COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Branch County Department of Veterans Affairs Director Charles Scott has rescinded his retirement and will remain in his position after the search for his successor turned messy in recent weeks.
The V.A. Board voted 4-0 last Friday to accept his decision to continue his duties.
After Scott announced his plans over the summer to retire at the end of the year, 23 persons submitted applications for the job.
Three finalists were interviewed by the Branch County Board of Commissioners. They recommended on a 4-0 vote with Tom Matthew abstaining that retired Air Force Sgt. Whitney Lewis be the next director.
But the local V.A. Board instead voted 2-1 to name Jacqueline Yap to the position.
Yap is Scott’s daughter and the news of her hiring led to cries of nepotism. There were also questions about if the V.A. Board had properly followed the state’s Open Meetings Act.
Yap was scheduled to take over on November 4 but the criticism over her selection led her to inform County Administrator Bud Norman last week that she would not accept the position, “due to the harassment my family is receiving online and in the office.”
Lewis expressed her disappointment about the V.A. Board’s decision to the County Commissioners during their meeting last Tuesday.
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