By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The Wood County Commissioners have picked a battle with the Wood County Veterans Services Commission over the salary of its director.
Expecting revenue losses due to the pandemic, the commissioners sent out letters to all county offices in April, asking departments to keep a tight rein on expenses. The commissioners’ office later received the 2021 appropriation request from the Wood County Veterans Services Commission – which included the current annual salary of $150,217 for Executive Director Mary Hanna.
Salaries of Veterans Services Commission employees are set by their boards. According to the Ohio Revised Code, county commissioners can review, but not revise the salaries set by the VSC boards.
That authority rests squarely with the veterans board – not the county commissioners, said James Brinker, president of the Wood County Veterans Services Commission.
“Their job is to make sure the funds are there to cover our appropriations,” Brinker said of the county commissioners. “We go around every year with them about this.”
But this year, the Wood County Commissioners sent out a letter to some county officials and veterans service board members, formally objecting to Hanna’s annual salary of $150,217.
The amount is at least $20,000 more than any other veterans services director in the state – including the largest populated county, Cuyahoga, where the director’s salary is $127,031.
The salaries of veterans directors in counties of similar size to Wood County include $62,736 in Richland County, $56,135 in Wayne County, and $75,305 in Clark County.
“The Wood County VSC Director is likely paid two times the amount of any other director in a county our size,” the letter stated. “And yet, the VSC Board keeps giving wage increases.”
But Brinker said those comparisons are apples and oranges. Hanna has 47 years of experience, has multiple degrees and holds positions of prestige with several veterans organizations. She also performs two positions in the office, as executive director and VSC service officer.
“They don’t know the whole story,” Brinker said of the commissioners. “She’s got 47 years in. They don’t ask questions about that.”
Hanna, who plans to retire at the end of this year, served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War as a medical specialist stationed in the Philippines, handling wounded soldiers being air evacuated from Vietnam. Last year, Hanna was inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.
She was one of the first nationally accredited veterans service officers in Ohio and the first woman in the state named executive director. Hanna currently serves on the VA National Task Force for Whole Health, which consults VA healthcare facilities.
But the county commissioners’ letter points out that Hanna is the highest paid Wood County employee, while managing just two employees.
In comparison, the administrator at Wood Haven Health Care has 95 employees and round-the-clock care of residents, and is paid $105,329. The director of Wood County Department of Job and Family Services has 114 employees, is responsible for administering more than $100 million in state and federal programs, plus oversees the investigation of child and elder abuse – and is currently paid $110,404.
The commissioners office also pointed out that the current entry level salary for a one-star general in the U.S. Army is $109,681.
The letter asks how the local veterans commission justifies paying Hanna a salary of $150,217, and notes that the salary has increased by more than $50,000 since 2015.
The county commissioners realize they have no authority to set Hanna’s salary, but they do have the right to question the amount, according to Wood County Administrator Andrew Kalmar.
“We have every respect for veterans, and gladly appropriate county tax dollars to fund services for them,” the letter concludes. “Year after year, the county commissioners have watched the salary of your executive director grow to the extreme level of today. How do you as a public board justify this to the taxpayers of Wood County?”
Kalmar said the local veterans services commission has been unresponsive to previous financial hard times experienced in the county. During the depth of the recession from 2008 to 2010, county employees received no wage increases, but the veterans office continued to award its workers 5% annual pay raises.
But Brinker said part of the problem is the lack of veteran representation among elected county officials.
“None of the judges and the county commissioners are veterans. They don’t get it. They don’t understand,” he said.
“They’re trying to nickel and dime us. It’s against the law,” Brinker said.
With more than 15,000 veterans in Wood County, the Veterans Services Commission provides transportation to VA hospitals, financial assistance, veteran ID cards, brass cemetery markers and the Wood County Honor Detail.
“The list is endless,” Brinker said.
As executive director, Hanna helps veterans file for federal, state and local benefits for health care, home loans, education, and compensation for disabilities. She also helps link indigent veterans with assistance.
Her administrative duties include employing staff, establishing policies, creating budgets, establishing outreach with other agencies, providing ongoing education and training for staff, and establishing transportation for veterans.
