FEBRUARY 12, 2008

SCHROEDER AND KENNEDY ANNOUNCE VICTORY FOR VETERANS

County Executive joins their effort to restore Veterans’ Office to a stand alone agency

More than two years after departmental consolidations and budget cuts crippled the Erie County Office of Veterans’ Services, County Executive Chris Collins, Legislator Timothy Kennedy, and Assemblyman Mark Schroeder announced that the office will be restored to a stand-alone agency.

In 2005, under previous County Executive Joel Giambra, Erie County consolidated the veterans’ office, along with the Division of Equal Opportunity, the Commission on the Status of Women, and the Office for the Disabled, into a new entity called the Erie County Office of Public Advocacy. That restructuring diminished the office’s ability to provide services to the 90,000 veterans in Erie County.

The Erie County Office of Veterans’ Services has been in operation for the past 81 years, making it the first of its kind in the State of New York. The placement of the Office of Veterans’ Services under the Office of Public Advocacy besmirched that proud legacy and hampered the county’s ability to fight for the rights of our veterans. "Restoring the office to a stand-alone, independent agency will help veterans get the service that they deserve," said Kennedy. "I want to thank County Executive Collins for his leadership on this issue, and Assemblyman Mark Schroeder, whose determination to restore the office, and his dogged pursuit of that goal, made it reality."

Schroeder was an outspoken critic of the consolidation when it was first proposed in 2005 by PFM Group, a politically-connected consultant hired by the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority. After Giambra adopted the plan, Schroeder drafted a bill that would restore the veterans’ office as a stand-alone agency. Schroeder’s bill, and the Senate version sponsored by Senator Dale Volker, passed the Assembly and Senate in 2006, only to be vetoed by then-Governor George Pataki.

"During this time of war, when thousands of our troops are putting their life on the line, it is imperative that we do all that we can to help them when they come home," said Schroeder, "That courtesy, of course, must be extended to all of the previous generations of soldiers who preceded them."

"The Veterans Services Director will once again report directly to the County Executive and be responsible for developing the Office’s budget," proclaimed Collins to a group of veterans gathered at the Buffalo & Erie County Naval and Military Park.

One veteran of World War II, former Veterans’ Services Director Lou Palma, got special thanks for his service to the country and his fellow veterans.

"Lou Palma is a great American hero who signed up to serve in World War II despite the fact that he was too young," said Schroeder, who was joined by Collins and Kennedy in thanking Palma. "His eight years of service as Veterans’ Service Director, especially under difficult circumstances these past few years, is greatly appreciated."

Collins also took the opportunity to announce that Palma’s replacement as Veterans’ Services Director would be Patrick Welch, a retired Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps who served in Vietnam. Currently the President of the Vietnam Veterans of American WNY Chapter 77, Welch is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Adecco Services, LLC in Williamsville.

"As both a decorated veteran and a successful businessman, Patrick Welch will bring invaluable experience to the Office of Veterans’ Affairs," said Collins.

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