MONTGOMERY — On Tuesday, Gov. Kay Ivey defended her unilateral termination of former Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs (ADVA) commissioner Kent Davis.
Members of the State Board of Veterans Affairs (SBVA) rejected Ivey's request to terminate Davis last week. Ivey then unilaterally fired him after the one-and-a-half-hour SBVA meeting.
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.
Ivey defended the firing after a Kiwanis Club of Montgomery meeting on Tuesday.
"I spelled out in great detail to the board in writing, I think it was seven or eight different charges, and they couldn't do what I had to do, so he needed to go," Ivey told reporters.
An Ivey spokesperson said last week Ivey used the "supreme executive power of this state" to immediately remove Davis without a successful board vote.
"It's in the law, and I used that as a last resort to exercise my executive authority in that regard. Like I said, veterans deserve the best care possible," Ivey said on Tuesday.
John Saxon, an attorney representing Davis, told 1819 News, "It wouldn't be surprising if we filed some legal action, but it's too early to get into all that right now."
"I frankly don't think the governor had the legal authority to do what she did, and that's probably one of the first things we'll be looking at," 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. In August, at the request of board members, Davis filed an ethics complaint 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.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
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