Supervisors approve Vets Affairs position

When Jasper County Veterans Affairs Director Chris Chartier asked for an assistant to be hired for his department last year, the county board of supervisors granted the request on a one-year basis.

Tuesday, that request was renewed for another year.

After presenting a quarterly report that included the amount of applications prepared, Charlotte Ross, the assistant who took the position in February, stepped aside to allow John Billingsley, the attorney who happens to be the Jasper County Veterans Affairs Commission chair, to make a case for her position to be extended by a year.

The board agreed to extend the part-time position through April 30, 2017. However, it stopped short of granting Billingsley’s request to move the position from temporary to permanent part-time, as that consideration wasn’t on Tuesday’s agenda.

After a brief discussion, it was decided to put the permanent part-time status of the job before the board at an upcoming board meeting. Jasper County Auditor Dennis Parrott said Billingsley wouldn’t necessarily have to be present for that item.

“Permanent means we’re not going to address it every year,” board chair Dennis Stevenson said. “It means we’d only address it if there were some kind of problem.”

Billingsley said Ross has been a great addition to the department, with office duties being only a small part of how an assistant can help veterans. Ross took over after the part-time clerk position, created about a year ago to give Chartier more outreach and office coverage, after it had been vacant for about three months due to a resignation.

“Veterans in nursing homes are entitled to a federal benefit that is not well known,” Billingsley said. “Charlotte has been visiting these homes, and that has been of huge benefit. We’ve reached many unserved veterans this way.”

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com