Wednesday, August 2, 2006 UVLC Agenda
Next meeting is on September 6, 2006-Building 9 Mpls VA Campus
• Call to order by the Chairman
• Pledge of Allegiance
• Invocation – Chaplain (Major) John Morris recited a poem to honor our servicemen.
• Recognition of visitors and guests and Commander’s of VSO’s
• Reports from:
1. Chairman,
Jerry Kyser-Sept 15th at 2:30 is the POW-MIA opening ceremony. There will be a 24 hour vigil sponsored by the ROTC from the U of M at the canopy of the Veterans Service Building. Vice Chairman, Ralph Donias- There are two stand downs: August 2-5 in Minneapolis U of M; Saint Cloud on October 27. The stand down assists veterans with food, clothing, federal tax assistance, legal assistance. Sept 30th at Mystic Lake there will be a retiree activity day. New Ids, TRIcare information. Rep Severson , Gov. will bring out Veterans agenda. Bills for the National Guard. Reservists get short changed. They need full education benefits. There is an effort to try to extend benefits. Atmosphere in MAG meeting is good. We want to be prepared at the legislative session. It’s bipartisan. We want full participation of the organizations and the Commanders Task Force.
2. State Agencies
• MN VA Commissioner report by Julie Carie. Seven additional reps have been added. WWII memorial is under construction and on the webcam. www.mdva.mn.us. There is also a link to the Summit that will be held on the 21st of Sept. at the Mpls Conv center. “Governor Tim Pawlenty’s Mn Veteran’s Summit.” Let’s Go…Beyond the Yellow Ribbon. There will be 19 workshops and over 50 vendors: 7:30 – 4:30…Summit 4:30-7:30…Veteran’s Fair. Register on-line at : www.mdva.state.mn.us/vetssummit. Motorcycle license plates will be out in 30 days.
• MN 4th District Congresswoman Betty McCollum-Talked about improving the lines of communication. Recognition of the Dept of Veteran Affairs on its 75th Anniversary, This is an opportunity to salute our brave veterans and dedicated men and women who devote their careers to caring for our country. Betty has a commemorative pin from the 75th anniversary that she would like to offer to be used as a fundraiser in a silent auction at a requested time. She discussed the piece of legislature in Calif that involved a 29 foot cross in the veterans cemetery. She voted against, it did however pass.
• MN Military Affairs – 1st Lt Savage MNANG – written report-The MN National Guard currently deployed: Army Nat Guard total-2798, Deployment locations are Iraq, Kuwait, Tal Afar, Tikrit, Afghanistan, Camp Taji. Air National Guard total-128, Deployment locations are Iraq, Afghanistan, Spain, Germany, Qatar, Multiple Cyprus, UAE, Djibouti, Curacao. Thirty MN NG support Operation Jump Start. There jobs range from computer tech support to contacting. The Guard is providing equipment and set up for the StandDown, supporting homeland security, and
the 101st Airborne National Reunion stating this weekend. MG Shellito is attending various events and supporting a flyover at the Ft Snelling Nat. Cemetery on Saturday.
• MN Veteran’s Home- Introduction and a welcome by Steve Musser , Bob Wikum is the new administrator in the Minneapolis facility. Bob worked at Mother of Mercy in Albany. There are still a few vacant positions: two administrative assistants, Business manager, Director of Nursing. Updates: finishing the dining room project in nurses unit. Changing ways that the food is served. Building 17 will be renovating the tub rooms and nursing stations. Rehab of the resident’s rooms will be underway as well. It will all create a warmer atmosphere. Hats off to Sandy Larson and Vi Nicholas for their efforts and great success in hosting the National St Council of Veteran Homes. They did a wonderful job. John Baker is the new staff attorney. He is a retired Marine that went back to get his law degree. Thank you Dennis and the Commanders Task force for you support.
• MN Assistance Council for Vets – At Sandown Setup at U of M
3. Federal Agencies
• VA Regional Office – Introduction of New Regional Director, Jeffery Alger by Sue Ihrke. Jeff says that it is great to be back in Minnesota. He is a Vietnam Vet. He has 5 children, 3 of his sons are veterans. Jeff arrived on July 17th, so you will start seeing him at the UVLC meetings and many other events in Minnesota. There is a large contingency of employees that will be working at the StandDown on Thursday and Friday. Mr. Alger plans to attend the opening ceremony. This is a wonderful opportunity for the employees to personally assist veterans, as most of our employees
work with claim files.
• VISN 23-Paul Bockelman-The network (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, North Dakota) Budget, In FY 2006 received a budget of $1.5 billion. Through July there have been 10,400 combat veterans enrolled in VISN23; 7,264 have received health care benefits and 3,036 are enrolled only. The Mpls VAMC enrolled 2,894 and SCVAMC enrolled 1,185. Read about this prestigious award www.innovations.va.gov. MN Major Construction Project: 30-bed Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Unit. Bids are to be opened this Friday, August 4, 2006. Cyber Security-On June 29, the Sec announced the stolen laptop. This made everyone re-evaluate how we do business. Read the most recently published article in Business Week, July 17 issue that cites VA Care as the Best Medical Care in the US http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/0629/b3993061.htm.
