>> All. The pledge of
allegiance.
>> 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.
>> Invocation.
>> Yes, Mr. Chair, I'll give
the invocation. Father Lord,
thank you for allowing us to be
in our meeting today for our
deliberations, and that we all
help our veterans and to the
fall months of this year.
Veterans day will be next month,
and we're hoping that everybody
will be safe and assist them
wherever we can. In God's name
we pray. Amen. Amen. Yes, Mr.
Chair, roll call of board
members. 48 Bob Brennan.
Alternate Mark Lacey. I hear.
Yeah. Are they online? I don't
think so. So Brennan and Mark
Lacey are excused. American
Legion Post 14, Jean couture.
He is excused. American Legion
Post 44. Jim Bowman, Darren
Wertz, American Legion Post 168.
Board. Secretary. Board chair
Bob Nichols. American Legion
Post 176. Michael Gibson. Chair.
Jonathan. Frederick. Might be
showing up. Okay. American
Veterans Post six. John Lovejoy.
Vanise Pratt DAV chapter four.
Board Secretary Bruce Mosier,
Roy de. Korea War Vets 321.
Patrick Lock, Earl Edwards,
Marine Corps League, 826 Steve
Slegers. VFW post 4278 Thomas
Brant. Deborah Proctor, VFW
post 7824. Greg Gilbertson,
Stuart Bauer, Vietnam Veterans,
chapter 512. Greg Whitsett,
Nick Herber, Members at large.
Bryan McGillis, Buck Marr.
>> Here online.
>> Board vice chair. Larry
Smith here. Lloyd Bowman,
Michael. Langsdorf. Michael
Tanya. Work. Present. Clark
County. Representative. Abby
Malloy here. Clark county
Veterans Assistance Center. I
see Craig Pridemore is here. Do
I have anybody else from the
assistance Center online with
us today?
>> I'm online. Bruce.
>> Judy. Judy Russell is online
with us. Judy, you're a little
bit low, and I have one more
person in the back gallery.
Could I please have your name?
Yeah. James. Will. Where are
you from?
>> I'm from Clark County, but
I'm with chief of staff. Okay,
so ditch center of state.
>> Okay, so we have a member of
the press here with us today.
James Will from the reflector,
also with veterans and with
veterans to.
>> NSC.
>> NSC, Mac member as well. All
right. Go Army with him. Other
than that, Mr. Chair, it looks
like you have a quorum.
>> Okay. Thank you. Bruce. I
need a motion for the minutes
for last meeting.
>> We did that on.
>> It's been moved and seconded.
Who said second? Second? You
said second. Fine. Somebody has
to admit it. It's been moved
and seconded that the minutes
from the last meeting be
approved as written. Any
objections? If not, those in
favor. Those opposed? No one
opposed. Minutes approved. Gene
co-chair. Not here. Appeals.
Judy.
>> There were no.
>> Greg. Do you know if you had
any appeals.
>> Last month that were
appealable? No denials that
were appealable last month.
>> Okay. Thank you. Greg.
Procedures? Nope. Nothing.
>> Nothing yet.
>> My, my my nomination is.
Bruce.
>> Okay, just to remind our
board members, it looks like
starting in November and in
December, we will be doing our
first and second round
nominations with elections held
in December for the board
positions of chair, vice chair
and secretary. So if you're
thinking about wanting to run
for any of these positions,
please let me, Bob or staff
know and we can put your names
down. So 30 Day Warning is now
out for that.
>> Okay.
>> That is Bruce.
>> Yes, Mr. Chair, that is okay.
>> Patrick.
>> Okay. For budget workgroup,
we're not going to be meeting
unless there is something I
know the senators are
presenting. I believe a
modification, so we might have
to meet to take a look at that.
Okay. All right. Other than
that, we're not planning on
meeting until the first of the
year.
>> Okay. So next is the
strategic.
>> And then the strategic plan.
I have a report, and I've also
given a copy of the report to
the the county so they can log
that in. Okay a summary. So I
want you to keep in mind that
the strategic plan is being
designed to operate in an
environment conducive to
success. So we're evaluating
the current environment to
determine what is working well
and what elements require
change to produce a successful
outcome. And these are our
findings thus far. So to date,
the committee has coordinated
directly with the Cvac Interim
executive Director. We've
confirmed the substantial
progress on the seven year
strategic plan framework. We
moved the Veterans Voices
project to conditional launch
readiness. So what that means
is that we have a plan to do
interviews of veterans. And
right now that plan is being
reviewed by a couple of
professional psychology people,
as well as our internal review
of it. And we plan on
implementing that next week to
get that going. As one of our
critical elements right now is
getting evidence and
interviewing these veterans. So
we have I'll go into that a
little more down below here.
Move the Nigrey Baugh baseline
research and drafting is
continuing. So we Jim is
putting together the framework
for the report itself for the
plan. And I'm working on the
financials for it, as well as
the overall schedule of
everything. Our plan is to have
this together to present to the
board and our February meeting.
The committee's Progress and
Future Outlook document was
adopted by consensus for member
orientation and concise
reporting to the full V, a B.
So we've developed our how this
is being reported to all of you,
as well as the things that
we're agreeing on on the
conventions of how we're
proceeding. The committee
reviewed how the V, A, B, and
the C, V, a, C can maintain
separate but compatible plans.
The Cvac addresses operations,
capacity, staffing and
implementation, and the V, a B
examines county wide needs
priorities. The fund 1019
stewardship, oversight and
recommendations to the County
Council. The Service System
inventory template was approved
by consensus. It will document
providers population served
services. Entry points,
eligibility, referrals,
geography, funding, capacity,
evidence, sources, limitations
and possible gaps. Work
continues on the the. The base
layout of the plan. The fund 19
financial base. The GIS map.
The service data crosswalk,
which would be a document that
shows the different services
that are available to veterans
in the county and how those
interact with each other and
make that available in
different manners on the
internet for them. And the
roadmap dependency schedule. So
that's a, what is actually a CP
m schedule that I'm putting
together for it sort of process
the stand down and veterans
voices, the stand down results
we had, we received 60.
Potential interviewees during
the stand down. These are
veterans that signed up to be
interviewed. The committee
distributed 80 veterans roll
call brochures and 100 VAB
awareness brochures. The
awareness tally indicated very
low prior public recognition of
the VA. B so that's something
that we are going to address
with veterans. The veterans
Voices launched status. The
project is conditionally ready.
The proposed questions and
simplified process are
undergoing professional review.
We are using an air table to do
the scheduling. We. We are
right now selecting a scheduler
and interviewers. We are
recognizing any privacy issues,
records, handling
De-identification, urgent
referrals, and inclusion of
recruitment. So in what we're
calling urgent referrals, if an.
A person interviewing a veteran
identifies an urgent situation
with that veteran, we have a
process for getting them to
someone, which is particularly
the 988 phone number, so they
can get taken care of right
away. So it's not just if an
emergency, you know, in talking
to somebody, if they come up
with something, they're trying
to deal with a situation that
we shouldn't be dealing with as
an interviewer, we have some
way to deal with that kind of
situation because it could
happen. Right?
>> When we just give them over
to see if they can handle
whatever the situation is.
>> Well, I'm saying it could be
anything. It could be anything.
And yes, and that is.
>> A place to stay. That night
is not going to happen.
>> Okay. That's a good that's a
very good point. I'll make a
note of that. Yeah. Because
that could be something that
could come up. Yeah, exactly.
Okay. All right.
>> Sorry.
>> No, that's that's good.
That's the things that we're
going to be looking for. Okay.
