(It’s addressed to Denver this time, but it’s relevant to everyone in Colorado. ANd it’s on;y going to get bigger. – promoted by MADCO)
Distinguished Candidates:
First off, let me commend you for taking the dangerous plunge to run for public office. I’m sure you have your reasons for exposing every iota of your public and private beings to open and ridiculous scrutiny over the next few months, and I expect you’ll have ample opportunity to explain that over the endless speeches and interviews you’ll be giving.
Now, I had previously posted here on CoPols a brief comment in an open thread to try and solicit your stand on various Veterans issues and policies you intent to implement and honor if elected to the Mayor’s Office. Having been met with yawning silence, I’m going to conclude that either:
*The subject has no perceived value to a Denver Mayoral Candidate, since everyone knows there are no veterans in Denver;
*This is something the candidates didn’t think of at all, and they’re busy scrambling to come up with something they can post on our websites that will start and finish with “I thank you for your service.”
So, rather than toss you a softball that lets you put out some platitudes about thanking our veterans and/or stories of family member’s service, I’m going to give you a more difficult assignment – force you to address certain issues directly. We’ll start with:
1) Veteran Unemployment. For some weird reason, when people get stationed at Fort Carson, Peterson AFB, NORAD, or even at nearby Buckley AFB, they fall in love with Colorado and decide to stay after they separate from Service. Now for our younger veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, that means an unemployment rate of 20.9%, which is incrementally down from 21.1% last year. Veterans of all ages who are Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF, Afghanistan,) Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation New Dawn (OND) that total is slightly better at 11.5% but well above the national and state average.
What specifically will you do to help Young vets find employment?
2) Veteran Homelessness: George Cassidy, the City and County of Denver Veteran Service Officer (and soon to be one of your most valuable employees) estimates that the Denver Metro area has about 1200 homeless veterans, most of which drift in and out of Denver County depending on their circumstances. (A large contingent live in their cars, and don’t consider themselves homeless. It’s a military thing…it teaches us to put up with being miserable.) 200 of those he classifies as the hardcore “Hunter/Gatherers” who have no interest in coming in out of the cold, leaving 1000 veterans needing permanent housing.
Considering that OIF/OEF veterans are becoming homeless at the fastest rate in history, and Denver’s progressive work toward ending homelessness, what are your plans for helping this segment of the population?
3) Veterans Treatment Court: As Denver Chair of this initiative, I hope to have this excellent program running soon, thanks to the efforts of a number of people, including Colorado Chief Justice Bender.
However, the involvement of the City and County of Denver does not end with the use of a courtroom and court staff…in order for this program to surpass the nationally-recognized Colorado Springs Veterans Treatment Court in terms of veterans treated, there will need to be some support with City services – behavioral health counseling, housing, suicide prevention and peer advisors. And while the Denver VA hospital is specifically charged with caring for our veterans, they are overwhelmed at the moment – the average wait between making an appointment and being seen is averaging 3 MONTHS.
Before you might dismiss this idea for “lack of customers” understand that more veterans reside in the Denver Metro Area than in El Paso County. Regarding Denver, there are 1500 veterans students on the Auraria Campus alone, along with 253 students at the DU campus. We had two full-time active duty bases in Denver county (Fitzsimons Army Medical Center and Lowry Joint Service Base,) and for some strange reason, people made an effort to make them their final duty stations so they could retire in Colorado. As a result, Colorado has one of the highest per captia percentage of Veterans in the US (12%) The need is there.
So, as Mayor of Denver, what will you specifically do to support this program?
That should be enough to get you started – I look forward to hearing your answers!
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How one would treat these two problems differently than:
1 Unemployment
2 Homelessness
As to the wait for an appointment at the VA, it took me four months to see my private GP. Just saying.
what kind of (for lack of a better word) program are you on? I don’t think that the comparison on wait times can be made, successfully, in certain circumstances. The VA’s purpose is pretty specific and many vets don’t have another choice.
No disrespect or anything intended. I don’t know what your situation is at all. Just curious about the larger picture.
…while they’re going thru treatment. They still need a place to live, though.
At some point, fixing the vet unemployment problem will fix the vet homelessness problem.
As for your wait to see someone about a medical issue, you don’t have to wait 4 months to get emergency behavioral health care. Some vets, depending on where they are with their disability claims and treatment schedule, may have to wait 3 months to see a social worker.
Just so you know the Denver VA does not have a fully accredited emergency room. It also does not have any emergency behavioral health facilities.
area for Vets at it’s Five Points office. The sign outsde the office lists emergency food stamps, bus fare tokens, and other emergency services. Once registered with Denver social services, the Vet has access to the full array of services this agency provides.
the Incarcerated Veterans Transition Program.
http://www.va.gov/OCA/testimon…
and both of them are swamped.
I know that CnC Denver Vets office is pretty nervous for what happens in the next Denver budget, and they keep a lot of other service afloat with separate grants from the Vet Trust Fund.
I also know that while the Denver VA has got some things going in regards to vet transition (including incarcerted vets which means they got out state or federal lockup, not city or county) they’re down several people. For example the Veterans Justice Outreach program, (an extension of the VA homelessness program) is supposed to have two people at the Denver VAMC. They have one, and he may be shuffled somewhere else.
These are all existing City (and Federal) programs. I want to know what the candidates for Mayor are planning on doing, not what’s being down now.
(Not that I even live in Denver…)
and your tireless advocacy of veteran issues. The veterans and the problems become “invisible” if not publicized.
Can you give us some more info on the Veterans Treatment Court? A assume it’s for substance abuse? I’ve been in recovery for a number of years so I have a personal interest. Thanks.
