Opinion | A compromise between the ADVA board, governor would best serve Alabama’s vets

There will be a protest/rally later today at the Alabama State House, where veterans from around the state will gather to voice their opposition to a bill that would alter the way the state’s Veterans Administration is governed. 

It is a fight that cannot possibly have a good outcome. 

Not for the veterans. Not for the governor. Not for any of us. 

In fact, it seems like a fight that everyone involved should figure out how to avoid before it goes on any longer, or moves beyond the point of no return. And there sure looks to be a pathway to that outcome. 

But first, let’s review where we are and how we got here. 

You might recall a few months ago, Gov. Kay Ivey and the commissioner of Veterans Affairs, Kent Davis, had a bit of a disagreement about Davis remaining in the job. 

Actually, that’s way under-selling it. A two-month-long fracas between the governor and Davis and the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs board all got into this weird, altogether avoidable and impossible to explain public fight. I’m not going to attempt to dive into the weeds, because for our purposes here, the weeds don’t much matter, but the broad overview is that everyone was angry, some bad things were said, some feelings were hurt and some grudges were created. 

Part of what made the whole ordeal the whole ordeal was the fact that Ivey did not have the power – or so it seemed – to outright fire Davis for cause. Instead, under the current structure, the ADVA board was responsible for hiring and firing the VA’s commissioner. Ivey had a seat, as chairwoman, on the board, but no additional power (again, so it seemed). 

Ivey made it abundantly clear that she wanted to fire Davis. She accomplished this by repeatedly stating publicly that she wanted to fire Davis. 

Davis agreed to resign. Then the board reviewed what had happened and asked him not to resign. 

Then Ivey told the board again that she wanted it to fire Davis. The board declined. 

So, Ivey used the “supreme executive authority” of her office to fire him anyway. Lawsuits have been threatened. Campaigns have been kicked around. People are angry. Yada, yada, yada. 

But also to come out of that was this legislation, carried by state Sen. Andrew Jones, that reshapes the leadership of the VA. It makes the commissioner a cabinet-level position serving at the pleasure of the governor and it removes the authority of the ADVA board – a group of 17 members from various veterans organizations – to have oversight of that position. It also reduces the board to an advisory role. (The original legislation also made other changes to the board, but almost all of that has been removed from the current language in the bill and the board’s makeup remains mostly the same as it was.)

But that one change – removing the board’s authority to have oversight over the commissioner – was a biggie, as far as the vets are concerned. 

“Without it, there’s really not much for the board to do,” said Maj. Gen. Michael Sumrall, a retired former Adjutant General of the Alabama National Guard. Sumrall has devoted much of his post-service life to serving veterans and works closely with a number of veterans organizations in the state. 

“I think the big thing for most of us who do this work is that we want to make sure we’re able to properly serve veterans and have a person in place who understands the nuance of the work and how to get the job done,” Sumrall said. “I don’t doubt that (Gov. Ivey) has the best of intentions in who she would appoint, but what happens down the line. We all know what tends to be the case when these positions become political positions – they end up going to friends or other people who do favors. That would be a very bad thing with bad consequences in this case.” 

Sumrall noted a few examples of work that had been done in Alabama by the VA and through various board members working together to solve problems. In one instance, a female veteran was living on the beach with her children. The various entities came together to find her housing and other care for her and her children. It happened fast and efficiently, with the VA leading the way. 

“You have to know what you’re doing and have an understanding of the resources and the people, because you need to move quickly,” Sumrall said. 

For her part, Ivey said she is committed to making the VA the strongest it can possibly be, and she believes that making the commissioner a cabinet member will elevate the position and provide additional resources and access. It would also, by default, give the voting public a say in the selection of a commissioner. 

“Governor Ivey shares the goal of having an effective department (and Board) that best serves our veterans,” Ivey communications director Gina Maiola said. “The governor – Governor Ivey and future governors – are accountable to the people of Alabama. The ADVA commissioner, as an appointee of the governor, will be accountable to all of Alabama’s veterans and all of our people. If the commissioner is not fulfilling his or her duties, the governor would then have the ability – and responsibility – to remove them.”

And here’s where we get to the compromise. Because both sides have fair, good points. 

There’s no reason that a governor shouldn’t have the power to fire a VA commissioner should a unique situation arise. I mean, I suppose it could be argued that she already does, since she just did, but having it in writing somewhere wouldn’t be a bad idea. 

At the same time, does anyone honestly believe that the best oversight of the commissioner can be accomplished by the governor’s office, instead of the 17-member board made up of veterans who live and work in that world every single day? Does anyone believe that those folks wouldn’t be the best ones to select the commissioner, or at the very least have significant input on that decision? 

So, wouldn’t the best option here be to allow the board to offer the governor a number of names – pick the number – and let the governor choose from that list when selecting a commissioner? And wouldn’t it work out just fine if the governor maintained the ability to hire and fire the commissioner, but the board also had shared oversight, and could still set agendas, provide regular reviews and recommend termination, when necessary, to the governor?

Look, I believe both sides when they say they want what’s best for the veterans in this state. And I believe both sides will do their best to provide that. 

It seems a shame for them to be at odds when working together would get that done so much better.