Vets get ballot proposal help
Vets get ballot proposal help
By JANE NORDBERG, DMG Writer
HOUGHTON — Voters will have the opportunity in November to vote on funding for a new county veterans group.
Butch Paavola of the Copper Country Veterans Association requested assistance in that effort from the Houghton County Board of Commissioners during the board’s regular monthly meeting Tuesday night.
The ballot proposal would ask for a tenth of a mill to fund a Houghton County Veterans Affairs Council. Board approval for the proposal would circumvent the petition process, Paavola said.
A county council would allow the various veterans groups to have one central location for funding and assistance, he explained.
“Our mission would be to provide assistance to the 3,500 veterans of Houghton County,” Paavola said.
Currently, memorials and flags are maintained by the CCVA, while other groups are involved with other vital components of veterans’ affairs.
The South Range VFW, for instance, provides transportation to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Iron Mountain, Paavola said, and pays for that service through administrative funds.
“It would be good to have at least a part-time staff person at the county level who could help with scheduling all of those visits,” he said.
Gogebic county already has a county-wide veterans group, cited Paavola, who added that he understood the need for the county to tread carefully where money is concerned.
“I know that raising taxes is not an easy thing to do but I would hope that everyone would support this effort,” he said.
Commissioner and Finance Chair Ed Jenich said he had no trouble supporting the group’s ballot proposal.
“I would consider it an honor to make a motion to put it on the ballot,” he said. “I think it’s a necessity that is long overdue.”
Board Chair Mike Lahti also supported the motion, saying that such a group would make Houghton one of many counties in the state that would have a county ombudsman for veterans affairs.
Following the meeting, Paavola and other veterans group representatives thanked the board for their support.
“If it passes, it’s really going to make it easier for vets in the county to get the assistance they need,” Paavola said.
Jane Nordberg can be reached at jnordberg@mininggazette.com
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