Okay. Yeah. So how they're
referred from there. So if it's
situation that would require,
say, a 988 call will get them
on the line. And I've already
tested that out and talked to
the people at the 988. And
they're agreeing in agreement
that that would be a good way
to handle it, to get them on
the line so that if it's
something that local that we
would need to handle, then
we'll make sure that we get
them in touch with the B, A, C,
then.
>> Right VC or like council or
somewhere that especially
housing is a big thing, right?
>> I have to remind.
>> You again, I turned it on.
>> You have to get into it.
>> Oh my God, it's green. Okay.
>> Yeah, yeah.
>> Sorry, I'm already loud and
I feel like this makes me
louder. I just I'm just
concerned because a lot of vets
need housing, plain and simple.
And they need housing like for
that night and long term. And
that 98 is going to send you
over to counsel so that I need
to call counsel for the
homeless or there's a share.
Okay. But there are no veterans
specific programs anymore for
that, although do good
Multnomah just is building new
like warehouse housing right
down the street from me. And
they have a g, d, g d program.
So that'll be good to help get
veterans housed out of there.
So anyway, lots of information.
>> Sorry, would you do
something for me then? Can you
make some notes to that kind of
a situation? If it's addressed
that it's not something that's
an emergency that would need to
go to 988, but an emergency
that would need to go to a
different service. How to
handle something like that. I
greatly appreciate it. And
we'll incorporate that into the
interview process.
>> Okay. Yeah. And I know Cvac
has resources for some of that
too. So okay. But yeah.
>> Just email, email that to me.
Just put something together and
email it to me and I'll take it
from there.
>> Okay?
>> Okay.
>> Thanks.
>> She's got my email. My email
is on. Yeah. Okay. Evidence
discipline the sign up,
demonstrate the sign ups,
demonstrate interest and
outreach. They are not
interview findings, final needs,
gaps, priorities, objectives,
measures will be adopted, will
not be adopted until
de-identified interviews are
completed and analyzed. The
appeals process. The. And I'm
going to be. Oh, maybe I won't
be, but we don't have that on
there. So the appeals process
is something that we're taking
a strong look at to identify
how that system works, how it's
supposed to work, and how you
know what is going on right now.
So we've already started, you
know, working with that and
we're going to be working with
actually my. One of the things
I'm going to do is a, I would
like to make a motion here. On
behalf of the Strategic
Planning committee, I move that
the Veterans Advisory Board
authorizes the Strategic
Planning Committee to, one,
complete a proposed written
appeals review procedure for
review by the VA Appeals
Committee and two, to
coordinate a mock appeal using
a de-identified case to test
the procedure before the actual
appeal is received. Three to
identify which denials are
appealable, how records are
transferred, what notice the
veterans receives, and how
initial denials are
distinguished from appeals
committee decisions for to
request cooperation from Clark
County and the contracted
providers in supplying
Non-identifying approval and
denial reason codes tied to the
applicable policy or procedure
in their monthly reports to the
VA. Be. And this is something
we have talked to Craig about,
and we're going to look at that
process of how to go move with
that in the future here. Five
the return, the return, the
tested procedure and
recommendations to the full
Veterans Advisory Board for
consideration and action. So
those are the five elements of
the motion that I'm making. So
that's on the floor for a
second and a vote.
>> Do I have a second?
>> So moved.
>> Second.
>> Okay. All those in favor? I
who's opposed? No one opposed.
Motion carried.
>> Okay.
>> Okay. Patrick.
>> Okay. And then. Okay.
Coordination matters requiring
follow up. The Cvac will
examine whether approval and
denial reason codes can be
added to monthly reporting and
provide follow up concerning
job descriptions and how
service needs or gaps move
upward for action. These are
pending follow up matters and
are not completed. Committee
findings, terminology,
accreditation duties and fund
1019 funding relationships
among veterans service
organizations, accredited
representatives and county
service officers remain under
verification. So there the
challenge is our terminology
sometimes becomes a little
confusing, especially where we
term a veterans Service officer
and veteran service
organizations and accredited
veterans Service organization
representatives. And I think we
need to, for purposes of what
we're doing to kind of
standardize our terms. So that
just saying a VSO isn't
necessarily a veteran service
officer. They could be talking
about a veteran service
organization. So to clarify our
terms in what we're doing, I
think is something we need to
take a look at. In the RC s and
in the county code, and also in
the. Policy and procedures.
Some of those terms are
referred to in different ways.
So I think it would be good for
us to clarify how we're going
to term a particular person,
organization or activity. The
committee will test how how
readily america.gov. This is a
new system that's just been put
in place called america.gov,
and it's a system that is laid
out to help citizens access
government services in a faster
way than has been. And we're
going to test out how this
could work for veterans and see
if the information in it is
something helpful, and if it's
something we can use to apply
to what we're doing. And we
have some milestones that we're
working on also. And the the
committee has built a planning
structure, established evidence
controls, begun system and
financial baselines, recruited
interview participants, and
clarified several operating
environment questions. The
immediate priority is to
complete the Veterans Voices
interviews and begin to
scheduling test the appeals
procedure and continue drafting
the portions of the seven year
strategic plan, supported by
verified evidence. And that is
my report.
>> I have a question. Go ahead.
I'm sorry. I don't know if this
is the right place to put it in
there, but is the committee
looking at going after some
federal grants like we have Hvp
or G C vac? So the money would
come to that building and help
support it, but the feds would
be paying for it.
>> That's something that's been
discussed in the committee, and
there's where we're at with it
right now, is that some
identifying some things and
bringing that to the board and
letting the board determine
where to go with it from there.
Okay. Any other questions? Okay.
That is my report.
>> Thank you. Patrick. Next
item. Craig, are you ready to
speak to us? Yes, sir. Thank
you.
>> So this is the revised
budget and I apologize. I
didn't get the history on what
you guys have considered before,
but revised budget for the
Veterans Assistance Center. It
is the same essentially as the
first submittal without the
mental health proposals that we
had been doing. As I talked
about last month, we will
continue to explore ways that
we can provide mental health
services. We regard it as a
priority, and we respect the
fact that you do. But we'll be
doing that in a different
approach and format, and we'll
bring that back to you as that
that matures. On the budget, I
made a couple of fairly small
changes to what Judy had
submitted prior. I had
requested some marketing money
so we can do some more outreach
just like you guys. We're, you
know, how do we reach veterans
who aren't connected to vsos
organizations or anywhere else
or with us also made a very
minor correction on our change
in system for equipment so that
our computers were replaced on
a regular basis longer term. I
mean, we're currently in a
process, as I discussed last
month, of revising how we go
about charging the Veterans
Assistance Fund. That revised
system is more about allocation.
Currently, the. Veterans Fund
funds exact positions in the
agency. So you are either a
Veterans Fund employee or
you're a center employee.
That's all well and good.
However, it means you have
duplicate functions within the
agency. Two people essentially
doing very similar jobs, which
makes leads for inefficiencies,
where if we can do that of, you
know, Veterans Fund is paying
75% of this position and 10% of
this position based on how they
actually contribute to the
veterans fund. My expectation
and all the work thus far
suggests that will be budget
neutral. So it won't impact
that. But we'll be working with
county staff to kind of
finalize a system that that
just makes more sense and will
allow the center to be more
flexible in its staffing and
and finances. I did want to add
a couple things. I've met
several of you here in the past
month on the appeals process,
and I, I would like to suggest
before we go too far down a
path in discussing with several
of you folks and others not in
the room, it has been my
observation that we all have
different understandings about
what appeals process can and
can't do. What I'd like to
request is that the staff be
asked to provide a training
session for all of us, both
civil and center staff, so we
can all get on the same page
and understanding what's
possible and what's not. I
think that will help the, the,
the debates around the strike
me as being a lot of
miscommunications,
misunderstandings about how the
system works. I think if we got
on the same page with what it
is allowed to do, it would
resolve a lot of the problems.
