By Mike Cason
A months-long dispute pitting Gov. Kay Ivey against Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Kent Davis came to a head Tuesday when the governor removed Davis from his job by executive order.
Ivey fired Davis just minutes after the State Board of Veterans Affairs, which hired Davis and oversees the ADVA, voted down the governor’s request to remove him.
The board vote followed a 90-minute meeting at the State Capitol. The governor said she had the authority to overrule the board and fire Davis because she is chief executive of state government.
Davis found out he was fired shortly after speaking to supporters who applauded the board’s decision. He had just told reporters how grateful he was to stay on the job.
Davis, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, was due to leave the job at the end of the year anyway under an agreement with the governor’s office announced in September. Moments before he was fired, he stressed the importance of finishing his work.
“I promise this to the taxpayers of Alabama,” said Davis, who became commissioner in 2019. “For the next two months, I will continue to put in about 60 hours a week in the performance of my jobs, because I do a lot of time to help the veterans of the state. That’s not a brag. It’s just a passion that I have taking care of those veterans.”
Ivey said her reasons were clear.
“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,” the governor said.
The conflict started months before the governor first publicly sought to remove Davis in September.
Here’s a recap of some of the actions that led to the dispute and how it unfolded.
November 2022: The ADVA receives $5 million in federal funds for mental health care for veterans from the American Rescue Plan Act, as appropriated by the Legislature.
August 2023: The ADVA receives an additional $2 million in ARPA funds for mental health care, again appropriated by the Legislature, for a total of $7 million. At this point, none of the funds had been obligated for specific programs.
January 2024: A committee that includes ADVA representatives and Alabama Department of Mental Health representatives reviews requests for the ARPA grants and chooses 33 recipients, including nonprofit organizations and programs at state colleges. The State Board of Veterans Affairs approves the 33 proposals.
April: Department of Mental Health Commissioner Kim Boswell notifies Davis that the agency is terminating an agreement to administer the grants in partnership with the ADVA because of concerns that some of the money would not be spent according to federal rules for ARPA funds. The state Department of Finance notifies the ADVA of similar concerns about the grants and requests more information.
May/June: The general counsel for the ADVA responds to the Department of Finance and acknowledges that some of the grant proposals would likely not be allowable under ARPA rules. Davis proposes an alternative funding source for the 33 grants. The Legislature approves using $7 million from the Veterans Assistance Fund, an operating fund for the ADVA, instead of ARPA money for the grants.
July/August: Davis files an ethics complaint against Mental Health Commissioner Boswell related to the allocation of the ARPA funds. Ethics Commission Executive Director Tom Albritton notifies Boswell that the commission has dismissed the complaint because the facts alleged, even if true, would not have been a violation of the ethics act.
Davis said he filed the complaint based on information received from three members of the State Board of Veterans Affairs. Davis said he was obligated by law to report a potential ethics violation.
Ethics complaints are supposed to be confidential, but the complaint was leaked and reported by news outlets Lagniappe and Alabama Daily News.
Davis would later say he shared the complaint with three board members for their review and that it was “despicably” leaked.
September 5: Ivey releases a one-page letter telling Davis to resign by 5 p.m., a resignation that would have been effective Sept. 30. Ivey said there was “ample cause” and said the ADVA “mishandled” the $7 million in ARPA grants.
Davis does not resign and says the governor’s claims about the ARPA grants are inaccurate.
September 6: Ivey calls a meeting of the State Board of Veterans Affairs for Sept. 10 to ask the board to remove Davis. Ivey releases a second letter with more details about her claim that the grant program was mishandled.
Ivey releases the letter from Boswell cancelling the agreement with the ADVA and the letter from the Department of Finance about problems with the grant program.
“These documents paint a picture of unjustified delay on the part of your agency, failure to heed the advice of experts you sought out, and a resulting general inability to manage the grant program,” Ivey writes.
Davis issues a statement: “We have continuously been transparent in our department’s mission and day-to-day operations in our service to Alabama’s 400,000 veterans. This includes earlier this year when ADVA attempted to work with members of the Governor’s staff, cabinet and the Department of Finance regarding American Rescue Plan Act funds.”
