HIRING MORE VETERANS AT THE COUNTY & OPENING A VETERAN RESOURCE CENTER IN EAST COUNTY RECEIVES UNANIMOUS SUPPORT FROM ALL 5 SAN DIEGO COUNTY SUPERVISORS

New strategies to hire more veterans for careers at the County of San Diego and opening a new veteran resource center in East County are two policies Chair Nathan Fletcher in partnership with Supervisors Jim Desmond and Joel Anderson passed today during the Board of Supervisors meeting.   

“Our veterans possess skills and experience that are transferable to civilian careers and we need to help them capitalize on their potential,” said Chair Fletcher. “The policies we passed Tuesday will create a new veteran resource center in East County to prepare veterans for life after service; and by actively recruiting more veterans to join County government our departments will be better for it.”  

During his State of San Diego County Address earlier this year, Chair Fletcher highlighted the importance of the military and veteran community to our region and called for the County to step-up its hiring of veterans. About 7,000 active duty servicemembers annually decide to settle in San Diego County after leaving military service.       

Supervisor Jim Desmond, a Navy veteran, is coauthor of the policy to hire more veterans said,  “Today was a major step towards helping our veterans. San Diego County has the largest concentration of active duty military service members and veterans in the country. It is vital to ensure that those who bravely served our country have all the opportunities of employment with the county and I look forward to working alongside fellow veterans for the years to come. We are a military town and the County of San Diego should lead the way when it comes to recruiting veterans!”

In the East County area there is a lack of reintegration centers when military personnel exit the service and the policy authored by Supervisors Fletcher and Anderson will bring one to the area. 

“It’s hard for me to think of individuals more deserving than our veterans. With East County being home to one of the largest veteran populations in the nation, this board action is long overdue. I am thankful to Chair Fletcher for partnering with me on this initiative and thankful to my Board colleagues for supporting putting a veterans center in East County. I’d also like to thank the San Diego Veterans Coalition for working with my office on this initiative, and thank the San Diego veteran community at large for their generous support of this board action,” shared Supervisor Joel Anderson.