That said, we are working
internally on our appeals
process to ensure that every
veteran who is entitled to
appeal under current rules is
aware of that and they can move
forward. We had a case
yesterday that may be coming
forward, depending on whether
he chooses to appeal. So there
there may you may be seeing
more regardless of those other
steps, but we are working on
that internally and will
continue to. And then I just
wanted to close on stand down
was, you know, a week and a
half ago, I thought it went
extremely well. I was really
pleased with the job that staff
did. I can report that we had
an increase of 15% of the
veterans served from 2025, and
Judy was responsible for the
weather. So please bring that
up with her. But we did have we
did have one area where I think
there was a significant
shortcoming, and that was in
our DoD provided supplies. We
had a significant amount of
supplies. But, you know, the
the rain gear was all one size,
extra, extra large, which works
for me, but not a lot of other
people. So we're going to be
working on that process and
start being more systematic
throughout the year to ensure
we've got a full inventory of
all items, different sizes,
everything to make that better
for next year. So other than
that, we're looking at some
other things that we can
improve on for next year.
They're relatively minor. Just
your regular kind of after
action ideas. And I think
that's gone. That's gone well.
So that said, I'd be happy to
answer any questions or.
>> Yeah, I have one. Greg. One
of the things I always look at
when we do an event is what's
the return on investment? We
can talk about numbers going
through and participating, but
what's the result of that
participation? How do we how do
we define that, that we know it
was successful? And looking at
how folks improve their lives
by attending that particular
event, I think that's so
important. Rather than just
having an event and having hot
dogs and running around and
talking to one another, what's
the results? What do we get out
of it?
>> I think that's an excellent
point. And we see it really
across the system. I think what
the big piece we're missing,
you know, we can count the
number of people who went
through. We can count the
number of meals, we can count
the number of providers. But
what did the veteran actually
receive? Are they satisfied
with that? Were there other
things they wanted to see? So
having some sort of after the
fact satisfaction survey, for
want of a better term, I think
would be a lot helpful to guide
that moving forward. So I
totally agree with you and
something we need to implement
much more effectively.
>> And as I said, we may shop
around a little bit. When I say
shop around, go to other
communities, other states, and
see what they're doing and how
how more specific they are to
veterans and providing services.
>> I know they have done some
of that, but yeah, I don't know
how systematic that has been.
So you have to follow up on
that to follow up on that. I
was under the impression that
the case part of the case
management budget request was
trying to provide that kind of
information, the follow up. But
yet I don't see that in your
budget. I I'm not well. So in
the previous budget request or
the, the information that we
went forward was asking for
case management. One FTE of
case for case management. And
that was kind of, it kind of
implied it was for mental
health services, but yet I
think it was also for follow up
to try and provide measurements
of effectiveness for how the
whole system is working. Oh, I
had not. My understanding was
it was just part of the mental
health proposal. Judy, can you
clarify that?
>> Of course. Yes. So it
definitely was aimed towards
the mental health part. However,
it the case management part of
it would have been directed at
following up the veterans, not
only after they received
service here, but after after
events like stand down and that
sort of thing. And we, we have
instituted, by the way, a, a
form that we give to the
veterans to find out what their
satisfaction level is with the
center. And after the Standdown,
we typically pass out a lot of
those for veterans that were at
the stand down. So hopefully
moving forward, we can use
those forms at the stand down
to ask people how they were
satisfied with just that
specific service. But yes, the
case manager would have done
some of that, but they
basically were supposed to be a
mental health related follow up.
>> That said, I'm a big
believer in data and tracking
and those sorts of things, and
we do have a position posted
right now, although Judy and I
are going back and forth, that
I may be creating a job that is
too big and but a person who
would be able to link both the
finances and then all of our
data coming together so we can
do some better data analytics
on that. And so I can see that
function kind of tying into
some of that.
>> Greg. So can you explain why?
The mental health was dropped.
>> The challenge you had and
the concerns were raised by a
number of people, including
county staff. But me, as I
discussed last month, you know,
I've spent seven and a half
years in the mental health
field as a chief executive
officer, and there are enough
requirements and liabilities
that come with this, and also
some opportunities that we
would not be positioned to take
advantage of. For example, a
lot of funding could be
achieved through billing,
Medicaid, Medicare, other
programs. So it's not all
coming off the vet fund. So we
could incorporate things like
that. There is a way to do this,
and I have discussed it with
some of you already, but where
we partner with an existing
provider, like a Columbia River
mental health, a Seymour, the
Veterans Administration, other
providers who would essentially
provide like we do with Vsos
now. So the staff is there, but
they're run by other
organizations in that way, they
could take advantage of
opportunities that we simply
couldn't. We will never be able
to build Medicare, Medicaid. It
is a complex, it's a hassle.
The organizations that are
existing are already doing that,
and they have access to all the
professional supervision and
requirements that eliminates
that liability for us. So
that's the kind of proposal
we're looking toward.
>> Is there a consideration for,
excuse me, security at the
center also that needed to be
there.
>> Not security. The mental
health piece was hoping to
address those areas where it
was clearly a mental health
situation. We're still looking
at security and how we go about
providing that. It is not a
severe issue. It's not
something like every week we
have an incident of danger. So,
you know, even even I don't
think we could justify having a
uniform private security person
present. It just financially
wouldn't be justifiable.
>> Or something like that.
>> Yeah.
>> You know, we have one at
Fish Pantry, private security.
Yeah.
>> We had Columbia River had
two. Yeah.
>> Yeah, we had a couple
incidents. People in the food
line, homeless getting in a
conflict and one of them
pulling a knife and someone
else. So about nine months ago,
we hired private security there.
>> There's an occasional issue,
and certainly that was one of
the interests in having a
mental health professional on
site. It's it's that cost
benefit analysis that I don't
think would justify that at
this point.
>> I had one question, sir, in
regards to the stand down.
Again, I know we had veteran
service officers there to work
on claims. Do we have. I mean,
that that should be an easy one
to figure out how many people
actually sat down with the Vsos.
Do we have that number?
>> I don't have it off. Judy,
do you have that?
>> I do, it was 15 people that
got claims done that day.
>> Yeah. The the VSO staff was
feeling quite happy with the
number of people they had. In
fact, every time I walked by
the table, which frankly, I did
20,420 steps during stand down.
So I was walking by there
fairly regularly. And they
always had people sitting there
at the desk and lined up often.
So it was a good show.
>> Okay. Thank you. Well, in
regards to that potential job,
that's what that's what my
daughter does. So.
>> Oh, is that right?
>> Yeah. Data analyst stuff. So.
>> Well, you know, one of the
things just speaking about Vsos,
I think we all recognize, you
know, we have a 400 call
backlog at the center. We need
to do something to get more
vsos support in this community.
And so something we're going to
need to look at at the center.
But I know you guys all have
issues in that as well.
>> Greg, I just want to say my
DAV chapter is taking phone
calls coming in for people, and
I'm trying to get them referred
to wherever they can go. I
don't directly answer the phone
because I'm the qualified
veteran service officer. I'm
just a person who handles my
particular VSO. And if you do
have vets that call me or ask
questions, I can kind of we
whittle it down to where they
really need to either be. I
forward something to another
person or I can talk to them
directly about to answer their
question. That's as far as I
can go.
>> Yeah, I think I think the
VSO situation is our most
immediate need to address.
>> Both times that the WD VA
has visited us here. I have
told them that I personally,
and would hope that the board
would support hiring some more
service officers. However,
money.
>> Yeah.
