COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Applications to be the next Branch County Veterans Service officer are being accepted through next Friday, January 17, 2025.
After initially announcing his retirement then rescinding it due to a controversy surrounding the selection of his replacement, Branch County Veterans Services Officer Charles Scott is stepping down as February 28, 2025.
Scott told the Branch County Board of Commissioners last month he has been diagnosed with cancer.
V.A. Board member Andrew Labadee told Commissioners on Tuesday there has been a high volume of requests for transportation and emergency relief.
The Branch County Veterans Board will do the interviews and pick the new service officer.
The controversy over Scott’s replacement began after the county Board of Commissioners interviewed three candidates in October and selected retired Air Force Sgt. Whitney Lewis for the job. But the veterans board voted to name Scott’s daughter, Jacqueline Yap, to replace him after interviews.
County Administrator Bud Norman then informed commissioners that a 1953 state law mandated that the veterans board, not the commission, make the selection. Later Yap informed Norman she would not accept the position because of what she described as “family harassment.”
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