Showing posts with label Veterans Council. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Veterans Council. Show all posts

Thursday, July 2, 2015

NYC Military Veterans Budget Boost $2.9 Million

A Budget Victory for NYC Military Veterans 
Gotham Gazette
by Joe Bello
Jul 02, 2015
Lastly, and quite significantly, the Council's veterans initiative was more than doubled with funding for organizations that will provide direct services (legal, health services, job placement, and support programs) for veterans and their family members.

With almost half of Mayor Bill de Blasio's term in office complete, it has been well-documented that military veterans have seen a number of administration policies as perplexing and frustrating. What's made this all the more disappointing is that the mayor has unique insight into the difficulties veterans and their family members face through the experience of his own father, a World War II veteran who struggled when he came home.

As a result of the administration's decisions and the belief that we weren't being heard, my group (NY MetroVets) banded together with several other veterans groups to push for real progress. After months of testimony at hearings and engaging with local elected officials and the media - while keeping the veterans community informed and engaged - our hard work paid off in the city budget.

Late last week the City Council voted to adopt the New York City Fiscal Year 2016 budget. The spending plan, which starts July 1, contains an increase of almost $2.9 million dollars for veterans services.

This increase will double the Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs (MOVA) budget and allow Commissioner Loree Sutton to not only hire additional staff but perhaps even address some veterans issues that are outside the mayor's strategic plan. It also puts money into the city's veterans homelessness-fighting initiative to assist the federal Departments of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on the final push to end veteran homelessness here in New York City.
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Thursday, July 3, 2008

Plymouth veterans win fight over studio sign

Plymouth veterans win fight over studio sign
By Christine Legere
Globe Correspondent / July 3, 2008
PLYMOUTH - Plymouth Rock Studios, the group of California film executives responsible for the 50-foot "Hollywood East" sign on the front lawn of the 1820 Plymouth County Courthouse, couldn't take the heat.
The company notified the Plymouth County Commissioners office yesterday that the sign would be dismantled and carted away before throngs of tourists arrive in America's Hometown for tomorrow's July Fourth parade.
Veterans, enraged because the oversized letters blocked two 20-year-old memorials to veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars, had been planning a protest on the courthouse lawn during tomorrow's celebration.
"I say 'Hurray,' " said Alba Thompson, vice commander of the town's Veteran's Council. "It would have been awful to have that sign blocking the veterans' memorials, particularly on Independence Day."
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