>> So, you know, we have to
figure it out. I know that
those ladies are busy. But we
have a lot of veterans who are
being lost because they can't
get through the system. And I
don't know how much is the VFW
doing now.
>> They are they're doing very
well, actually. That office
with one and a half people are
actually doing the most out of
the state. Out of all the vsos.
>> Okay. To include the VA or
down at the center.
>> Through the whole through
everybody.
>> Okay.
>> So I don't know what the
vsos at the center are doing,
but they, they're doing quite
well.
>> Yes.
>> I've been asked to come back.
>> You're not ready.
>> That's an ongoing question.
>> You're not ready.
>> Okay, so this is the deal
because I'm I you I cannot get
paid, but I can go back as a
non paid person.
>> That's what I did.
>> I can go back as a non paid
person. I would get like $50 a
month.
>> But that'd be a hamburger
won't it.
>> I'm sorry.
>> That'll buy you a hamburger.
>> Want it. Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> But I don't know if I really
want that headache again.
>> Understand.
>> But I think I could probably.
>> Give her a stipend.
>> To clear the backlog in
about a month.
>> Yeah, well, I would
personally love to see the WD
VA present a larger contract
for us to look at for maybe
next fiscal year.
>> Yeah, but the way Roger and
I ran the office is totally
different from the way they ran
it in the way the VFW does it
now.
>> Understand?
>> So well, there are a couple
hands raised online. Bucks hand
has been up a while. And then,
Judy.
>> You know, thank you.
Appreciate appreciate that.
Abby. One of the disadvantages
of being online and I really
don't have a choice is getting
recognition. I, I am encouraged
by most of the remarks that you
have made, Craig. As you know,
you and I have discussed the
fact that I had worked with
Judy and the staff over at the
center considerably over the
last year or so. I hear what
you say about mental health.
You answered questions about
the mental health requirement
that was dropped. I have more
or less a statement or a
recommendation. My concern
remaining concern is for the
safety of the staff. I have
been around long enough to have
become cognizant of the fact
that they have the employees
over there that have had to
handle several, quote, mental
health like behavior patterns
in the year or so that I have
been working with them, there
is an inherent danger to our
untrained staff stepping
forward and trying to deal with
those people who are suffering
from mental health issues or
experience a mental health
breakdown while they are in or
about the center. So I would
like to see you consider with
your staff something we did in
the military having a kind of
an emergency procedure
established. Judy might already
have had some, but an emergency
procedure in the event of a
person having a mental health
episode, how do you handle it?
Who do you call? What do you do
initially, that kind of thing?
A training session, if you will.
Thank you.
>> Yeah, and I don't disagree
with that at all. But the we
are moving forward with
training by Nami for
de-escalation training for
staff. So they're able to
respond, you know, with, with
some degree of competence. And
I do think that the mental
health function, as I said, is
an important one. And if we can
get somebody co-located at our
facility, that would be ideal.
So we do have someone who's
truly professionally trained to
be able to, to treat folks like
that. So I totally agree with
you. I it's just a matter of
how we move forward right now.
>> Over at the Fish Pantry, we
made that decision to hire
security. That's a decision was
made on volunteers because the
volunteers were afraid as they
serve, as someone would go off
the deep end and you have no
security. So we were afraid we
would lose the 12 to 15
volunteers that come and
operate that food pantry in
daily basis. And some of the
volunteers did come to the
staff and said, we need some
kind of security. We cannot
protect ourselves. If we have
an incident of one of these
individuals going off on the
deep end. So it becomes very
important and the the person is
in uniform. He's armed. He
comes every day. It's the same
person. He knows the volunteers,
and he walks around the campus
over there very actively
involved with the volunteers as
well. So it's really been a
very helpful thing. And it's
stabilized our volunteers. In
fact, it's helped increase our
volunteers because volunteers
like to work someplace where
it's secure and they feel safe.
>> There is a security guard at
the facility. It's not with the
center, but a fellow who walks
around the building. And I
don't know if that's adequate.
I don't know how much they
actually, you know, spend on it.
But, you know, it's as with
everything, it comes down to
money. And so where do you most
effectively spend, what funds
you have available? My, my gut
tells me that it wouldn't be
worth it for the center at this
point to spend, spend the money
on that right now.
>> Sorry, I have a little
comment on that because as you
know, I dealt with veterans for
seven years and we had mental
health issues a lot with the
clients we were dealing with.
And training is huge. People
can try to de-escalate, try to
get them by themselves. You
know, that would be every staff
member should be know how to do
that. Absolutely. It's just my
opinion.
>> Bob. I also see Judy's hand
raised online.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah. So I wanted to go back
to the veterans service officer
issue for a minute. I think a
lot of the reason that the
county has such a huge gap in
the number of service officers
and the number that we used to
have, was because the American
Legion did away with all their
field officers, and they had a
lot of them. I was one of them
for ten years. And so
consequently, if the Legion
comes back online with field
officers or certified officers,
and not just officers who work
in their offices, like right
now, the closest one is
Chehalis, if that happens, then
I think we would be in a much
better position. We know that
our two and a half service
officers here are are putting
out five, six, 700 claims a
quarter. They're meeting all of
their criteria that the VA has
set for them. And we also know
that the VFW is doing their
their part over on the campus.
So hopefully the American
Legion will come back with some
of their officers so that we
have additional service
officers because, you know,
they cost money. And and when
you don't have money in the
budget to hire them, then
you're just kind of out of luck.
So anyway, that's all I wanted
to say.
>> Thank you. That's on, that's
on you, Jim.
>> I was just looking at
listening to that and made a
note to myself to do a little
follow up.
>> Judy, you'd also mentioned
something on our approval rate
for our claims and what was
what was.
>> 92% right now this last
quarter was 92%.
>> They do a good job. Just not
enough.
>> Hey, Judy, the problem is,
is making sure that all these
service officers are accredited.
And that's the biggest thing
with the VFW is I could I could
do the claims. The only thing
is I have to be accredited. And
that's the thing with American
Legion and DAV and everybody
else, I. They yelled at me for
helping people.
>> I know.
>> You know, so I can help
people too. I'm sorry.
>> I was not accredited. I was
certified and I did all the
work here at the center for the
American Legion, and I
forwarded it to the accredited
officers in Seattle. So I
wasn't able to sign anything,
but I was able to help the
veterans as a certified field
officer. And those are the
things that really helped not
have a backlog in those days,
because there were a lot of us.
>> I'm with you, and I did that
same thing when I when I quit
the office back in 2018, I did
that as a post-service officer.
And then back two years ago,
the big guy in Kansas City said,
no more. He tied my hands. So I
lost everything.
>> Okay. Anything else, Craig?
>> No, sir.
>> I just have one clarifying
question. Yes. So for the
appeals process training that
you mentioned, I'm happy to
help set that up at a future
board meeting. Are you
proposing that that be led by
county staff or assistant
center staff or both?
>> Oh, by the county, please.
Okay. And possibly involve the
deputy prosecutor, prosecuting
attorney.
>> I think that would be
appropriate to have the
attorney here as well. To
clarify particular elements of
it. Right. That's really
important.
>> Yeah. Happy to look into
that and see what I can do.
>> I have.
>> I have a question.
>> I, Lloyd.
>> I don't understand, maybe
explain a little better about
what you were talking about is
you have the county staff and
then you have volunteers. 1 or
2 of them are paid and you're
talking about crossing some of
those people from being a
county employee to working on
the nonprofit side. I don't
understand what you're talking
about.
