The lack of a full-time and present veterans service officer in Pierce County is not acceptable, Pierce County Commander of the American Legion Kenneth Lampro told the Pierce County Board April 18.

“Programs and benefits that the veterans in this county are deserving of are slowed by the lack of a local and properly trained VSO,” Lampro said. “Many of the county’s veterans are forced to look to other county VSOs for direction or are going out of state. This is unacceptable.”

County Administrator Jason Matthys said Scott Braden is still employed as Pierce County’s VSO. However, he did not provide insight into Lampro’s accusations.

“I am unable to comment on the employment status nor any leave provisions of Mr. Braden,” Matthys said.

A post on Braden’s Facebook page April 9 indicates that he is in a mental health recovery program.

Lampro said he wants answers for the 1,300 Pierce County American Legion members and that they’ve heard a lot of rumors.

“Having someone in the office aware of what is going on, what is present, what is new, isn’t there,” Lampro said. “The fact is we’re no closer to a full-time VSO in Pierce County than we were four months ago. Don’t the veterans of Pierce County deserve better?”

Chair Jon Aubart said the county is limited on what it can say about personnel issues.

“There are a number of legal issues in this and it’s being worked on every day for the last several weeks,” Aubart said. “We need to be a little careful about what we say. We can get ourselves into trouble very quickly.”

Braden has served in the role for two years.