For more than a few weeks a swirl of questions, accusations and contradictory explanations surrounded one issue: whether a commissioner on the Aurora Veterans Advisory Council could produce paperwork showing he had been honorably discharged from military service.
That dispute ultimately triggered the surprise resignation of 10 of 11 AVAC members, who made this announcement last month at a City Council meeting, along with a statement that Aurora Mayor John Laesch’s office showed “lack of due diligence” in making sure all the paperwork was valid.
These frustrated volunteers immediately created their own nonprofit, the Fox Valley Veterans Alliance, which they insist will allow them to help even more local veterans. And the city of Aurora began actively searching for a whole lot of replacements for the AVAC board.
Then on Friday afternoon, after all this confusion and fallout – along with a lot of questions on my part – Jake Zimmerman, supervisor of the Kane County Veterans Assistance Commission, verified the authenticity of the remaining commissioner’s DD-214 discharge papers, which proved he had indeed been honorably discharged.
Still, even though the DD-214 question has been answered, questions linger. At the risk of sounding less like a columnist and more like a bewildered bystander … what the heck happened? How did a dispute over one veteran’s credentials all but wipe out an entire board of volunteers, especially one that has been around since 2014 and had raised copious amounts of funds for veterans through programs that included service dogs, home improvements and scholarships.
Turns out there had already been issues with past mayoral administrations regarding who was allowed to be on this volunteer advisory board that requires an honorable discharge for its veteran members. As founding AVAC Chair Joe Toma, now retired, told me, “the city’s due diligence should be automatic” when it comes to verifying character of service.
Personality conflicts between AVAC members and political differences with the current mayor’s office also came in to play. All of which spilled into public view at the City Council meeting, with commissioners claiming that, after numerous meetings, the mayor’s office dismissed their concerns and recommendations for this particular reappointment to the board.
Making things even sticker: the military discharge document for this member that was presented to aldermen was a DD-214 worksheet, rather than the actual DD-214.
Bottom line: the paperwork dispute may have been the spark, but the political tinder had been piling up for a while.
Still, even while the discharge document in question was finally authenticated, a piece of the puzzle remains missing: How did a valid DD-214 the owner insists he submitted to the city turn into the worksheet form that was presented to aldermen?
Was it a botched hand-off? Was it a simple clerical error? Was paranormal activity involved? And, was any of this – what was described to me as a “dog and pony show” – even necessary?
Turns out that a city ordinance from 2021 says a VA photo ID card is sufficient for proof of qualification to the AVAC board. Also, the DD-214 in question could have easily been verified by Zimmerman’s office weeks ago, which former members told me had been their request from the get-go.
At this point, everyone involved in the Mystery of the DD-214 wants to put the case to rest. That includes the vet in question, who tells me he plans to continue volunteering with numerous community groups, and the city of Aurora, which in an email response praised those former commissioners for their “hard work and dedication” through the years.
“Moving forward,” the statement continued, “the city plans to work with three veterans organizations within the community, which have recently merged, to build more affordable housing for veterans and to recruit dedicated residents to support Aurora’s strong veteran community.”
Likewise, members of the new Fox Valley Veterans Alliance, upon learning of the valid DD-214, extend their best wishes to the organization they are leaving behind, but are eager to turn the page.
“We are super-excited to be able to help surrounding brother and sister cities better address the needs of veterans with outreach and awareness,” said former AVAC Chair Joshua Pfeuffer, who now leads the new group.
“One thing that always broke my heart was getting calls for veteran assistance from outside the city, and all I could do was refer them to other agencies,” he continued.
“Now we have a larger footprint and more ways to help them.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com
