Foxborough Moving Forward from Veterans District with Local Services Intact

Despite the sudden – and shocking – dissolve of the Crossroads Veterans Services District, CVSD director Michael Johns told selectmen Tuesday Foxborough is moving on and “is going to be fine.”

“We are in good shape,” Johns said regarding veteran services in Foxborough. “I will continue services and we won’t skip a beat. The services will be no less than they were in the district and we should be in good shape. I think Foxborough came out of this least harmed of all.”

Just over three weeks ago, Mansfield’s Board of Selectmen agreed to leave the veterans district, following Easton’s decision to do so a few weeks earlier. Mansfield’s decision on May 1st effectively dissolved the four-town district that also included Norton.

“I was shocked,” Johns said of Mansfield’s decision, which came just 22 hours after the district’s board and town managers met to discuss the process for setting salaries and appointing employees. “I called [Foxborough Town Manager Kevin Paicos] and he was shocked. Norton was shocked.”

With the dissolve of the district, Foxborough’s selectmen must reappoint Johns as the town’s Veterans Services Officer before July 1 to ensure the town’s veterans will be covered for the new fiscal year.

“Before July 1 I need an appointment by the Board of Selectmen to continue my services [to Foxborough and] bring my services back here to serve Foxborough only,” Johns said. … “I’m very happy to come back here and work in Foxborough and get back to business here.”

Selectmen voiced support for Johns but delayed taking action until the board’s next meeting to allow Pacios and Johns to discuss the VSO's salary.

“Mike is an outstanding VSO,” Paicos said. “I would like the opportunity to sit down with him and talk about the salary and make a recommendation back to the board on what the salary should be. I don’t agree that he should go back to where he was a year ago. Had he not been the district VSO in the interim his salary would have changed. I don’t think it’s fair to say he needs to go back to where he was.”

Selectmen agreed and will likely take action at its June 4th meeting.

“It is reassuring to the veterans that we still have a very good veterans agent in place and with a letter of reappointment I think we can reassure the veterans and their families that services will be provided in the same manner that they have been provided in the last few years,” said selectman Ginny Coppola.

Johns said he expects services in Foxborough to improve with his reappointment as the town’s VSO.

“People should be reassured that I will actually be spending more time here than I have since the [CVSD] director was injured in November,” Johns said.

Veterans District Officially Dissolves on June 30

While Easton, Mansfield and Norton each voted to leave the Veterans District, all towns, including Foxborough, will still receive services from the district until it officially dissolves on June 30.

“The district is in full effect through the end of this fiscal year,” Johns said. “So Heath Hobson and myself remain the two VSOs. … We still have work to do. Everybody has gone their separate ways but we are still in the trenches doing our thing.”

Johns said there are still a lot of cases open in federal, state and local work within the Veterans District that he and Hobson will be working on before July 1.

Veterans District - Experiment that Should Have Succeeded

Johns described the CVSD experiment as a "long" and "difficult process" that should have succeeded but didn’t because of several philosophical differences between towns.

The CVSD was formed in 2011 with the goal of providing services to veterans and their survivors in Easton, Foxborough, Mansfield and Norton.

But early disagreements between the four towns ultimately came back to haunt the district.

“The [first] disagreement that started [between the four town managers in 2011] was how to set up the district,” Johns said. “The state does provide us a way for towns to collaborate by putting towns into a district structure. Kevin [Paicos] and [Mansfield Town Manager] Bill Ross felt this was the way to go. The other two town managers were happy with keeping their own employees and paying them and they just pay everyone else later.”

Shortly after the district started, Johns said the CVSD director at the time “made it known” he had no interest in a four-town district.

“He did not want to be involved in a district and didn’t believe in it,” Johns said. … “That was another problem that came back to haunt us.”

The district continued to move forward despite philosophical differences and being understaffed.

“The director retired so we lost an employee but services never stopped,” Johns said. “All four towns kept getting services.”

For the past seven months Johns and Hobson had been working as the district’s two VSOs to provide the four towns adequate service. However in April, Easton decided to pull out of the district.

“Easton [had been discussing leaving the district] but I didn’t take them seriously, I didn’t think they were going to leave,” Johns said. “They had been discontent.”

When Easton did opt to leave the district Johns said the CVSD was expected to remain a strong three-town district with the potential to recruit a fourth town in the future.

“The district was not done,” Johns said. “We still had a strong district with three towns committed to this district. The price of services would have gone up a little bit but still a strong district. My recommendation was let’s keep our eyes open for a fourth partner. That was April 30th that we sat with the four town managers and district representatives.”

But Mansfield changed its course and decided to leave the district too, effectively dissolving the CVSD.

Bob Siteman, chairman of Foxborough’s Veteran Services Advisor Committee, praised Johns and Hobson for their efforts in the CVSD.

“I would like to thank Mike and Heath for the work they’ve done,” Siteman said. “Since November, they had been putting in 50 to 70 hours a week to keep this district up and running. … The district director was against the district from the beginning. He did everything he could to make the district fail.”

NOTE: Johns shared a list of lessons learned from the CVSD experiment with selectmen Tuesday. Foxborough Patch will publish that list in Friday’s edition.