OKLAHOMA CITY — Months of dysfunction and infighting culminated lately in an Oklahoma oversight board barred from assembly contained in the state company it oversees.
Veterans receiving state services mentioned they’re fed up with the “mess,” and the shortcoming of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs (ODVA) and its veteran-led oversight fee to compromise.
Robert Allen, chair of the fee, overtly admits the goverwning physique is at loggerheads with Joel Kintsel, ODVA’s govt director. He mentioned Kintsel has gone as far as to ship an electronic mail notifying commissioners that they don’t seem to be welcome contained in the state company they’re imagined to oversee and informing them that ODVA will not be taking part in any public conferences.
When the board final deliberate to fulfill, Allen mentioned he needed to personally drive to the ODVA constructing armed with duct tape to connect a gathering agenda to the window. The agenda introduced that the assembly could be held throughout city on the State Department of Transportation constructing. When the fee did meet, no ODVA workers attended.
After the assembly, Allen mentioned the all-volunteer commissioners have been “vilified.”
He mentioned at this level that commissioners do not know if the mission of serving and defending the state’s veterans is being achieved. He believes development has stopped on a brand new veteran’s dwelling in Sallisaw amid studies of almost $22 million in price overruns. Commissioners additionally aren’t certain if the company has an assistant director after receiving a resignation letter. The fee used taxpayer funds to rent an out of doors legal professional — Gov. Kevin Stitt ally and former Attorney General John O’Connor as a result of they believed they weren’t being publicly represented by the ODVA’s legal professional, who has since stop. Commissioners wouldn’t say what they’re paying O’Connor, aside from to say it is a “fair wage,” and that it was accessible with an open data request.
Allen mentioned “the writing’s on the wall.” If Kintsel continues to skip conferences, a dialog about whether or not he’ll stay employed “needs to happen immediately.”
“He needs to come on board and comply and subject himself to the oversight of his governing body immediately,” Allen mentioned.
Kintsel, who challenged Stitt for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, mentioned Wednesday the fee is “illegitimate and not legally constituted” and that “it is not appropriate for ODVA staff to provide support to or participate in what is essentially not a legal meeting.”
In an electronic mail, he argued that solely three of eight Stitt appointees had been legally appointed and legally seated, and Kintsel mentioned he believes his employment standing is being threatened as “an intimidation tactic intended to bully me into accepting this group as the legitimate veterans commission when in fact, this group possesses no such authority under the law.”
Kintsel mentioned the state of affairs started two days after the June 28 Republican major election when Stitt started terminating or not renewing appointments. Under state legislation, the governor has the only appointment energy to fill the nine-member fee. However, some alternatives have to be produced from lists offered by veterans’ teams, and all have to be confirmed by the state Senate.
He mentioned there has by no means been any battle between him and “the actual veterans commission” within the 3.5 years he is served as govt director.
“There is, however, an attempt underway to undermine the agency leaders by those persons illegitimately holding themselves out as veteran commissioners,” Kintsel mentioned.
He additionally mentioned the company has a deputy director and that development continues on the brand new veteran’s dwelling in Sallisaw, although some facets of the challenge are on maintain because of anticipated litigation. Kintsel mentioned there aren’t any price overruns on the challenge, however mentioned “gross negligence” has resulted in “significant financial damages.” He additionally mentioned veterans’ services should not impacted.
“The leadership and the staff of ODVA have never stopped serving Oklahoma veterans despite the additional challenges brought about by the chaos visited upon us by political actors,” Kintsel mentioned. “It is indeed a sad thing to witness this illegitimate group actively attempting to undermine the confidence of Oklahoma veterans and the public in the services provided by ODVA. It is politics at its worst.”
He additionally mentioned there’s nothing ‘rogue’ about standing up for the “Rule of Law.”
Stitt mentioned: “You’ve got a rogue agency director that’s not showing up to meetings, that’s not listening to the Legislature. There’s nobody in charge, and I think Oklahomans are disappointed.”
“If they gave me the authority, I’d fire the guy tomorrow,” Stitt added, although he mentioned he is by no means requested any of his appointees to fireplace Kintsel.
In a press release, Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a fight veteran, known as the complete episode “nothing short of a spectacle.”
“It is unfortunate that the governor has not followed the proper appointment process, and it is equally unfortunate that the executive director of the state Department of Veterans Affairs is acting irresponsibly and not in the best interests of veterans,” he mentioned. “It is wholly unacceptable that Oklahoma’s honorable veterans have been left without a functional commission.”
State Rep. Josh West, R-Grove, a veteran, mentioned he is “had it” with the complete “mess,” and mentioned everyone goes to must discover a strategy to put their variations apart and work collectively on behalf of veterans.
“There’s so much discontent that veterans are not being taken care of right now,” he mentioned. “I don’t feel they are, not up to the standard that they should be just because of this political mess between all parties.”
Larry Watson, a naval veteran from Tuttle, known as the complete state of affairs “sad.”
“I think all of them want the same thing, but I think their approach is skewed,” he mentioned.
Watson mentioned he needs the ODVA and the fee to discover a strategy to work collectively. He began attending fee conferences due to the battle and since he has shut relationships with each the prevailing and former commissioners. But he disagrees with the impression being provided that veterans are struggling due to the dysfunction.
“The case programs are working like they should be right now,” Watson mentioned. “Employees are working like they should be now, (but) perhaps not as efficiently as they could if everybody was on board, but it’s not the devastating situation that’s being painted.”
Janelle Stecklein covers the Oklahoma Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and web sites. Reach her at jstecklein@cnhinews.com.
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