Two people Stitt dropped from Veterans Commission say they haven’t been notified

In an email, a spokeswoman for Stitt said the administration has “fully complied with state law.”

But some veterans and service organizations disagree. Veterans of Foreign Wars State Commander Jeremy Owen said his organization was “not consulted one bit. The governor did what he wanted. He’s breaking state law.”

Another service organization, the Oklahoma Military Order of the Purple Heart, has a pending lawsuit against the state that makes the same argument.

Gary Miles of Ponca City, who has been the Veterans of Foreign Wars representative on the commission, said he learned of his dismissal by reading it in the Tulsa World.

Jerletta Halford-Pandos of Kellyville, who has represented the Disabled American Veterans, said she first heard about the change from an acquaintance Tuesday night.

The changes — four dismissals and three appointments — were announced by the Governor’s Office in a 5:15 p.m. Tuesday press release.

Contacted by telephone, Halford-Pandos excoriated Stitt and his secretary of veterans affairs, John Nash.

“The minute anybody says anything against them, it gets back to (Stitt),” she said. “I’ve called them out for having meetings behind closed doors. That’s why my head is on the chopping block.

“I was just put on the commission in July,” Halford-Pandos said. “But because I didn’t follow (Stitt’s) rules and John Nash’s rules, I’m out. Well, I won’t be controlled.”

Miles and Halford-Pandos said they believe the commission is being set up to fire Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs Executive Director Joel Kintsel. Under state law, only the commission can hire and fire the executive director, and despite several changes by Stitt in the board’s makeup, to this point it has refused to dismiss Kintsell.

“I’m sorry to no longer be on the commission, but I’m not going to let anybody tell me what to do,” Miles said by telephone.

“We kept supporting (Kintsell),” Miles said. “There’s not a commissioner I know of that would have voted to get rid of Joel Kintsel. He’s a fine man. When we didn’t get rid of him — the new guys do what they’re told, obviously. We don’t.”

Miles and Halford-Pandos said they attribute the Stitt administration’s efforts to oust Kintsel to his and the commission’s opposition to privatizing the state’s seven veterans homes, which are operated by the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, and Kintsel’s decision to challenge Stitt in last year’s Republican gubernatorial primary.

“Oh, my God. He ran against the governor. Oh, my God!” Halford-Pandos said sarcastically.

“He’s a citizen of the United States, isn’t he?” she said.

Two other commission members, Bill Kokendoffer of the Paralyzed American Veterans and Jerry Ball of the American Legion, were also dropped.

Three replacements were named.

The nine-member commission is composed of six spots designated for service organizations such as the VFW and American Legion and three at-large members chosen by the governor.

All members must be veterans.

According to state law, the process for appointing service organization representatives involves each of the relevant organizations submitting five names, from which the governor chooses one to submit to the state Senate.

But Owen and Miles say the VFW never submitted any names to the Governor’s Office and that the person named by Stitt to represent their organization, Oklahoma City businessman and veteran Daniel Orr, is unknown to them.

Similarly, Halford-Pandos says her replacement, Ted Perry of Oklahoma City, does not seem to be a member of the Disabled American Veterans.

Stitt and the administration are already involved in two lawsuits stemming from his dismissal of two members last summer. In one, the Oklahoma Military Order of the Purple Heart contends that its representative, Larry Van Schuyver, was replaced by someone who was not a member of the organization and whom the order had not proposed.

Last week, Oklahoma County District Judge Anthony Bonner ruled that the Purple Heart organization’s argument may be valid but that it didn’t have standing to bring suit.

That, said Bonner, could be done only by an attorney general, a district attorney or a “contestant” for the office.

That ruling potentially puts the Stitt administration in opposition to new Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who defeated Stitt’s handpicked choice for that office in last year’s Republican primary.

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