City Councilman Eric Ulrich (front row, fourth from r.) has made veterans affairs part of the daily conversation of city government. Here he helps celebrate with veterans and councilmembers New York’s new designation as a Purple Heart City. Photo Courtesy of the City Council/William Alatriste.
For City Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park), who hails from a family that boasts three generations of military service, veterans issues hit especially close to home.
Ulrich, whose great-grandfather was a decorated World War II hero, chairs the council’s Veteran Affairs Committee, and has most recently been pushing the mayor to create a Department of Veterans’ Affairs, instead of the current Mayor’s Office of Veterans’ Affairs, as the primary conduit to help vets get services from the city.
The move is generally seen as a way to not only expand services to vets beyond job placement, the main focus of MOVA, but to also expand financial support for a vastly underfunded office.
In the past, Ulrich has emphasized that vets need jobs, housing and comprehensive healthcare coverage, but he has also said that not nearly enough money has been spent on veterans.
During a recent hearing at City Hall, Ulrich said that it was incredibly frustrating that for the 200,000-plus veterans who live in the city—and with a $74 billion budget—the city spends only about $500,000 on them. In addition, a recent report from the Gotham Gazette noted that most of that money goes to pay salaries for MOVA’s five-member staff.
But, within the past few weeks, Ulrich has been busy introducing and supporting legislation to help the city’s veterans get vital services.
Ulrich recently joined with fellow Veterans Committee members Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) and Fernando Cabrera (D-Bronx), in declaring New York a Purple Heart City. The Purple Heart Medal was established in 1782 by George Washington and is awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving with the United States Armed Forces.
“Thousands of veterans citywide have served our country and sacrificed so much on our behalf, and today’s declaration is in their honor,”Ulrich said.
Ulrich also recently publically supported the passage of the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act.
The bill, named for Marine vet Clay Hunt, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and died by suicide in 2011, would establish a one-stop, interactive site for all Department of Veterans’ Affairs mental health services and their families, and create a pilot loan repayment program to recruit and retain psychiatrists to address a shortage of mental health professionals at the VA, among other services.
Ulrich noted that an estimated 22 veterans commit suicide daily and that even more wrestle with vexing mental health issues that last well beyond their military service. “We need action now,”he said, in a release announcing the bill.
In just the past few months, Ulrich has held a veterans town hall, co-sponsored a council-wide food drive and a career fair at Russo’s on The Bay in Howard Beach. Ulrich has said he hopes to make these all annual events.
Other legislation Ulrich is actively working on includes the Toxic Exposure Research Act, which would recognize the health issues facing descendants of veterans who came in contact with toxic chemicals during service, such as Agent Orange and others, which have been shown to cause birth defects and other long-term conditions in the children of veterans.
Moreover, Ulrich has made a concerted effort to help local Queens veterans access benefits.
He recently announced that his staffer, Redmond Haskins, who in addition to being Ulrich’s director of communications is also a certified veteran’s service officer, authorized to assist vets with claims for certain benefits.
Haskins can handle and process, from Ulrich’s Ozone Park office, claims with the VA for medical issues, medal requests, and with anything that is pending with the VA, thereby eliminating the need for a trip to Manhattan or Brooklyn.
Asked about his training as a VSO, Haskins said it was more of a continuation of his previous work with former Rep. Bob Turner, where he was a director of veteran’s affairs and caseworker.
“My efforts helping vets kind of snowballed from my time serving Rep. Turner in the House,” Haskins said. “This way, vets can just come into the councilman’s district office and get the help they need with various claims.”
By Alan Krawitz
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