>> So the the center works
under contract with the county
that you guys oversee to
provide veterans assistance
fund distribution. That
accounts for about 70% of the
center. The other 30% is the
center's own not for profit
work. So if somebody doesn't
qualify for Veterans Fund, we
can go ahead and serve them
with with other funds. The the
staff that works on the center
is not the same as the staff
that works on the vet fund
right now. In reality,
everybody ends up working well,
not everybody, but the center
staff works on some vet fund
stuff because somebody walks in
the door, you don't know who's
who's whom, right. So the the
receptionist at the front desk
is who's not funded by the vet
funds funded by the center does
that. You also have Judy and
Sonia who work on the vet fund
admin side processing billings
and approving services and
writing checks. And then you
have Donna on the center side
doing the exact same functions.
If we're able to move this more
into a cost allocation where
the vet fund is picking up a
portion, an appropriate portion
of each of the positions, as
opposed to being 100%, then
it's possible for me to say,
I'm going to hire one person
who's going to do all the
billings and all of the check
writing and approvals and
things. Now the CSOs will still
be 100%. That's all they do is
vet fund. So those are simple
ones. It's the other kinds of
positions. And including the
center has not had an executive
director. Judy is kind of held
things together with duct tape
and bailing wire. One of my
jobs is to establish this
position permanently. So that
would be an executive director
position there hasn't been
before. That'll be partially,
probably a very low percent
funded by vet fund and will
mostly be managing the center.
But it's that kind of
flexibility where where duties
can be consolidated, like like
functions can be in one
position as opposed to like
functions being in 3 or 4
different positions. So that's,
that's the goal.
>> Craig. Will they have to
some will they have to somehow
or other log their time?
>> Yeah. In fact, I've had a
conversation.
>> I've been there before and
that's a real pain.
>> It is, it is. And I've had
the conversation discussion
with county staff about it. I'm
hoping that they'll reconsider,
but they are expecting us to
bill hourly times. And that is
very complicated to do, much
easier if we can say this job
is 10% vet fund, this one is
100% and that sort of thing.
But we'll see where they go
with that. And we would love to
have your recommendation to the
county.
>> Just remember, on appeals,
when you're talking, setting up
the appeals and stuff that
every everybody who has a
decision that they don't like
can appeal. However, the R, C,
W restricts how much can be
appealed. So they just have to
know what the R, c w.
>> To clarify. Actually, the
rules are that in some cases
they cannot appeal. There is no
appeal. And I think that's
what's caused some frustrations
and where let's, you know, get
the experts in a room to teach
us all about where those lines
are. I'm not sure that the
center knows all the right
rules here. I think it would be
helpful for all of us to hear
the same thing.
>> I'm still not totally clear
on what you said, but I
volunteered there for over ten
years, so I know how the
operation works. When it was
now I understand because it's a
bigger operation now. How it's
handled needs to be looked at
and improved, I guess to some
extent. But in the old building
it worked. Everybody knew
everybody. The volunteers knew
everybody. To me, it's like
you're trying to grow into a
corporation, which this will
never be. It's Clark County,
it's not national, it's not
statewide. It's Clark County
Veterans Assistance Center. And
to add a lot of rules,
regulations. And I understand
there need to be some. I'm not
saying there doesn't need to be,
but it sounds like you're
trying to make a corporation
out of a Clark County
organization. And that's not
good. That's not helping the
veterans. Veterans get confused.
I know I'm one. So making all
these to me make some of these
decisions need to be maybe
looked at again. Are we
complicating the problem? Are
we really solving it? Because
some of the things I've heard
sounds to me like you're
complicating it more than it
needs to be.
>> I respectfully disagree, I'm
a veteran as well, and the
service provision aspect of
this and the, the kind of, well,
what we refer to as the mom and
pop aspects of the center are
not intended to change our
values and tend to be the same.
This methodology. There are a
lot of things that a
professional organization does
for legal reasons, for
financial reasons that the
center has not done well.
That's the piece that needs to
improve. And so that's what
we're focused on. It certainly
no desire to make it a
corporation. We are hoping to
expand the The center's vision
for services that can provide.
That's what our board is going
through now in their strategic
planning process. But it needs
to be in a position where it
can handle those. That kind
kind of expanded roles in the
community. I think the mental
health is a good example of
things that the center, the way
it is right now, would not be
well structured to provide that
service. It can be, and
hopefully it doesn't become
bureaucratic. I frankly think
this executive director and you
guys should keep your ears open
for somebody who might make a
good executive director,
because I have no intentions of
staying any longer. So. The
board's ability to hire that
person who keeps the heart of
the center is going to be
absolutely vital. And they're
very aware of that. At the same
time, we need more financial
support and we need more of
that regulatory oversight and
control. So that's what we're
trying to trying to get to.
>> I understand that and. As
far as the more money to me,
the county needs to step up.
But I mean, it's in anyway.
>> Can I call you back? I got a
meeting going on online.
>> That's about you.
>> Oh, donuts next month. Buck.
So so I know, I know, did I cut
you off? Sorry.
>> I didn't hear me.
>> Oh, no, he was, he was, he
was on the phone. I was just
going to say, I think just just
by meeting with Jim and Patrick
and Jennifer and doing the, the
strategic planning committee,
it's it's become pretty obvious
that we are really one of the
only counties that are actually
focusing in on the strategic
plan. And with that comes with
a lot of confusion, a lot of
changes, a lot of things that
get brought up rather than just
sweep them under the rug and
say, well, we'll deal with that
later. So I think that, and I
and I hear your point, Lloyd,
you know, sometimes people,
veterans will get confused,
individuals will get confused.
But if we don't address this
now, we're just going to be
we're kicking the can down the
road another five, eight, ten
years, whatever. So it's going
to come with a lot of we're not
going to agree on everything.
Right? Right. Like I'm a, I'm a
Navy chief, master chief. And
we didn't agree on a lot of
stuff in the Chiefs. But when
we went out, when we went out
of the mess, we were unified.
So I'm just bringing it up.
We're going to we're going to
have some disagreements.
>> But there has.
>> To be. We don't if we don't
address it now, we're just
we're just kicking it down the
road for the future.
>> There has to be. I mean,
just saying.
>> We are the one of the only
counties focusing on this. Yeah,
actually even meet regularly.
Sounds to me like some counties
only meet quarterly if that
right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> So, you know, think of our
founding fathers and the stuff
they went through to put the
Constitution together. They
didn't agree on everything.
They had all kinds of
disagreements. But and it took
a while to come to a place
where they had consensus and
come together and they agreed
on something. So we got to go
through that. And that's part
of the process, right? So it's
a matter of how we go through
it. Are we going to be
belligerent with each other?
Are we going to listen to each
other and consider the options
and what's going on and come to
agreement on what we're going
to do and how we're going to
address this in a positive way
so that the veterans that have
the need get served.
>> Yeah.
>> That's how.
>> You make a.
>> Make a comment. Right now, a
lot of the complexity is due to
the CW and the county, the
county regulations. So part of
what the strategic plan is
looking at is going back
through those things and say,
okay, are there things here
that need to change or should
change and we can make
recommendations to do that?
>> Right? And that's where
we're looking at the
environment that this strategic
plan will operate in has to be
an environment that is
conducive of its success, right?
So these things that we're
bringing up, and all of them
are things that need to be
discussed and worked out so
that our plan can be successful.
And that's our intent.
>> Okay, Craig. Anything else?
>> No, sir.
>> All right. Moving on. Abby.
Contractor report.
>> Thank you. Bob. So this is
the August 2026 contractor and
fund reports at the assistance
center. There were 874 visits
to the center for Essentials
and Food, with 1236 Sek
breakfasts and lunches and 174
food boxes provided, for a
total of 7,582 pounds of food.
Provided. There were 489.5
volunteer hours, totaling
$19,707 in value. There were 52
veterans served through vet
Fund in August. Services
totaling $34,750. Of these, 42
were male, nine were female,
one was a widow and zero others
were served, and there were 13
denials zero subject to appeal.
