of the protocol in
place. So if you want to
continue working, looking
around for someone who's
reliable, then let me know, Kim
and we can work together on
that.
>> Understood. Thank you.
>> Okay. Any other open forum?
>> Yeah, just one if I could.
Judy, this is back in under the
heading of open forum. I'd like
to make a contract with you a
little bit. I was concerned
yesterday about when the Sue
Marshall the chair made
comments about looking around
for other potential veteran
mental health services that
could be helpful in filling
your ask for a mental health
professional. I'd like you and
I if we can, and I'll reach out
to others as it becomes
available. But I'd like you and
I to to make a pact, to kind of
brainstorm through how we would
answer her. I don't want if
that becomes if her request
comes to us, I'd like to be
ready for it.
>> Absolutely. I'm I'm here at
your disposal. You have my cell
number, so I'll be happy to sit
down with you and work out the
details of how we feel about
that, because I feel the same
way you do. There's many, many,
many instances here on site on
property where a mental health
professional would not only be
great for the veteran, but also
for the safety of the employees
or the volunteers. So ask was
because of those things. And,
and I definitely will sit with
you and we'll hammer out
something to send to Chair
Marshall.
>> Okie dokie. Thanks, Judy.
>> Of course.
>> Okay. Any more.
>> Your public service
announcement? I serve on the
historic trust and I just
wanted because people have
asked me about this. Obviously,
we all know it's the 250th
anniversary. There's a lot of
activities and events going on.
And for the city of Vancouver,
none of them have been cut.
What we have done. If you went
to a Memorial Day at the
barracks, you'll see an
increase of police. A lot of
them will be in uniform, and
we're very sensitive about that.
And I say we Vancouver, but the
other cities as well. But we
don't want to cut any of those
events back. It's 250th
anniversary. We want to make
sure we have the events. If
it's a concert, there will be
some announcements about the
history that of 250 years of
our existence. But I just want
to give you an assurance,
because I have picked up some
concerns of people do not want
to attend some of the events
because they're afraid of the
security, especially some of
the things that have been going
on. That's a natural reaction
and that's a shame, especially
when this is the 250th. But
there as there is police
protection both in uniform and
out
>> Uniform planes close at all
the events concerts that the
city has out at Columbia Tech
downtown and so forth. Because
obviously when you have a lot
of crowds come together, and
when you have events that may
have a beer garden, you sort of
worry a little bit that things
could easily get out of control.
And it's unfortunate for me to
say that, but that's the
reality we live in right now.
But I just want to provide some
assurance. The part of that is
getting people out there to
come to these events,
especially if they have a
military orientation
orientation. It's important
that we support those events
and certainly reach out to the
youth and bring them. If you
have grandkids and kids, bring
them to those events, how are
they ever going to learn to
appreciate this country and the
sacrifices made? And there's
nothing like a visual
performance on a stage, on your
own community that champions
folks who take care of us. So I
just want to share that because
it takes all of us to work at
that and make that happen. But
I think the city has really
reached out and has looked
carefully at the security
arrangements for all the events,
and none of them have been cut
back.
>> Thank you. Larry.
>> I just got a couple of
things, Bob. So public service
announcement, and I appreciate
Larry's message there because
we need to get that word out.
And really, as a veterans
organizations beyond the
Veterans Advisory Board, but as
an organizations, we should get
together and find out how we
can help with recruiting and
getting the message out. And
because we're having that
problem with the VFW, we're
working through some of those
things. So I think that's
that's a good message, Larry.
Thank you. We are going to have
the Army birthday at our at our
VFW Veterans of Foreign Wars
post on this coming Saturday
night at five is the dinner
7:00. 6:00 is when the
festivities will start. It's
celebrating America's two 50th,
even though it is on on the
Army's birthday. So it's going
to be kind of a a joint kind of
celebration. So just public
public service announcement
about that. I think Kamea post
is going to have a a Klemz
clinic coming up at the end of
June as well. For those that
want to, you know, learn how to,
how the claims process goes.
And if Deborah wants to talk
about it, I'll give you a
second. Hold on, hold on,
Deborah, I'm not done. And.
Speaking about the Veterans
Assistance Center a year ago or
so, I when Abby would read
those numbers about food boxes
and lunches and, and coming in
for services for the CSO or the
Vsos, I. It was just a slide to
me. I didn't really understand
it until I started volunteering
there about 5 or 6 months ago.
Every other Friday or so. I
know Lloyd gets it. He's been
there. But I just say that to
really understand, you have to
spend some time there. How do
the food boxes get put together?
What? How many does a single
veteran get compared to a
family veteran? Get you know,
the lunches and the breakfasts
are provided. You know, how do
they get how do they make their
appointments with the CSOs and
the Vsos? There's a process
behind it all. And just getting
a ten minute tour, going to the
grand opening. Sure. That's
awesome. That's great. But to
actually spend time and spend
hours in there, you get a much
better sense of how it all
works. I'm not just talking to
this room here, but I just want
everybody to go back to your
organizations and explain to
them why they need volunteers
to understand how the Veterans
Assistance Center assists or
helps the veterans in our
community. So that's kind of a
plug. And I know Deborah's
ready to go to talk about her
claim, so go ahead. But just a
plug. Thank you.
>> I am not doing claims.
>> I know.
>> You're not.
>> But but but we are very
gracious to have Portland VA
come in to coffee from 9:00
until 1:00 to help any veteran
who comes in to do claims.
Anybody. So if you know of
anybody, please post it at your
at your place, wherever you go
and have them come to campus
Community Center on 26th June
from 9:00 and we'll have coffee
and donuts and bring their
paperwork, bring whatever they
have, and we'll have four of
them, four of them from the
Portland, VA.
>> So that might help on the
500.
>> Yeah. Greg, you you might if
you're inviting the public to
come to that dinner, you might
tell us where it is.
>> To the Veterans of Foreign
Wars dinner at the post.
>> Yeah.
>> It's on 400 North Andreasen.
>> Thank you.
>> It might be full now, though,
Bob. I'll save you a special
seat next to me.
>> Okay? Any more? If not, I'll
entertain a motion for
adjournment. So moved.
>> Second.
>> It's been moved and seconded.
All in favor?
>> Aye.
>> Meeting adjourned. Thank you.