…PBS did a great job on Judge (and former 2-star Army General) Ron Crowder’s VTC in CoSprings:
Veterans Suspected of Crimes Swap Guilty Pleas for Rehabilitation
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb…
So I am off to send some mildly pestering messages encouraging mayoral candidates to answer this.
To mayoral and Council Candidates.
I’d bet there are a lot more vets/military retirees in the Springs and these questions would be very relevant here, but these issues are not even being discussed.
And then you have the Dougster who is openly hostile to vets and gets no media coverage of that at all!
It shocked me when the stats came back, but Aurora really boosts the numbers. Also, very few folks who get out stick around CoSprings once they get out, since the majority of schools and jobs (ha!) are up here in Denver…
I’ll have to get permission to distribute, but I’ll post them here once I get ’em.
about someone blowing sunshine where one doesn’t naturally find it. And, I’m wondering if a good portion of this problem doesn’t fall back on the services and their dishonest sunshine blowing recruitment tactics of promising prospective recruits a career and education and job training that will supposedly be relevant and sought after in later civilian pursuits and then largely and utterly failing to deliver on those promises in far, far too many instances.
I know my question doesn’t do anything to solve this horrendous problem as it is now being faced, but I still think it’s a question worth being asked.
but understand no one that enlisted after 9/11 did so because of those 90’s era commercials about job training and education, esp in Combat Arms. It was war – we can argue the justification for war, but that what everyone knew they were getting into.
How about answering these important questions. Pretty sure most voters, besides the ones who are vets, either are related to or at least know some vets and care about what happens to them.
and care about what happens to our vets on those grounds alone.
Yes, the mayoral candidates should answer these questions, which will matter to everyone.
Thank you SSG_Dan for your questions. Veteran’s issues are an important topic for all of Colorado and thank you for the opportunity to answer them in this forum. In addition to a veteran population that served in America’s previous wars (including my father David Mejia who is a Korean War Veteran) we have an increasing number of younger veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. As Mayor, I will work to ensure that veterans who call Denver home have access to services and opportunities worthy of their service.
To your questions:
1. What specifically will you do to help Young vets find employment?
Many of the issues associated with returning veterans are rooted in the unavailability of jobs. I will work to create opportunities and build partnerships connecting our young vets with city services, non-profits and business providing assistance for job placement and training. As we are moving to a more sustainable way of living, the City of Denver will become a partner with Veterans Green Jobs when I am Mayor. As part of my Buy Denver/Hire Denver Initiative, I will bring together business, trade unions and other industry with veterans and veteran organizations to provide training, internships and jobs.
2. Veteran Homelessness
I will work with Denver’s delegation in the General Assembly and with the Colorado delegation in Washington to ensure we are not leaving opportunities or funds to combat veteran homelessness on the table. As more veterans are returning home and with our economy struggling we need to make sure that those who sacrificed for our freedom are taken care of and we as elected officials are making that happen.
I believe in the short term Denver’s Road Home needs to integrate veteran specific transitional housing to help homeless veterans get back on their feet. In the long term, the City must do what it can to help veterans find work as well as working on improving access to mental and substance abuse treatment.
3. Supporting Veteran’s Programs
As you have stated, many veterans decide to call Denver and Colorado home once their service has ended. To address all issues concerning veterans and what the City of Denver can do I will form a commission made up veterans, active military personal and representatives from our Metro Area military institutions to advise on and advocate for veteran’s issues. Additionally, I will look to this commission to make recommendations to the Mayor’s office on what steps the City can take.
We need to make sure that educational opportunities are available and known to veterans. I fully support in-state tuition for veterans and will ensure veterans know that in Colorado in-state tuition is available to them. We also need to improve education opportunities other than four-year college and must include community colleges and trade-craft apprenticeships.
I of course welcome your and others input – whether here, by contacting me directly or through involvement in the future.
for being the first, and so far only, candidate to respond to these important questions.
Well done stepping up to take positions on issues when you don’t really HAVE to. That’s sorely lacking from a lot of pols these days.
…in each case, what are your NEW ideas or plans regarding each issue?
For example, in answer one, you state “the City of Denver will become a partner with Veterans Green Jobs when I am Mayor.” But…the City of Denver ALREADY is a partner with VGJ. Last year I was at the meeting between the C&C, the landscape industry and several Reps of VGJ which kicked out the partnership between all of these stakeholders.
http://veteransgreenjobs.org/m…
So, you’re proposing something that already exists.
In answer two, you state: “I believe in the short term Denver’s Road Home needs to integrate veteran specific transitional housing to help homeless veterans get back on their feet.”
But again, Denver’s Road Home is already working with a number of state, location and federal agencies, such as Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and the Bo Matthews Center for Excellence, which is already listed on Denver’s Road Home program:
http://www.denversroadhome.org…
So, as before, what NEW ideas or programs do you have for Veteran Homelessness.
Lastly, you also state: “I will form a commission made up veterans, active military personal and representatives from our Metro Area military institutions to advise on and advocate for veteran’s issues.”
But that also already exists. It’s the United Veterans Committee. It is the only one of it’s kind in the US, and it’s “…a non-profit coalition of 45 chartered and federally recognized veterans service organizations and affiliates established in 1972.”
http://www.unitedveteranscommi…
Also, you completely ignored the last question regarding the support of the City and County of Denver for a Veterans Treatment Court.
So, what are your NEW ideas for the support that the City and County of Denver can provide for Veterans, to include a Veterans Treatment court?
Mr Mejia, I don’t mean to point out the flaws in your answers with any hostile intent – but we’re now at a critical moment to prepare for an onrush of veterans from the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, AND all our forgotten warriors from wars past.
If elected, I don’t want you (or any other candidate) spending critical resources forming committees or study groups that already exist elsewhere. I want you (and every other candidate) to understand the depth of the problem that will face this city soon, and to be as prepared as possible.