At the free clinic, there was
one veteran served in August,
services totaled $218 in value,
and they build $685 to the fund.
The August revenue was
$5,674.93. Expenditures were
$104,069.35. At the end of
August, the fund balance stood
at $268,569.31, which was a
98,324 $394 decrease from the
previous month. Any questions?
All right. Back to you, Bob.
>> Okay. Any questions for Abby?
If not, I'll move on to old
business.
>> One question. Do we have to
vote on that budget?
>> No.
>> Not yet.
>> We already voted on what we
could. Previously when we set
it up. And this revised budget
has only. It's just a
submission now, is it.
>> When it goes to the process
now. Abby.
>> So during the next meeting,
I believe we have some time to
finalize contracts for 2027.
And that's when the board can
vote to approve contracts to
continue through 2027 at the
requested budgets from each
contractor.
>> Right. And then the final
will be the end of December,
and it'll start again for the
following year.
>> Yeah. So I if I'm
remembering correctly, we'll do
a formal vote in November and
then I'll work on contract
extensions for all of the
contractors to start January
1st.
>> So in November, then we'll
have the levy, the expected,
you know, what, what the
expected budget to bring to
bring in for everything and,
and how much is going to build
up that I call it slush fund.
But the, the, the three, the
three, the three month
management reserve. Yeah, yeah.
>> We can go over the forecast
in November.
>> Yeah. Okay.
>> All right. Again, all
business. Mike.
>> As you know, this board has
been established for almost 53
years. There's been some
amendments to the federal and
state law that affects us.
Recently on, what.
>> 43.
>> 53 years? It started since
1973. CWORCW7308. As it affects
veterans. Okay. Anyway, the
Washington State Senate in
March of 2026 adopted a gross
Senate bill, 2442, which
directly affected veterans.
This bill cited veterans or
veterans provisions of 70RCW730
8 in 16 of 40 sections. It was
40 pages long. Buck and I tried
to work through it and it was a
lot. So as a result, I asked
Greg Kimsey if he would suggest
someone from the auditor's
office to work with us. He
suggested a man by the name of
Kelly Mitchell. Kelly Buck and
I met with him. He worked us
through the 40 pages as it
affects so we could get ready
for the 2027 budget. I want to
tell all of you here he listens
to our concerns in this 40 page
bill, which we believed would
affect veterans in Clark County.
He answered all of our
questions and concerns in a
professional manner. As a
member of this board, I'll tell
you, it was very helpful to me
and was helpful. Buck, I hope,
and I, as a result of that, I
strongly suggest supporting
Mitch Kelly for our Clark
County auditor because he
helped veterans without
dropping anything.
>> Just real quick reminder
that county advisory boards
really shouldn't be promoting
specific legislators during our
county meeting time.
>> I'm not providing. I'm just
trying to report what happened.
Without his help, we may not
have got that new budget
through with Buck.
>> Understand, but to promote
somebody's position is wrong.
>> I'm not saying that this
board endorsed him. I'm just
saying we as veterans.
>> Don't know what you're doing.
>> Okay. New business.
>> I did have one more old
business. I'm sorry. So as as
discussed at the the stand down
again, one of the questions was,
was how many veterans were even
aware that we even had a
veterans advisory board in
Clark County and a high number,
I don't know the exact numbers,
but a high number, it had no
idea. Right, right, right.
Correct. Patrick. That was
actually a question that I
brought up to our committee to,
to, to put forward. So we just
need to think of ideas. How do
we promote awareness of the
Veterans Advisory Board? I'm
not saying we have to have the
answers today, but I remember a
couple of months ago, 3 or 4
months ago, I actually
suggested I was on Zoom about
the Veterans Advisory Board
getting coins. Whether we just
want to pay them ourselves,
right? We just we put in money
to get coins so we can hand out
to veterans. I think Larry was
going to look into someone to
do that. I can do that too. I
have some people that can come
up with some designs, but
that's just an example or a
sample of a way to make people
aware, especially veterans
aware, that this board actually
exists, even if it's cards,
something along the lines of we
can pass that when we when we
go to the veterans events,
POWMIA day or the nine over 11
celebration. So I just want to
bring that up as old business.
If we if we have ideas to move
forward to discuss, maybe in
November. That's one of my
ideas anyway, because there's a
lot of veterans that don't know
we exist.
>> I understand.
>> We're working for them.
>> Understand. And I'm not sure
that we could justify any
expenditure from the fund to do
that.
>> But I'm not saying from the
fund. I'm saying.
>> Right.
>> As a group, we want to pull
together. And hey.
>> Just to make sure that we're
not talking spending fund money.
>> That's correct. Correct.
Thanks, Bob. Thanks for
clarifying that. Larry's got
all that.
>> Yeah.
>> He gets around enough that.
He gets around enough that we
could just give him a sack of
coins.
>> This is just.
>> A thought.
>> Okay. Moving on. New
business.
>> Oh. Go ahead.
>> I'm looking into the
RCW4360A230. I think it is
something like that which has a
fund that would pay for the
accredited veteran service
organization representatives.
And I think it's something
that's been overlooked. It was
put into place in 2018, I
believe, and it's something I
think we need to look into and
see if the county qualifies for
that particular fund to fund
accredited veteran service
organization representatives.
>> Which what you're saying is
that you with the Korean War,
vets, could get paid. Is that
what you're saying.
>> That we could pay for, just
like we're paying for
accredited service organization
reps through the VA?
>> Okay.
>> That there is a and that
comes out of the fund, right?
But there's the RCW4360A is a
pays for those accredited
officers through a different
fund.
>> Okay.
>> And I say, I don't know if
we qualify for it. That's what
we have to look at is what are
the qualifications to get that
money for that purpose? That
would take $135,000 out of,
away from, or put back into the
VA f.
>> Well.
>> Right to use for other
things. So I'm digging into
that myself, but you might take
a look at it also. 43-60AI
think it's 2.2 30, but it deals
with veterans, you know,
benefits there for the service
officers.
>> Okay. We can look into that.
Any more new business?
>> Yes. I just want to let
everybody know the Navy
birthday party up at the VFW is
next Saturday, October 7th. The
the meal is surf and turf.
We're having steak and prawns
with salad, baked potato and
lots of fun. You know, we'll do
little things at the table,
prizes. And of course we have
raffle, we have auction and we
have what else is there? It's
on the flier. Yeah, it's on the
flier. But I'd love to see
anybody who wants to come up
and help us celebrate.
>> It should be under open
forum. That should be under
open forum.
>> Sorry, sorry. I never know
what to say. It's new business.
>> Isn't the 19th. It will be
celebrating.
>> That new.
>> Business open forum thing
always confuses.
>> Yeah. It's it's it's.
>> I understand.
>> It's distinguishing business
from information.
>> Yeah. All right. So no more
new business.
>> No more.
>> All right. Open forum.
>> I've got a bunch of things
here.
>> All right, Larry.
>> First of all, Veterans Day
is coming up and it's so
important if you haven't done
this because of all the world
situation and what's going on
and everything else, if you got
a grandkid or so forth, visit
the high school and see what
they're doing. I work with
Mountain View because my
grandkids are there, and we put
on Veterans Day show. We have
an assembly. We invite a
graduate of Mountain View to
come back, spend in the
military and talk to the
students. We recognize seniors.
And the other thing is we
invite those students who have
moms or dads in the military
and recognize them. And if you
don't do that, it'll just get
pushed by the wayside because
there are some folks out there
in the school districts that do
not promote the military
because for a variety of
different reasons, you got to
be forceful in that. And I
happen to be working with an
excellent young man who's a
teacher, who runs the
leadership committee, who puts
this on every year, and I've
done it for three years.
