To: Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Human Services
Staff Name and Phone Number: Mark Orlando 565-5955, Paul Dunaway 565-3673
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Recommended Action:
Title
Reappoint Ron Collier as the Veterans’ Remains Officer of Sonoma County for a two-year term from February 8, 2024 through February 7, 2026.
End
Executive Summary:
AB 1644 was signed into law on August 27, 2010, which changed the California Military and Veterans Code Sections 940-950 and formalized the requirement for a Veterans’ Remains Officer to be designated by each county Board of Supervisors. Ron Collier, who has served in the role for Sonoma County since 2012, is being recommended for another two-year term from February 8, 2024 through February 7, 2026
Discussion:
Since 2012, Ron Collier has been appointed by the Board to serve as the Veterans’ Remains Officer for Sonoma County. This volunteer position is required by AB 1644 and the Missing in America Project to ensure that the remains of indigent/unclaimed veterans are properly interred in a national veteran cemetery. The person appointed to the role does not receive any compensation for duties performed in compliance with the article.
Mr. Collier has spent over 783 hours in this volunteer position to review records of over 800 decedents retained at local cemeteries and funeral homes. With the assistance of the Sheriff/Coroner, County Recorder, Vital Statistics, and the Public Administrator, 115 Veterans and 5 dependents now have a final resting place in a national veteran cemetery. Mr. Collier has also identified 17 previously unidentified veterans buried in a local Potter’s grave, provided VA gravestone markers for those veterans, and is in the process of planning a military honors ceremony to give them proper recognition.
There is no formal application process for the position of Veterans’ Remains Officer. The original appointment was based on Mr. Collier being the only volunteer for the position and his longstanding record of public service during his career as the Windsor Fire Department Chief. Mr. Collier single-handedly built the Veterans’ Remains program in Sonoma County, which has become a model program for the entire state.
Mr. Collier has received training from the national director of the Missing in America Project, a qualified Veterans’ Remains Organization (VRO), and is a member of the organization. He is a member of the American Legion’s Military Escort Team, and because of his father’s service in World War II in the Army Air Corps, Mr. Collier is also a member of the Sons of the American Legion Post 111 in Healdsburg.
Mr. Collier has agreed to be considered for reappointment for one more two-year term and is recommended for the position by Mark Orlando, Sonoma County Veterans Service Officer. In the next term, Mr. Collier will continue to work in collaboration with the Veterans Service Officer, Public Administrator and Sheriff/Coroner to ensure that the unclaimed remains of deceased Sonoma County Veterans are properly interred with military honors in a national cemetery.
Prior Board Actions:
Adopted resolutions to reappoint Ron Collier for two-year terms:
February 8, 2022
December 11, 2018
September 12, 2017
August 11, 2015
January 20, 2012 (original appointment of Ron Collier)
Fiscal Summary
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
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Attachments:
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Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
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