The Republican leaders of the Alabama Legislature, including House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter and Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Reed, come out in support of Ivey.
September 9/10: One day before the state board is scheduled to meet to consider removing Davis, the commissioner meets with the governor’s staff and agrees to resign effective Dec. 31.
“Our meeting with Commissioner Davis today was respectful, frank, and informative, with both sides gaining new perspective and insight about the challenges each of us face in fulfilling our respective roles,” Ivey says. “I appreciate Commissioner Davis’s record of service as Commissioner, and I appreciate him doing the right thing for our state and the future of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs.”
The next day, Davis issues a statement.
“After a cordial, informative meeting with Governor Ivey and several members of her senior staff on Monday, the matter has been resolved to the mutual benefit of all parties. This was not an easy decision, but I am convinced that my decision was the best one given my recent health concerns, the long-term mission of the ADVA, and, most importantly, the outstanding military Veterans of Alabama.”
October 10: The State Board of Veterans Affairs meets. Ivey attends the initial part of the meeting and leaves to go to the State Board of Education meeting. The board unanimously passes a resolution asking Davis to reconsider his agreement to resign on Dec. 31.
After the board meeting, Ivey writes to Davis.
“There is now a question whether you will in fact resign, as you promised me you would do,” the governor wrote. “Please immediately reaffirm, in writing, your decision to resign.”
Davis does not reaffirm his decision.
October 18: Ivey releases a letter to Davis saying she is calling an Oct. 22 meeting of the State Board of Veterans Affairs to ask for his removal.
Ivey spells out her reasons, including what she said was a general lack of cooperation with other agencies, mishandling of the ARPA grant program, filing of a “frivolous” ethics complaint, and his failure to respond to her letter to reaffirm his Dec. 31 resignation.
Ivey also cites a general loss of trust and confidence and includes an Oct. 16 letter from State Board of Veterans Affairs Vice Chair Scott Gedling urging other board members to join him in asking Davis to step down.
October 21: Davis writes to board members in response to Ivey’s letter. Davis disputes the governor’s assertions and writes that he has had every intention of honoring his agreement to resign. As for why he did not reaffirm his commitment in writing, as Ivey requested, Davis said he reported to the State Board of Veterans Affairs, not to any one individual.
“I assure all of you, as a retired Admiral of the U.S. Navy, that I do not need to reaffirm a commitment I have made, lest of course there is a material change in the entire matter,” he wrote.
October 22: The State Board of Veterans Affairs meets at the State Capitol. Ivey, chair of the board, does not attend. Casey Rogers, her external affairs director, attends as the governor‘s proxy.
Davis and Rogers give statements to the board, followed by a question-and-answer session that lasts more than an hour.
The board votes down the governor’s request to immediately remove Davis. Three board members voted against the motion, two voted in favor, and two abstained.
Davis talks to well-wishers, including veterans who came to support him at the meeting, and talks to the news media about what he hopes to accomplish in his final two months on the job and a transition plan for the next commissioner.
As Davis and his family are leaving the meeting, the governor’s general counsel, Will Parker, hands a letter to John Saxon, Davis’ attorney, informing him that the governor is immediately removing Davis by executive order.
Saxon says he and Davis will consider legal options in response to the governor’s decision.
October 23: Retired Brigadier General Jeffrey L. “Fig” Newton takes over as interim commissioner.
Newton previously served as the assistant commissioner for operations and chief of staff for the ADVA. The State Board of Veterans Affairs had picked Newton as interim commissioner on Oct. 10, an appointment was initially intended to take effect after Davis stepped down Dec. 31.
“The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs provides the highest quality of care and services to those who have served our country, and we will continue to build on that mission and vision,” Newton said in a news release from the ADVA.
“We will recommit ourselves to the idea of teamwork throughout state government in an effort to keep the legacies of Alabama’s Veterans at the forefronts of our minds. I look forward to continue working with Governor Kay Ivey to, as she said, make Alabama an even better place for Veterans to call home.”