Battleground. Does an assembly
Prairie do does an assembly
heritage used to do one. Some
of the high schools do some
some don't. But check if you
don't be forceful and ask those
questions, it won't get done.
And I say, we got to be very
forceful about what's going on
right now. That's Veterans Day
in schools, what what kind of
activities are going on and so
forth. VFW Color guard, in fact,
is going to be involved in
Mountain View as well, because
a couple of the color guard
commanders have grandkids going
to Mountain View. So it sort of
fits. Parade is coming up 11th
of November. We have work on
the parade committee with the
Historic Trust. We have 63
units signed up. The highest
number we've ever had is 128.
We'll probably get around 100.
The parade route is around the
barracks, starts at 11, usually
goes about an hour and a half.
Yours truly down here. Patrick
Lock is the grand marshal of
the parade this year, and we're
working on a speaker,
Lieutenant colonel, out of
reviewing. Officer. If we get
her, she's coming out of the
142nd Fighter wing. She's pilot.
She'll be our first female
reviewing officer and was kind
of excited about making that
happen, making that a reality.
So and it's nice. It's daughter
Lisa. So parade goes on right
after the parade starting at
about 1130, 12:00 as the open
house down at the Pierson
Museum and so forth. We have a
variety of different vendors
down there. We serve free hot
dogs and drinks and so forth.
The goal of that open house is
to have those companies that
show up saying the veterans are
value added to my organization.
That's so important. We have
Tri-met C-TRAN C-TRAN has got
about 25% of their drivers are
veterans, drive the busses and
so forth. A lot of folks don't
know that. And there are some
of the best drivers we have. So
an open house afterwards, kind
of a fun type thing and
opportunity to mingle back and
forth. And yeah, it's got a
little recruiting added to it
because when you come into it
and that's okay, these folks
can come to a different
organization, which Thompson
Metal Fab, who the, the manager
and owner of that facility is
an Army pilot in Vietnam. And
he comes down and he recruits
veterans for the Thompson Metal
fab down in the waterfront. So
that's coming up as well.
Morris, Tracy Portman's dad,
who's the national park
superintendent for 26 years,
passed away August the 11th.
He's 95. He's an Air Force
veteran, came out of the ROTC
program and served throughout
the world to include Vietnam.
There's a ceremony at the
barracks cemetery at 11:00 on
tomorrow, Friday. And a
wonderful guy, some of you, if
you've done work down at the
Fort Vancouver, he spent a lot
of time down there because he's
handy with woodworking, done a
lot of work for the the
barracks at 95. Great guy and a
great person who put more than
25 years of his life in the
service. I'm going to mention
this. These are difficult times
for the military. I happen to
be at a recruiting, not a
recruiting thing. It was an
open house Tuesday night at
Skyview High School. We had
military services there set up
there. I think a lot of you may
have been there and so forth,
and the kids can walk in there
and find out about the
academies, ROTC and so forth. I
did talk to a lady who was with
her daughter. It's a senior
daughter wants to go in the
military. But she made a
comment to me that stuck with
me. And she said, Larry, I'm a
little concerned what's going
on, because a lot of the women
that were getting opportunities
in the military are being
denied some of those
opportunities right now, and
that includes you. If you've
been keeping with the news,
some of the MOS military
occupational specialties have
been closed to women, and the
service academies have both cut
back on the number of
applicants that are female.
Don't read about it. I do, I
track some of that stuff, and
that is not healthy for this
country. And just talking to
this young lady and this young
high school senior wants to go
in the military. She wants to
fly planes. She's a pilot. And
right now she's afraid of what
service to go to. And she may
not have that opportunity to do
that. So it's just sort of
trying to reach out as best we
possibly can to make sure that
we have an open system and
folks can feel good about it.
If you don't think it's a
difficult time. I mean, just,
you know, not getting into
politics, but it is what's
going on in the military right
now. And certainly with the
wars going on over in Iran and
so forth. So, you know, these
parents are having a tough time.
And because I was circulated at
Tuesday night and talked to
many of the parents who were
there with their kids, and I
asked them personally how they
were feeling about things. And
they were uptight kids like the
military, because mom and dad
were in the military, their
grandparents, and want to do
the same thing, but they're
little concerned what
opportunities exist and where
they have the opportunities. So
there's a lot going on. But I
just one more thing. This is
the last 250th anniversary this
year. And we need the parade.
We're trying to make the parade
a unifying parade because
remember, we're going to some
very difficult time this
November because it's an
election and we don't know the
complications that are going to
come out of that election and
so forth. So we need to come
together, and parade allows us
to come together for the Rotary
Clubs. The seven rotary clubs
are marching together in a show
of unity, coming together and
march together, which is what
we ought to be doing thing.
Military organizations come
together. The low key will be
leading the parade. 40 and
eight used to be in the rear.
So I just encourage you that we
got a full court press and
everything that's going on.
It's going to be a difficult
year to close out, especially
with all the activities going
on. And some of us are not very
healthy. So that's all I have.
>> Anybody else?
>> Yes. Mr. Go ahead. Mike.
>> I read recently that the
greatest military service is
going to have a party at the
VFW on the 17th. Yes, a
celebration. I don't know which
service that is. Navy. Oh,
really? I just.
>> The the best.
>> Best organization. And the
only other thing I'd say is if.
>> Okay.
>> We're talking about people
that have passed away this
Saturday, they're going to
celebrate the my brother, who
is an army colonel who died at
83.
>> Okay.
>> Jay Langsdorf.
>> Any more open forum? Yes,
sir.
>> I'd like to come to the
table.
>> Come up here.
>> Grab my grab a microphone.
>> You can steal this one. Oh,
good.
>> Could you please state your
name?
>> My post is serving lunch at
Nick's. For any veteran in
Amboy. Okay, on Veterans Day.
>> Before our speaker comes up,
could you please give your name
again so that we can have it
for the record?
>> Yes, sir. My name is James
Doyle. I appreciate your time
today and let me come here. So
I'm the chief of Staff and the
new editor at the reflector
newspaper that has come back to
North Clark County under its
new ownership. A little bit
about me to kind of just set
the preference of why I'm here.
I'm a U.S. Army veteran. I
served in 2010 through 2016
with the first of the five
first Parachute Infantry
Regiment up in Alaska with an
overseas deployment with them
11 to 12. I exited the Army and
served as a student affairs
representative at Western
Oregon University with the VA
until I was hired as a law
enforcement officer, where I've
served in law enforcement for
the last nine years. This year,
I made the decision to leave.
Law enforcement was offered the
opportunity to be the chief of
staff at our county newspaper.
We are looking at trying to
incorporate veterans into our
newspaper. So kind of a little
bit of providence of you guys
looking to try to get
information out there. I'm glad
that I was able to be here
today. Project we're doing for
veterans is Veterans Day this
year is we're wanting to
highlight local veterans, local
veteran events for Veterans Day,
the community center, and
really just bringing the focus
of the newspaper back to its
local community. That's kind of
our incentive and our goal. And
with the Veterans Day coming up,
we want to bring you guys into
that conversation. So for me,
as a chief of staff, what I'm
asking is, over the next month,
I can leave you guys my contact
information. Part of the
project we're wanting to do was
covering the parade. We're
wanting to highlight certain
veterans within our community
from all different wars that
are still alive and being a
part of their community. So
whether that's members of you
guys here on this board that we
could highlight and do personal
profiles on to be able to
feature in the paper. One thing
I would like to see also is
just outside of Veterans Day,
is giving you guys an
opportunity to share
information with us that's
going on in the county stuff
you guys are advocating for
here, whether that's programs
change to benefits stuff coming
up. I don't know the church
members name here, but he
mentioned a lot of people don't
know that this even exists is
by Providence. Just me googling
yesterday, different
organizations to reach out to
for our project. And I talked
with the clerk and she said,
you guys were meeting here
today. So I think that's pretty
neat. That way it lined up that
way. But we would love to give
you guys a corner in the
newspaper to weekly and monthly
be posting some of that stuff
coming up within the veteran
community, because there is a
large veteran community in
North Clark County and Cowlitz
County that we are also
starting to cover. I live on
the Cowlitz County Clark County
border, and there's a lot of
veterans that get lost in the
rural communities because they
maybe don't have access to the
legions or the VFW. And so a
big thing for us is just
wanting to introduce ourselves
through me today. And then also
just highlight the project and
ask for your guys help on
highlighting the veterans in
our community for that project.
