PRINTABLE DOCUMENT (.pdf)

The meeting started at 7:00 with the Pledge of Allegiance. Officers in attendance were:

Rich Joslin, President
Jim Cox, Vice-President
Steve Walz, Secretary
John Davis, Treasurer

There were 14 people in attendance. The minutes of the previous meeting were read. Minutes of the June 2013 meeting were not approved, and will be presented at the next meeting (08/12/13) for approval with requested additions.

An argumentative discussion was made in regards to the VA travel pay. It was requested to bring the meeting back to the agenda & vote on the minutes.

The Petty Cash/Slush Fund was brought up & arguments were made. Stefan Kristen, Delegate of the Marine Corp League, stated it was a secret fund. It was stated that the fund was listed on the J Drive of the office and was accessible to the office personnel.

Stefan Kristen made the motion to amend the minutes to what he wanted to add, motion was seconded by Randy Smith. Stefan Kristen will email what he would like added to the minutes.

Finance report by John Davis -- no activity, balance remains the same at $1,761.00.
No motion made -- no change to the report.

No Correspondence

Superintendent's Report by Tammy Anderson, Superintendent -- last month the Commission helped 35 Veterans with food, 29 Veterans with shelter & 18 Veterans with utilities. There were 21 trips made to various VA hospitals transporting 30 Veterans. The Commission helped Veterans collect $8,260.00 in monthly compensation and $82,706.00 in retro pay. Expenditures were increased this month due to the yearly rental of $16,000.00 and a $4,000.00 for asset replacement fund. Introduced the new form showing the towns where the assistance is made. Questions were made in regards to the purchase of the suite in the Community Outreach Building (COB) -- how much did it cost, what is all included, was an analysis made on the purchase or rent. Motion made to accept the report by Randy Smith, seconded by Bob Bend. Motion to accept the expenditures of $62,490.99 by Bob Bend seconded by Randy Smith.

Public Relations -- Herb Holderman stated they were close to finishing the 2 Doll Houses. Looking to possibly auction them off on E-Bay with the money going to Fischer House.

Personnel -- Pay increase of 3% for all effective 07/01/03. Superintendent completed probationary period. Linda & Steven to be provided increase also due to the increased workload. Individual voting of increase of pay, completed with all 3 to get increase.

Rich Joslin explained that an audit was done on county computers, Steve Scoughton's computer had prohibited material on it. It is grounds for dismissal. He was given the option to resign, and in return receive unemployment . He was given 7 days to revoke his signature-which he did. (After counsel with the States Attorney, corrections were made to this paragraph.)

Rich Joslin made the statement & motion we will be hiring a new part time employee, our previous work-study Luz Gilkey. She will work 25 hours a week at $11.00 an hour. With a 6 month probationary time. Seconded by Randy Smith. Unanimous yes.

Stefan Kristen copying account -- wants to know about the deposits into this account. Linda Drake stated that the deposits were incorrectly placed into that fund due to wrong deposit slips given to her.

Randy Smith went to many places to get quotes on new posters for the DCVAC to be placed in high traffic areas and at many of the Veterans facilities in the county. Through Barnaby Printing we can get 200 posters at $.84 each at $168.00 total.

Stefan Kristen asked Rich Joslin is there a penalty for organizations for not paying their dues? He also stated that if they don't pay to vote, they don't show up anyway.

Stefan Kristen asked why the Restricted Fund Balance is $421,743.46. How far is this going to go? Herb Holderman stated that the county want's us to keep at least 1 1/2 years in reserve.

Motion to approve the expenditures for the posters from Barnaby Printing. Rich Joslin made the motion.
Passed Unanimously.

It was asked what people can do to help us help the Veterans. We stated that we could use more volunteer drivers to drive to the VA Hospitals. Please contact Linda Drake if you're interested.

The program Circle-Of-Change is a program with Rockford VA Clinic & Madison VA Hospital that is available to Veterans diagnosed with PTSD & TBI.

Steve Walz made the motion to adjourn, seconded by Mike Fogelsanger.

Respectfully submitted,

Steve Walz, Secretary