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TIFFS MARRING CALIFORNIA TRIBUTE TO VETERANS --
Control of El Dorado County Veterans
Monument in dispute.
Story here...
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/114696.html
Story below:
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Tiffs marring tribute to vets
El Dorado seeks to assert county control of new
monument.
By Cathy Locke - Bee Staff Writer
A little more than two months after the dedication of the El Dorado
County Veterans Monument, the parties that joined forces to create the
patriotic memorial are now sparring to control it.
The dispute has at times degenerated to personal insults. It moved to
the public arena last week after members of the Board of Supervisors
took exception to a proposal by the Friends of the Veterans Memorial
Monument to manage and operate the monument.
Because the monument sits on county land and was paid for in part with
county funds, supervisors say, it comes under the board's authority.
But some veterans fear the monument's purpose and integrity may suffer
if management is left to politicians and their appointees. Some say the
county supervisors are interested in getting payback for a perceived
slight by veterans against board Chairwoman Helen Baumann.
"Most of these (monuments) survive and grow because of the passion of
the people who take care of it," said Richard Buchanan, co-founder of
Friends of the Veterans Memorial Monument.
The El Dorado County monument -- featuring a 114-foot-long wall, a
plaza, and a walk and circle of honor lined with commemorative bricks --
occupies a knoll at the county government center.
Assisted by veterans groups countywide, Friends of the Veterans Memorial
Monument had secured donations of $258,000 in cash by fall 2005. They
also had various commitments for materials and services.
When the group faced additional construction costs to comply with
Americans with Disability Act requirements for walkways, supervisors
agreed to assist with funding. A $666,650 construction contract was
awarded last summer, and the monument was dedicated on Veterans Day.
Buchanan estimates the full value of the monument at more than $1
million.
Supervisor Jack Sweeney said during last week's board meeting that he
became concerned after receiving an e-mail indicating that the Friends
group intended to oversee use of the monument.
"I'm alarmed that private citizens would take responsibility for
management of a facility on county property," Sweeney said.
When supervisors authorized county financing for the project, he said,
it was understood the county would assume ownership, and that the
Friends group would establish an endowment fund to maintain the
monument's appearance.
Monument issues, Sweeney said, should be handled through the
board-appointed Veterans Affairs Commission.
"We cannot have a usurpation of authority," Sweeney said.
The issue came to a head when a mother whose son had died while on leave
asked to use the monument for a memorial service. When informed that
Baumann's office and county staff members had made the arrangements for
the memorial, Buchanan asked that future calls for such services be
referred to him.
That set off a snowballing chain of e-mails that included much
finger-pointing and led to the issue being added to the supervisors'
agenda.
Among the e-mail accusations was that Baumann was taking control of the
monument because a bench she donated to honor members of her family who
served in the military was placed outside the court of honor. The bench
couldn't be in the court because it also has Baumann's name on it, and
she is not a veteran, Buchanan said.
One e-mail was so insulting to Baumann it prompted a friend of her
family to deliver at the board meeting an impassioned defense of Baumann
and her family's military service. Baumann insists the bench's placement
is fine with her and has nothing to do with the board's position.
During discussion at the board meeting, Michael Rupley, a member of the
Veterans Affairs Commission, said, "Friends is a nice cuddly-sounding
name for a group that wants to take control of a monument that was built
on county property with county money."
He urged the group to join the commission in overseeing the monument.
Allen Amaro, representing the local chapter of Disabled American
Veterans, said the Veterans Affairs Commission was to be "eyes and ears
for the Board of Supervisors," not its mouthpiece. "We had miscues from
the commission that everything had to go through them to the board.
That's not true," Amaro told the supervisors.
John Collens, representing an ad hoc committee of the Veterans Affairs
Commission, said the committee had drafted a letter recommending most of
what the Friends group sought.
Buchanan said in an interview that he hoped for a resolution to the
oversight issue. More than 600 commemorative bricks honoring veterans
have been sold since the November dedication and need to be added to the
approximately 1,000 already installed, he said. A directory showing the
location of each brick also is planned along with additional
landscaping. But that is now on hold, Buchanan said.
The board directed the county counsel to research how memorials are
managed in other jurisdictions. Baumann said the board must consider
issues of liability and First Amendment rights.
Supervisor Ron Briggs, who took office earlier this month, offered to
meet with the various veterans groups in an effort to resolve
differences. "I hate to see everybody who has a common goal be
fractured," he said.
The Bee's Cathy Locke can be reached at (916)
608-7451 or clocke@sacbee.com.
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Larry Scott
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