EDITORIAL: Fight between governor, veterans director is hurting veterans services

Feb. 23—It sounds like Oklahoma's new attorney general may need to add another issue to his list of things to correct by stepping in and helping resolve what is happening with the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs (OVDA).

Months of dysfunction and infighting culminated recently in an Oklahoma oversight board barred from meeting inside the state agency it oversees.

The issue started between ODVA's director, Joel Kinstel, who is in a contest with Gov. Kevin Stitt, likely because Kinstel actually ran against and lost to Stitt in the Republican primary.

Kintsel said the situation began two days after the June 28 Republican primary election when Stitt began terminating or not renewing ODVA board appointments. Under state law, the governor has the sole appointment power to fill the nine-member commission. However, some selections must be made from lists provided by veterans' groups, and all must be confirmed by the state Senate.

Kinstel says the veterans commission is "illegitimate," and that he's only abiding by the rule of law. Stitt says Kinstel has gone "rogue," and if he had the authority he'd fire him immediately.

By all accounts, this sounds like a schoolyard fight between two men with big egos. In the meantime, the commission is not functioning as it should, and our Oklahoma veterans don't deserve this drama. It's also another instance where perhaps the governor has too much authority in appointing members to the commission.

If the governor is using his authority to appoint different commissioners as a way to get rid of Kinstel, well, that's more political infighting that does disservice to the state.

In a statement, Attorney General Drummond, a combat veteran, called the entire episode "nothing short of a spectacle."

"It is unfortunate that the governor has not followed the proper appointment process, and it is equally unfortunate that the executive director of the state Department of Veterans Affairs is acting irresponsibly and not in the best interests of veterans," he said. "It is wholly unacceptable that Oklahoma's honorable veterans have been left without a functional commission."

It's time for it to stop. Both the governor and Kinstel need to put their egos aside and resolve the situation immediately.

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