Dartmouth's Veteran's agent, Shawn Goldstein, has found employment with the VA in Providence and will be leaving our town employment soon. Some have suggested that this service is one that could be shared between towns. You can find the laws about Veteran's agent here. I think that Westport has a vacancy in their Veteran's agent position. What do you think about that?
Good luck to Shawn in his future endeavor. He worked hard and expanded the reach of our program significantly.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Veteran's agent leaving
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One of the problems people have with "structural change" is the people impact. I offer that starting with attrition is the best first-step when heading down the structural change path. No one gets laid off, they are leaving on their own.
This was how my company started saving "people" money to help the financial issues. It was decreed that there would be no automatic in-kind replacements, we had to be smart and figure out another way. There are, of course, some jobs that would need to be replaced, but it is amazing how many functions can be performed with the exact same or better quality by creative thinking.
I have said that our town should adopt this policy because it is too easy to just hire someone, and that doesn't help the picture. This situation and others should be viewed as opportunities.
I was under the impression that town's or cities of a certain size were mandated to have a veteran's agent. Am I mistaken? At a recent meeting of the SB I understood as well that this gentelman was working without a contract for quite some time and will be sorely missed. From what I understood he was overwhelmed with requests for assistance from vet's given the country's current situation-I wonder who will pick up the slack? That makes 2 recent sudden, departures from the town's employ could this be a trend?
The veteran's agent's contract expired On Jan 31,2007. HE has been in negotiation with the town since and had received an offer for a new contract. He was not satisfied with the offered terms and apparently decided to look elsewhere.
The link in the post will take you to the laws about Veteran's agents. The position is mandated but "Two or more adjoining towns may in a town by vote of the selectmen thereof, form a district for the purposes set forth in the first paragraph of this section, including the appointment and compensation of a director of veterans’ services"
Above taken from the statute
Yep, that makes 2. Who will be next? It will be interesting to see who applies for the position or if the SB goes the joint route what other town will sign up with Dartmouth, somehow I suspect they won't be lining up.
I think we should talk to some of the vet's at the VFW to get their input.
When I did have a conversation with a vet recently, he said he wasn't pleased with the present agent and wanted someone new. I think the vet's want someone who will respond to their needs, someone who care about them and not so much about the salary. The vet's might not mind sharing an agent as long as it is someone who really cares about them.
I imagine the vets will be asked to weigh in on the qualifications of the replacement. I was not under the impression vets were unhappy with the former rep, in fact several vets spoke very highly of him and his dedication at a recent SB meeting, but I guess you can never satisfy everyone and as I posted before he was overwhelmed with the workload he had with more coming so there's only so much one person can do.
"overwhelmed with the workload" Clearly this is not the time to split the position in half.
The gentleman was no so 'concerned with the salary' ndmom. He worked for a long time in good faith without a contract. All he was lloking for was a little security and by working as long as he did without a contract he demonstrated he in fact was very concerned with the work he did and not just concerned for his salary. I am glad he found a position where his talent and dedication will be put to good use.
Someone brought to my attention this blog this morning and said I might want to clarify some things, so I here I go….
To all -
I'd first like to thank everyone for their well wishes as I take part in another chapter in my career. I've been privileged to serve the Town of Dartmouth's vets and their families for the past 4 years. It's truly been an honor and this position will probably be the most rewarding job I will ever have.
As mentioned by someone before, the workload has certainly increased in the past few years. When I first started, I had 11 beneficiaries receiving benefits; today that number is 42. This goes along with the increased number of veterans applying for VA benefits through the office as well. So while the office has seen nearly a quadrupling in work, the staff has remained at 1. I've been able to sustain the office by automating processes on the computer, which has been extremely helpful. In my opinion though, the office within the next couple of years will need additional help to sustain the quality of service.
To ndmom, I apologize to any veteran who felt that they hadn't been served properly. I've always tried to go above and beyond what was required of the job and if anybody had a problem, I've encouraged them to let me know or someone else know, because I can't fix what I don't know is wrong. The veterans in this town have always been priority one and I have always tried to serve them as best as they deserve. With increased outreach over the years, to the informational cookout that saw over 500+ veterans and family members show up last year, I, with the help of the Veterans Advisory Board have tried to reach as many veterans as possible. The most difficult part of the job has been outreach for any veteran’s agent, as it has been for the past 50+ years the program has been in existence.
The idea for forming a district was brought up in January of last year by myself. Not with Westport though. The idea was to join with New Bedford. They have a larger staff that would be able to help process paperwork and allow me to do further outreach to veterans. The flipside to that is I would have been accessible to New Bedford when needed and would be at the NB office a couple times a week, but still available to Dartmouth vets, just not in Dartmouth. Obviously, in order to get a little, you have give a little. When I presented the idea to the Veterans Advisory Board (VAB), the majority was not in favor of the idea. For those who do not know, the VAB is made up of veterans from the town that provides assistance on veteran related issues. The majority of VAB members are very active VFW members, which has been helpful as well. The consensus was that they didn’t want their veteran’s agent not to be available in Dartmouth all of the time. It was an understandable concern, given the size of Dartmouth and its veteran population (3,000+). The issue was dropped at that time and the VAB moved on to other business they already had lined up.
The thing with forming a district is the other town or city must be approached and be willing to form a district. Recently, Acushnet approached New Bedford about forming a district. This scenario would have been ideal for Acushnet, because they have a part time agent and vets and their families would have had access to a full time office in New Bedford. The down side for New Bedford was that they would have to give up a lot of control on the Veterans Department to Acushnet, which might not be advantageous to New Bedford. As you can see forming a district has it’s positives and negatives and it’s not easy to find an equal ground that works for both sides, nor is it a quick process either.
As far as my contract situation, I would like to point out that it did expire on January 31, 2007, but an offer was not received until early 2008. For what it is worth, I was not to receive a contract either. I was more then willing to accept going onto a schedule, which had been proposed by the DOR and CFRG. I understood the need for change and given the circumstances facing Dartmouth, knew that the town was trying to tighten it’s belt and a modest increase was offered at a certain grade and steps. The only thing I was not satisfied with the proposal was that it wasn’t retroactive to the date my contract expired. Rather it was to when it was asked by the Select Board to be looked at by the Personnel Board last summer, when the town was reinvigorating the Personnel Board. I was only asking what was in line with similar situations for others when contracts were expired and settled on after their expiration. I don’t want anyone to think the reason I’m leaving is because of my contract situation. The truth is that the opportunity with the VA presented more then I thought possible and timing was coincidental. Given the current economical downturn, the chance to make more money with room for advancement was something my family and I were happy and fortunate enough to stumble upon.
I will miss serving the town dearly. The opportunities as a Veterans Agent in Dartmouth has allowed me to continue serving veteran in a much broader fashion. I have told town officials my intentions to help out the next Veterans Agent to make sure the transition is smooth, so the veterans and their families in Dartmouth can continue to be served in the best possible way, as they deservedly should be.
Shawn Goldstein
Dartmouth Veterans Agent
Thanks for weighing in on this Mr Goldstein and thank you for your hard work and service to our community's verterans. You will be missed, good luck.
Shawn, thanks for your service to our town, and especially to an important segment of our population. Good luck to you in all your future endeavors.
Shawn G, Thanks for putting your perspective on the situation. And, of course, you can't please all the people all the time. I wish you Good Luck!
"It is in everybody's interest to seek those actions that lead to happiness and avoid those which lead to suffering. And because our interests are inextricably linked, we are compelled to accept ethics as the indispensable interface between my desire to be happy and yours." Dalai Lama
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