Vet office remains open
Wichita workers will fill in at Emporia
By Bobbi Mlynar
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Veterans in a seven-county area will continue to be served through the local Veterans Affairs office, though it may be months before full-time workers are hired.
The Veterans Service Representative in Emporia, Ken Morris, resigned last month to move with his wife to Japan. Office assistant Bev Cinelli, who has worked in the local office for 12 years, has accepted another job and will leave on Sept. 14.
Cinelli said she would have liked to apply for the service representative job, but state statute requires a service representative to have a Form DD214, an honorable discharge from military service. Cinelli did not serve in the military and is ineligible.
Wayne Bollig, director of Veterans Service Programs for the Veterans Affairs Office in Topeka, said a budget shortfall has delayed hiring replacements for the Emporia office.
“We’re projecting a budget shortfall in funding — roughly $60,000,” Bollig said. “And because of the shortfall, we’re just not in a position to fill that office until the legislative session starts and we find out whether or not we’re going to receive the funds back.”
Local legislators already have begun working on solving the problem of the $60,000 shortfall.
State Rep. Don Hill said that he, Rep. Peggy Mast and Sen. Jim Barnett have met at the local VA office to learn more about the situation and to set priorities for resolving the problems; all are committed to help.
“Now the question is ‘What’s the best we can do over the short run?’ and that’s a work in progress,” Hill said.
With a fiscal year that began on July 1, the budget shortfall arrived early. Hill said that a supplemental appropriation could be among options the Kansas Legislature would consider when it reconvenes in January.
“And it’s something that I’m sure I would push for if, by that point in time, there hasn’t been a satisfactory resolution,” Hill said.
“The rest of the story is that the dollars that go to the veterans’ commission are competed for by the VFW and American Legion, perhaps among others, so there’s always the rest of the story kind of thing.
“I wish I could more authoritarily give you background on that. ... I’d also like to learn a little bit more about the background of this $60,000 hole.”
Local legislators have contacted U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran and have attempted to reach Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, though Hill said he had not yet heard back from her.
Hill said he also plans to talk with state Rep. Lee Tafanelli of Ozawkie. Tafanelli is a member of the National Guard and was deployed to Iraq. He is chairman of the state’s veterans’ committee and vice chairman of the appropriations committee.
“I would hope that we can credibly reassure people,” Hill said. “I’m comfortable that we’re not in jeopardy of losing the office and the disruption, if there is one, will be of short duration.”
Bollig said that he will draw on experienced services representatives from the Wichita office or one of the other offices near Emporia to temporarily staff the Emporia office.
“I will say that the office will not be filled for a little while. But we do plan on serving the vets,” he said. “...It is a busy office; we do not want to leave it vacant very long.”
The Kansas Veterans Commission, at its August meeting, “basically indicated that it’s one of the worst disservices we can do to veterans ... closing an office,” he said.
Emporia serves veterans in seven counties: Lyon, Butler. Chase, Chautauqua, Coffey, Elk, Greenwood, Morris and Osage. Bollig said that approximately 13,300 veterans live in those counties, and about 500 personal contacts were made with veterans in 2006.
A substantial portion of the work is filling out claims for hospitalizations, nursing home applications, spousal disability, Dependent Indemnity Compensation for widows or widowers, and other benefits veterans are entitled to receive.
“Last year, the Emporia office generated approximately $2 million in benefits for veterans,” Bollig said. “That’s direct benefits.”
As the veterans of World War II, the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War grow older, their needs are changing, he said.
“We have a lot of people that are no longer able to get out, no longer able to travel distances for these services,” Bollig said. “And so it’s going to become more and more an issue of getting the services to them.
“We’re going to be looking at how we’re going to serve these homebound veterans, these veterans in nursing homes.”