>> I've noticed today that the
reflector came in the mail
instead of being thrown in my
driveway.
>> I will not comment on our
circulation stuff that we're
trying to work through, but yes,
we are. We're addressing all
that as well. But we're
starting to get to the point
now. We're two months under our
new ownership. And like I said,
philosophy wise, and for me,
being the chief of staff and
the editor, our goal is to
remove as much of the outside
content as we can and bring the
focus back to a local newspaper,
to its local community. Part of
that is highlighting our
veteran community. And so what
better timing than Veterans Day
to kind of bring that project
out? So any way you guys can
help with that? I'd appreciate
it. I'll leave my business card
with you guys. And I'm always
an open door if you guys have
questions there. If you guys
would like to establish a point
of contact for me here on the
board, I always don't always
have the availability to make
these meetings.
>> Most of us here belong to a
veterans organization, or we
are veterans who are serving as
volunteers at large. So.
Whatever you can do for us,
we'd appreciate it.
>> Yeah, I think the biggest
thing is we can just probably
give you guys that voice in the
paper. So your information is
getting out there. Like I said,
I didn't even know you guys
existed until yesterday.
>> And yeah, yeah.
>> So like I said, I'm glad
that I was able to be here. I
think the Lord works in
mysterious ways and.
>> Well, we've been we've been
around here for several years.
>> A long time. You're more
than welcome to come to our
Navy birthday party, you know,
and you can write about, you
know, we'll have a ton of
different veterans there from
age groups. I got a guy 85
who's singing up to, you know,
in their 20s, just saying.
>> If you're ever looking for a
veterans organization, my post
out in Amboy would love to have
you.
>> Great.
>> I would love.
>> To have there's no.
>> There's no reason he can't
belong to more than one.
>> Yeah. How many veterans are
in the reflector or work for
the.
>> There's two of us right now.
We have a. Okay, we have a Navy
veteran and then myself as an
Army veteran.
>> Are you going to be popular
now? Yeah, absolutely.
>> Oh.
>> Put that out there.
>> But I think I think it's a
great. And I know Patrick
perked up there about getting
information out, but.
>> You know, I could be a good
place for you.
>> To go. Absolutely.
>> Are you saying you're going
to give us a space once a month
for our meetings?
>> I would give it to you guys
as much as you need. So we're
trying to open up our paper.
We're a very small staff. Our
writing team right now is made
up of two full time writers and
then myself as an editor and
chief of staff. I'm kind of
managing all department heads
right now, but we're starting
to open and broaden some of our
content that's going to be
filling every week is going to
be by community members. I
would like to have part of that
corner be the veteran community,
and that could be as simple as
you guys just doing maybe a
report that we could push out
through our social media and
then the paper as well. In the
print right now, we have nearly
15,000 papers that are still
being printed. Our goal is to
not get away from print is to
really preserve that in the
community. We know there's a
large portion of our community
that wants that paper. So as
far as what I can share as far
as our vision, short term, long
term is to actually up that
circulation to not just Clark
County in the north, but
possibly in the South and
Cowlitz County. And so, yeah,
that would be whether that's a
report that we can post for you
guys from these meetings. Stuff
coming up with a Clark County
Veterans Center, just any kind
of resources. Another thing I
would like to be able to
highlight is you guys mentioned
a couple of the different
funerals that were coming up.
If there's a veteran that
played a large role in our
community that has a funeral
service, I know there are a lot
of other veterans that like to
attend those. Sometimes we just
don't know about them, so
that's something we could do
announcements for as well. So I
think there's a lot of
potential there. It's more so I
just need a point of contact
here on who to open that
conversation with. And so I
wanted to introduce myself, put
a face to it and let you guys
know, my fellow vet, you know,
there's a lot of mistrust in
the media.
>> Oh yes.
>> We're trying to bring that
back.
>> I understand.
>> That as a former cop, I get
it as well. So but I appreciate
your guys time and what you're
doing here. I'm just being able
to sit in on the meeting. It
just goes to show the
collaboration here between the
different organizations. The
VFW helped me drastically
recently when I went through my
own claim nightmare. So I
appreciate the work you guys
are doing.
>> Yeah. Okay.
>> Thank you, James. And I just
want to share a quick reminder
with our board members. If you
all are interested in
participating in this project
as individuals or sharing
personal stories, you're
obviously 100% welcome to do
that. If you are interested in
sharing information with the
media on behalf of the VAP or
on behalf of the county, just
make sure that you're working
with me so that I can connect
you with our Pio office, our
communications office, just to
make sure that we're having
consistent communication go out
to the media.
>> The.
>> One more thing, Bob. So I'm
about two months, two and a
half months into my job with
the USO. So I'm starting to
feel much more comfortable with
USO northwest, if any. If an
organization or individual
wants to have a veteran slash
military related event,
barbecue, family day, you know,
information, whatever, let me
know because I'm technically in
charge of I'm the manager for
Oregon, Idaho and Southwest
Washington.
>> You got money?
>> No, but I can get it from
Larry. So I know where to get
it. So we, I do I actually have
funds to do things like that.
Okay. Right. I have to be very
careful about veterans specific
because USO is more mission
oriented towards active duty
reserve National Guard. So if I
worded it in the sense of and
we have military active members
there as well, it'll help me a
lot with my justification,
because I'm going to be
reaching out to boards in
Oregon as well here soon. And
I'm going to Idaho next month
or in about three weeks. Anyway,
one of the things I did
yesterday, and I've done it,
I've done a couple of honor
flights here recently, but
specifically yesterday it
Alaska Airlines had a dignified
transfer cart delivered down
from SeaTac to PDX, and it was
an actual cart. Portland really
didn't have a. They had one,
but it really wasn't like up to
snuff, so, so to speak. So they
they redesigned one. And this
was cart number 20 delivered
from SeaTac across the country.
PDX got their cart and I was at
the ceremony yesterday. A
couple CMac members were there.
A couple VFW members were there
as well that I recognized, and
they brought it down as from
made by Alaska Airlines. But
any airline can use it at PDX,
so it was really cool. I posted
some pictures on my Facebook
page. I can maybe send a few to
Abby to send out to everybody
else. Okay. Anyway, it's those
are the type of events I can do
as well as like honor flights
for Oregon PDX honor flights.
So there we go. Yeah, there's,
there's a picture right there.
So it was really cool. And
those are kind of the events
that I, I can do things like
that as well as family days,
barbecues, maybe I even have an
idea to help promote our
veterans advisory board too.
Just throwing it out there. But
let me know if you have any
questions or anything. And.
>> All right.
>> Thank you. Greg there.
Anybody else?
>> Thanks, Bob.
>> If not, I'll entertain a
motion to adjourn.
>> Adjourn.
>> It's been moved and seconded.
All those in favor?
>> Aye.
>> Those opposed? Motion
carried. Meeting adjourned.