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In a letter dated Tuesday, Scott Gedling, the vice chair of the State Board of Veterans Affairs, stated that Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Kent Davis should “step aside” for the agency’s benefit. Davis has led the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs since 2019.
Gedling accused Davis of manipulating board members to advance his personal agenda.
“I stand by my word when I said that Commissioner Davis has done some really good things as commissioner, and I will always be grateful for these accomplishments,” the letter reads. “However, today, I believe that he has manipulated me and the board to keep his job and serve his own interests.”
In the letter, Gedling urged the board to call for Davis’s resignation. Last month, Davis announced his resignation, effective at the end of the year, following a request from Governor Kay Ivey. The governor alleged that the ADVA under Davis’s leadership had “mishandled” a federal grant program.
This request for resignation followed the revelation of documents showing that Davis had filed an ethics complaint against Kim Boswell, the head of the Alabama Department of Mental Health.
Initially reluctant to resign, Davis ultimately submitted his resignation, surprising many in Alabama’s veteran community, including several state board members who unanimously voted last week to ask him to reconsider.
Despite the unanimous vote, Gedling said he was initially cautious about asking Davis to reverse his decision since Davis had come to a private agreement regarding his resignation after a private meeting with Ivey and her team.
The board’s recent vote to urge Davis to reconsider was seen as a challenge to Ivey’s authority. When asked for a comment last week, a governor’s spokesperson referred to Ivey’s earlier statement, which criticized the board for displaying a “lack of leadership” and called the vote that ensued “orchestrated theater.”
In his letter, Gedling asserted that the board’s decision was made under “extreme pressure” from Davis himself. He claimed that Davis as well as others in the state’s veteran community had influenced board members to act against their convictions and the principles that should normally guide the board.
Gedling expressed concern that the board’s actions might alienate its members from the good graces of Ivey and state lawmakers, who largely supported the governor in this matter. He emphasized the importance of maintaining strong relationships with elected officials to fulfill the board’s mission.
“Resolving this distraction is the only way we can back to serving Alabama veterans. I was reminded just how important our mission when one of my fellow VFW members approached me over the weekend about a homeless veteran he was personally helping. He asked me where he should go next to get the veteran temporary shelter and food, but I only had a few of the answers he needed,” the letter reads. “We should have all those answers, and we should develop a good network of all the services, agencies, and organizations that could have helped this veteran. Instead, our Board is spending its valuable time on one man’s quest to save his position and standing in our community.”
“For this reason, I am convinced that Commissioner Davis must step aside. I hope you will join me in urging him to do so,” he concluded.
