Commissioners discuss firing of Veterans Affairs director at meeting
WASHINGTON – Veterans’ issues were the focus for an hour and a half of public comment Thursday at the Washington County Commissioners’ meeting. The Veterans Advisory Council presented the commissioners with a letter asking for action on three items: the reinstatement of Col. Chuck Rockwell as the county Veterans Affairs director, having the director answer directly to the commissioners, not to the Human Services director and assigning a second full-time staff person to the Veterans’ Affairs office to bring it into compliance with state law.
“I don’t even know what state law we’re supposedly violating,” said Commissioner John Bevec.
Rockwell was fired last December after allegedly taking time off without permission. Commissioner J. Bracken Burns made a motion to rehire Rockwell, but the motion failed when Bevec and Commissioner Diana Irey voted against it.
“I am standing behind our director of human services and his right to exercise his authority and our personnel department, and I stand behind our directors,” Irey said.
Bevec asked for a meeting with the Veterans’ Advisory Commission in the near future, not after the May 20 Primary Election as he said the veterans had suggested. David Blose, chairman of the advisory council, said he would be willing to set up the meeting.
Bevec said he is also working with state Rep. Tim Solobay (D-Canonsburg), the minority subcommittee chairman on security and emergency response, to set up a public meeting with a state veterans’ official.
“It’s a two-part program. There’s a PowerPoint presentation on veterans’ benefits and how veterans can maximize their state and federal benefits. The second part will be a policy hearing to see if anything needs to be done on the state level to correct the problems,” Bevec said.
Bevec said the program and policy hearing will most likely be scheduled by the end of the month.
Immediately following the meeting, commissioners Bevec and Irey signed the paperwork approving the hiring of a new Veterans Affairs director, Gary Mucho of Richeyville. Mucho is a veteran and Human Services Director George Krcelich said three members of the Veterans Advisory Council were on the committee that interviewed the candidates for the position. Krcelich said the decision to hire Mucho was unanimous. Mucho will be a full-time employee earning $24,700. He is expected to start around March 17, Krcelich said.
The issue of appointments to the advisory council still remains to be resolved. Burns presented a motion to have all of the individuals nominated by their respective organizations appointed to the council, though Bevec and Irey objected to having their right to veto nominations taken away.
“It is extremely disrespectful of this board to reject the nominations of the commanders, regarding who should represent their organizations,” Burns said.
The motion ended up being tabled when there was confusion over who the commanders had requested, since two separate request letters were sent with different nominees in each list.
In other matters Thursday, the commissioners accepted a $75,000 Land Use Planning and Technical Assistance grant for the first step in the county’s comprehensive plan. The grant is being matched with $32,235 cash and $42,765 in-kind services.
The commissioners also approved a lease with the Amateur Astronomers Society for the construction and management of an observatory at Mingo Creek Park. The county will maintain the access road to the observatory and the surrounding grounds. The Amateur Astronomers will maintain the building and equipment and conduct programs in conjunction with the county Parks Department.