Ivey calls meeting to consider immediate removal of veterans commissioner

The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs board voted unanimously last Thursday to ask Commissioner Kent Davis to reconsider his plan to resign at the end of the year.

Davis announced his plan to resign in the wake of Governor Kay Ivey’s legacy, which accused him of trying to misuse American Rescue Plan Act dollars.

Now Ivey is asking the board to immediately remove Davis for cause, citing the above reasons as well as alleging that he manipulated the board into asking him to stay.

“We are about to set ourselves back if we lose this commissioner, so I ask everyone to consider trying to convince him to rescind this statement, even if he doesn’t want to,” ADVA board member Ken Rollins said during last week’s meeting. “We need Commissioner Davis.”

Ivey called the vote “orchestrated theater” and said he hoped Davis would stick to his plan to resign at the end of the year.

In a letter obtained by the Alabama Daily News, Vice Chairman Scott Gedling said Davis pressured the board to vote as he did.

“In fact, Commissioner Davis, along with some other members of the veteran community, orchestrated the outcome of the votes, putting extreme pressure on some of you to do and say things that went against your beliefs and the very principles upon which this council should take a stand. ,” Gedling wrote. “I also now believe that his actions brought the council itself into disfavor with the governor and the Legislature – elected officials we must always have on our side if we are to fulfill our mission.

“For this reason, I am convinced that Commissioner Davis should step aside. I hope you will join me in encouraging you to do so.”