Politics & Government

Solano Board of Supervisors Receives Update on Dixon Veteran's Hall

The Solano County Auditor-Controller's office updated the Board on corrective action that's being implemented at the Dixon Vet's Hall

Last month, a report by the Solano County Auditor-Controller’s office in the accounting practices at the . On Tuesday, the Solano County Board of Supervisors received an update on how the Dixon Veterans Building Association (DVBA) is attempting to remedy the problems outlined in the report.

On Tuesday during the regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors, Deputy Auditor-Controller Ian Goldberg gave a short presentation to the board that told of how the county was working with the DVBA – a group that manages the Vet’s Hall in Dixon and is comprised of American Legion Post 208 and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 8151.

Golberg said that his office has met with the DVBA and their certified public accountant on June 2 and both are committed to a corrective action plan to be implemented by July 7.

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“We will complete our follow up and identify in late September or early October,” Goldberg told the board. “In addition the follow-up will include bingo operations.”

Goldberg said his office prepared Prior Reportable Conditions matrices and established a timeline with the DVBA to resolve the outstanding issues and put the corrective action plan in place.

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During the Board’s previous meeting, held on May 24, the Board expressed concern that there was no clear management in place at the Vet’s Hall. It’s a point that has yet to be resolved according to Mike Lango, Director of General Services.

 “The American Legion and the VFW have unresolved differences with the management of the building,” he told the board.

Lango said that American Legion Post 208 expressed a desire to take over full management of the hall, but after discussing it with its members, the VFW rejected the American Legion’s offer.

“County staff are considering other options for management,” he told the board, adding that staff will make a management recommendation to the board at a later date.

A staff report indicates that staff is considering other options, which include, but are not limited to:

  • Designation of a managing party by the County for the operation and the management of the Dixon Veterans Memorial hall
  • Take-over of the management and operation of the Dixon Veterans Hall by County Staff
  • Revision of the OMA to include specific provisions for the fair and equitable allocation of the use of the facility, fee schedules for non-exempt activities, and reasonable internal controls to ensure appropriate administration and accounting.

The staff report also states that the County is analyzing the potential legal and operational implications of the aforementioned options.

Greg Coppes, commander of American Legion Post 208, addressed the board and re-iterated that his group would be willing to take over full management of the hall.

“The Dixon Post is committed to resolving all the issues,” he said. “My membership doesn’t understand that we have managed the building for 75 years, four years ago we were convinced to enter into a partnership agreement with the VFW, from there is where all the problems seem to spend.”

Coppes told the board that the American Legion has paid $4,000 of the bills incurred by the operation of the hall and that the VFW has not paid anything. He also noted that the American Legion Post has entered into an agreement with PG&E to pay back a massive bill incurred by the operation of the hall.

“We are committed to resolving all the issues,” he said.

Lango said the county would be providing mediation services for the DVBA to help them establish management of the building, but at least one supervisor took objection to it.

“I don’t’ really think that this whole effort should be costing Solano County anything additionally,” Supervisor Linda Seifert said. “Who’s paying for all of this additional oversight? Are we planning to charge those costs back to the Dixon Hall?”

Lango told Seifert that the mediation does not cost anything extra to the county, but does drain staff’s time.

Both Supervisors Michael Reagan and John Vazquez said they were opposed to charging the DVBA for mediation services.

“I don’t see that working,” Vazquez said. “When you have three kinds of operations, they do demand time. There probably isn’t a veteran’s hall that we haven’t spent a good amount of time with.”

Reagan added that he would not be supportive of seeking re-imbursement of the costs of audits and oversight.

The Solano County Auditor-Controller’s office is set to report back to the board in September.


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