• Mpls VA Hospital- Mike Sebenaller. Parking for blood donors is open after 9:30 A.M. Due to privacy acts, when mail is delivered to the hospital to a veteran and they have returned home, the letter is sent back to the sender. This was misinterpreted to mean that the VA was not delivering mail. This is not the case.
• St Cloud VA Hospital- Joan Vincent, We are dedicated to customer service to our veterans. If there are ever any questions, please do not hesitate to call (320)255-6381. We take veterans issues very seriously. We are down seven providers. We are now hiring physicians. The Dental project will be complete by the end of the year. New patient parking lot is complete. Al Loehr, a safe and sober environment is filling slowly. 80% are veterans. We are participating in the Gov Summit. October 12 at 1:00, hosting a National Guard event to train the community on how to reach out to returning veterans. It may be held at the High School. On Sept 22, 2006 there will be a Woman’s Veteran Health fair.
• Saint Paul Vets Center- Jennifer Iveland, working on StandDown, Gov Summit is a big focus. The Women’s Veterans meeting was very successful. We are located at 2480 University the hone number is 651-644-4022. Any Veteran may come in to see us.
• Jimmie L. Coulthard – Cruse-Miller Garrison- The Certificate of Occupancy will be given this week. The second half of the building is on schedule for October 1st.
• Other Organizations- There is a need for volunteers at the Armed Forces Service Center at the airport.
4. Federal Congressional Reps
• Senator Coleman-Greg Gorham- There was an 11% increase in medical cares 26.8 Billion dollars.
2nd District John Kline-Johnson, U S House is in recess, Kline’s son is in Iraq. He is meeting with constituents. Pension overhaul bill concerning the airline industry. Guarantees pension was passed. Will be passed by the Senate, so Pres. Bush can sign. 62% in 5 years.
3rd District Jim Ramstad- Bryan Nelson-Non of the information was accessed when the laptop was stolen. Working on increased survivor benefits from $38,000 to $80,000 for educational benefits.
7th District Collin Peterson- Al Loehr. Bemidji-Foston facility has come to fruition. Hopefully this will be a great coordinated effort. Disability Comp Bill is in the Senate. On behalf of VFW I want to express thanks to the chairmen of the Commander task force and UVLC for their hearing testimonies. Review last month’s minutes concerning pension benefits. We’re going to be relentless until they’re tired of hearing from us.
5. Announcements-
Dennis O’Gorman, DAV-Comments about the memorial at the U of M. There is a task force that met with an architect on July 26th. A lot of good ideas were shared. Fund raising needs to begin to raise money for the memorial. “A sense of place” is the theme that they are looking for. We welcome your input to reflect this “sense of place”. What will happen to the artifacts and memorial?
6. Meeting in Recess for 10 minutes
7. New Business-
Jerry Kyser has been invited to attend the Veterans Service Office conference at Grandview Lodge. Permission to provide accommodations for the evening and the banquet was approved. Working on the mailing list. Webmaster will be contacted by Ralph Donais to start a web site for UVLC MN. Invite Penny O’Neill to the next meeting of the UVLC to thank her for her support over the many years to the veteran’s community. This was passed and will be presented to her on Sept 6, 2006. It was suggested to send Tom Shaw’s wife a get-well card from the UVLC. Jana Kyser will send a card.
8. Adjournment-
the next meeting will be on September 6th, 2006.
Members and Visitors in Attendance:
Al Loehr VFW/Cong. Collin Peterson Mike Sebennaler Mpls VAMC
Betty McCollum US Rep Pat Turgeon House of Rep MN
Bob Smith Blind Veterans Org. Bob Wiken MVH
Paul Bockerman Representing Dr. Petzel Ralph Donais TREA
Bryan Nelson US Rep Jim Ramstad Ralph Kobeska MM
Clayton Irmen Commander MOPH Richard Thill PHSA
Dennis O’Gorman DAV Richard Jost MNPVA
Dick&Rose Carroll SUB VETS/ WWII&INC Sid Schmuckler JWV
Dick Carroll Ex-POW Steve Musser MVHB
Gary Kinser MOPH Sue Ihrke VARO
Gene Capistraut Cmdr #5MOPH Tom Haugo Army Res. Ambassador
Greg Gorham Sen Coleman Tom Nesbitt MOAA
Howard Wilson USMM
Irv Rosenblum JWV
James Lundell Army Reserve Ambassador
Jana Kyser AVVA
Jeff Alger VA Regional Office
Jennifer Iveland Vet Center
Jeremiah Ellis Cong McCollum
Jerry Kyser UVLC/VV Charity
Jerry Nalpinski KWV/VFW
Jimmie Coulthard Tiger Base LLC
Joan Vincent SCVAMC
Joe Perron VFW AMVETS
Joe Schimmers VFW
Josh Strata Rep McCollum
Julie Carie MDVA
Julie Eszlinger-Jensen AFA/MOAA
Larry German MOPH
Larry Johnson Cong John Kline
Lawrence Dean AMVETS
Liz Whitehead Women Vets
Margaret Cavanaugh Rep. Ramstad