Don’t mess with Eilene Fisher.
Especially when she’s got—count them—a dozen veterans who’ve got her back.
After years of pleas to make Ms. Fisher’s job as head of Schoharie County’s Veteran’s Service Agency fulltime, supervisors unanimously voted Friday to do so.
But it took Ms. Fisher’s near-resignation and pleas from vets she calls friends to get it done.
In April, after Ms. Fisher, as a part-time department head, was passed over when one percent raises were handed out, she gave supervisors her two weeks notice.
“I just couldn’t do it any more,” she said.
The veterans she works with and for were having none of that and after reaching out to some of the supervisors, Friday they made their case.
“What Eilene gets done for veterans…it just wouldn’t get done without her,” said Joe Moore, commander of Middleburgh’s American Legion.
“When any vet I know needs help, I call Eilene or I give her their number.”
Frank Masterson, commander of the Sharon Springs American Legion, pointed out that even at part-time--18.5 hours a week—Ms. Fisher was putting in nearly fulltime hours because what she does is so important to her.
“The need is real,” he said.
Surrounded by fellow vets in an office decorated with American flags and wreaths, patriotic posters, and photos of some of the vets she’s helped before heading out to the Board of Supervisors’ meeting, Ms. Fisher talked about her role.
“I’m a veteran, I’m a member of the American legion, and I’m a disabled vet,” she said, “so I know what veterans need and how to get it done.
“This is what the position does. We sit down and fill out forms, I make phone calls—for vets and their widows—to help them get the help and benefits they qualify for.”
Even as a part-timer, Ms Fisher was never off-duty; people often stop her in the store with questions or call or text her for help.
“I love my job,” she said. “I just need more time to do it right.”
Ms. Fisher also pointed out that not only does her job help bring in thousands of dollars of tax-free help for veterans every month, if a veteran is receiving something like HEAP and she can find him help somewhere else, that frees up that assistance for someone else.
Even before Ms. Fisher’s supporters took the mic Friday, Carlisle Supervisor John Leavitt, another disabled vet, spoke up for the switch to fulltime.
“It should have been fulltime years ago,” he said.
Matt LaLonde, director of Veterans Affairs at both SUNY Cobleskill and SUNY Delhi, said Schoharie County is the only one in the region without a fulltime person to help vets—and they have fewer veterans.
“It’s a heavy load,” he said.
Seward Supervisor John Bates agreed with Mr. Leavitt that the move was long overdue.
“And we have an ideal person for the job,” he said. “We couldn’t ask for anyone better.”