Plan For Veteran’s Service Office Rejected

By Mac McLean
Reporter / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: July 22, 2008

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. – A plan to open a county veterans services office here was rejected on Monday by Sullivan County commissioners because the move would cut money given to similar offices in Kingsport and Bristol, Va.

Commissioner Sam Jones of Kingsport, who sponsored a resolution to create the office, said the offices help veterans fill out paperwork and get the benefits needed from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Jones said there already are two offices in the area, one run by the American Legion in Kingsport and the other by the commonwealth of Virginia in Bristol.

Both offices, he said, receive money from Sullivan County, with the Kingsport office getting $8,000 each year and the Bristol one receiving $3,900.

Jones’ resolution called for the county to spend $7,500 to open a Blountville office and for County Mayor Steve Godsey to appoint someone to work there.

He said he would leave it up to the commission’s Budget Committee to determine whether to continue giving money to the Kingsport and Bristol offices.

“We need this position,” Jones said, adding that Sullivan is one of only six Tennessee counties that doesn’t have an official county veterans services office. “Our veterans and their families deserve it,” he said.

Jones also said there is a problem at the Kingsport office – which most county veterans turn to for help – because its service officer is not properly certified and can’t appeal a case in which benefits are denied.

Gerald Cardwell, commander of the American Legion’s Kingsport post, defended his staff by saying the organization has several people at its state office who are state certified and can appeal a denied claim.

Many commissioners defended this office and pointed to a long period of service.

“They’ve done a great job in the 13 to 14 years that they’ve been there,” said Commissioner Mark Vance of Bristol. “Maybe we shouldn’t shut that office down [by cutting their funding.]”

Vance and Commissioner James King of Kingsport tried to tack on an amendment that would keep the Kingsport office open even if a new office was created for Blountville. But the amendment, which Jones strongly objected to, failed in a 13-9 vote with three commissioners abstaining.

At the end of this debate, Commissioner Bill Kilgore of Kingsport stepped forward and tacked on his own amendment that called on the Budget Committee to use the money it gives the Bristol and Kingsport offices to pay for the new one in Blountville.

“I don’t want to take anything from anybody, but we’ve got to do what’s right,” Kilgore said, adding that while he has a duty to county veterans, he also has a duty to taxpayers.

Jones agreed to Kilgore’s amendment and made it a part of his resolution. Commissioners then voted 16-9 against the full proposal.

After the meeting, Jones said the commission’s decision was a “disservice to all the veterans.”

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