KALAMAZOO, MI -- Michael Seals ended the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners meeting by apologizing to every veteran in the area.

A veterans services specialist position has been vacant for several weeks after previous specialist Brien Brockway took a higher paying job elsewhere. While Service Coordinator Mike Hoss was on vacation, the office was left for two weeks with just one half-time administrative clerk to serve all of the county's veterans.

Seals told his fellow commissioners on Tuesday, Sept. 20 that an understaffed veterans service office is failing the 15,500 veterans who live in Kalamazoo County.

"I've never seen an office stop functioning since I've been on this board and the first is the veterans office?" Seal said. "I'm beyond words. They are supposed to be the most cherished citizens and they got a two-week slap in the face."

A replacement candidate was considered, but that person also left to take another position that paid more. Now that Hoss has returned, he will be working to overcome a back log of cases.

Commissioners discussed the possibility of creating new positions within the office and raising the salary of the veterans services specialist to make it more competitive with other counties.

Seals proposed a motion to direct the County Office of Finance to find a way to fund a second veteran services coordinator position, but it was was voted down 2-7. Larry Provancher was the only other commissioner in support of Seals' motion, while Stephanie Moore was absent.

Other commissioners, argued that the board should wait to collect more information about the impact more staff would make. Identifying possible funding sources was another reason some wanted to move carefully.

A millage analogous to what funds the St. Clair County Department of Veterans Affairs was also discussed. The 0.1 mill tax will generate $562,824 each year from 2017 to 2022, and provides funding for eight staff members who help support veterans who receive disability benefits.

Commissioner Kevin Wordelman said he wants to see more research done, but would be supportive of increasing salaries and using a millage to pay for it.

"I would hate to see us shift resources away from other vitally important things," he said. "Our hands are not tied, we have options for lack of a better word to have people put their money where their mouth is when it comes to veterans."

Thomas said he would not be comfortable ordering the Health and Community Services Department, of which the veterans office is a part of, to find money for staff in their own budget.

Because HCS is working on other vital projects, Wordelman said he supported finding another way to fund staffing increases.

"This is a good example of where we know we have an issue, no one questions that," said Commissioner John Gisler. "We won't come up with a long-term solution until we address it strategically. It may very well be that we are set up right now because of the salary ranges that can be applied to those officers. Every time we get someone trained someone else offers them $5,000 to $10,000 more and they are gone."

Seals was adamant that action needs to be taken as soon as possible.

"The longer we wait the more people who are affected," Seals said. "Either way, if we can find money we should. It's not acceptable to me, if (someone) needs services (they) should be able to get them from this county."

Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Mike Quinn was one of several speakers who addressed the topic during the public comment portion of Tuesday's meeting. He said having only two trained full-time veterans service officers is not enough to keep up with the County's needs.

"We want to go about this in progressive manner," said Vice Chair Jeff Heppler. "We need to get all the facts to provide the best service for our veterans. It's critical to have good information that is accurate and tells us whole story so we can make a good decision as a board."