MONTGOMERY — After members of the State Board of Veterans Affairs (SBVA) rejected her request to terminate Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs (ADVA) commissioner Kent Davis, Gov. Kay Ivey unilaterally fired him on Tuesday afternoon.
Ivey’s announcement came after a one-and-a-half-hour SBVA meeting on Tuesday that mostly retread the same topics that had been discussed in previous meetings and press releases.
Gina Maiola, a spokeswoman for Ivey, said Ivey used the “supreme executive power of this state” to immediately remove him from his position.
“For weeks now, I have laid out the case publicly for why new leadership at the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs is necessary, and it is unfortunate it came to forcefully removing this agency head. After what I would now deem as a total failure of leadership at the Department and lack of cooperation, I had to use the mantle of the Governor’s Office to make the change. While there is more work to do, I am confident that together as one team, our state government can make Alabama an even better place for veterans to call home,” Ivey said.
The ADVA commissioner reports to the SBVA. Ivey had called two special-called meetings in recent weeks to try to remove Davis by a board vote. A meeting in September was canceled before a vote could take place. Davis had agreed to resign effective December 31.
John Saxon, an attorney representing Davis, told 1819 News on Tuesday afternoon Will Parker, Ivey’s general counsel, met him after the meeting adjourned and handed over a termination letter from Ivey.
Saxon said, “When the governor gets mad, the governor gets even. She’s now gotten even.”
“We will look very seriously at all legal options. First, whether the governor does in fact have that power to unilaterally remove him when he was hired by and reports to the board. Maybe she does, but that’s something we’ll look seriously at. Second, we will take a very serious look at filing a lawsuit under the anti-retaliation provisions of the Alabama Ethics Act. If we do that, I look forward with relish to taking the governor’s deposition and to see how she does when she’s under oath and unscripted,” Saxon said.
Ivey has maintained that ADVA mishandled American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. Davis resigned on September 9, effective December 31, after previously declining to resign. An SBVA committee approved a report at a meeting on October 9 stating Davis and ADVA did nothing wrong with the funds.
Ivey originally asked for Davis' resignation effective September 30 and removed John Kilpatrick from the Alabama State Board of Veterans Affairs. Davis filed an ethics complaint in August at the request of board members against Alabama Department of Mental Health commissioner Kim Boswell for allegedly preventing ADVA from obtaining $7 million in ARPA funds. The Alabama Ethics Commission later dismissed the complaint.
Police showed up to take state property from Davis’s office and home immediately after the termination was announced after the meeting on Tuesday.
Ken Rollins, an SBVA member and Davis supporter, told 1819 News on Tuesday, “They locked him out of his office. When I was waiting on the phone with him, he was waiting on her gang to arrive at his house.”
“I don’t know if I’m more hurt than I am mad, disappointed that a governor would even allow somebody to do this, much less her driving the train,” Rollins said. “I was hoping that maybe (Alabama Attorney General) Steve Marshall would see what’s going on and step in.”
2024-10-22 GKI Letter to Kent Davis by Caleb Taylor on Scribd
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
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