New ODVA director will meet to address recent Sallisaw veterans center issues

With the recent upheaval at the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs with the firing of embattled Executive Director Joel Kintsel amid his claims of an illegitimate veterans commission, there may be a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel when it comes to figuring out what happened with the Sallisaw veterans center.

Or there may not be. Either way, newly appointed Interim Executive Director Greg Slavonic has made finding out what’s going on in Sallisaw one of his first priorities.

Greg Slavonic

According to the ODVA, a meeting has been scheduled for next week to “discuss the Sallisaw Veterans Home project and address the construction and project budget issues recently brought to light.” The meeting is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Vezey Veterans Complex, 2132 NE 36 Street, Oklahoma City.

In a Feb. 9 press release by the ODVA, the agency announced it has engaged the Oklahoma City law firm Hayes, Magrini & Gatewood to file a lawsuit against the architect on the Sallisaw project. The estimate of damages was calculated to be approximately $21 million.

The move to retain legal counsel to investigate and pursue damages arising from the design and construction of the center came with the approval of Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond.

The release does not name the architect, but according to building permit documents on file with the City of Sallisaw, Orcutt-Winslow of Phoenix was the project’s original architect.

According to Arkansas TV station 40/29, which attributed its information to the ODVA, “the company made significant mistakes during construction, and parts of the building were not up to code. [ODVA] has since hired a new company, which is fixing the construction problems.”

Your TIMES has been unable to independently verify the reporting by 40/29.

According to Keith Miller, Sallisaw building development director, the same contractor and subcontractors who began the project following the September 2020 ground breaking are currently working at the site.

For at least the past five months, however, semantics have muddied the project waters. Kintsel said on Oct. 25, 2022, that a dispute with the contractor was responsible for an eight-month work stoppage at the 90-acre site on U.S. 59 south of I-40, but also said it was due to a change in the architectural and engineering firm.

“We had a work stoppage due to a dispute with the contractor, but that’s been handled, and things are back underway — October 7th we were back up,” Kintsel said on Oct. 25. “ Technically, the project never stopped, it just slowed down for awhile.”

Kintsel further said that the work stoppage occurred because the ODVA “had to make a change in the A&E (architectural and engineering) team.”

Nonetheless, the ODVA said in its Feb. 9 release that construction will continue as legal action is pursued to recover damages for the State of Oklahoma. The ODVA said the project is nearly 50% complete, and that the projected date for opening the veterans center remains March 2024.

But Slavonic, a retired rear admiral and former U.S. Navy undersecretary, wants answers. Now.

That’s why in his first few days on the job, in cooperation with the Oklahoma Veterans Commission, he singled out the Sallisaw project as a priority. Other important issues high on Slavonic’s agenda are investigating possible past information technology vulnerabilities, and strengthening cybersecurity and safeguarding Oklahoma veterans’ personal information.

The director and commission also plan to review the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector’s 2018 Special Audit Report, and address any unresolved issues, as well as conduct an updated employee survey at the soonest opportunity.

Slavonic describes himself as “a people guy, straightforward with no secrets.” And, true to his military background, he says the agency is “going to be a team that follows the chain of command.” Slavonic also says he expects everyone to treat all veterans, as well as each other, with dignity and respect.

Meanwhile, the drama that led to Kintsel’s firing on March 10 lingers. Kintsel has charged for months that the veterans commission is illegitimate, and any meetings conducted and decisions made were illegal.

The commission is made up entirely of Gov. Kevin Stitt appointees, and that’s what Kintsel says is the problem. Kintsel, a former parliamentarian of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, alleges massive corruption by Stitt’s administration, and claims at least three commission appointees are not legitimate. State statute says three veterans organizations — Military Order of the Purple Heart, Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars — are to suggest five names of their members for seats on the commission. Although members of those organizations, the three appointees Kintsel questions had not been recommended by the veterans organizations.

In addition, Drummond in February said Stitt did not follow state law in appointing several of the commissioners.