New Melrose Mass. veterans agent chosen: appointment finalized by mayor; also requires aldermen vote

By Daniel DeMaina / [email protected]

Melrose – A Melrose resident and veteran who founded Stoneham’s Veterans Day Road Race and has served as the chairwoman of the Stoneham Memorial Day Parade Committee has been selected to serve as the city’s new Melrose veterans agent.

Current veterans agent disagrees with changes

Natalee Anne Webb, who lives on Pleasant Street has worked in private industry as an executive assistant for a variety of companies over the past decade, including Northwestern Mutual Life and Medford Cooperative Bank. She most recently worked as an executive assistant and project coordinator for Sullivan and Cogliano in Waltham, a technical contract staffing company.

Melrose Veterans Advisory Board Chairman Bob Driscoll, Advisory Board member Jeff Ugino and Malden Veterans Agent John Webster formed the candidate selection committee that chose Webb. The veterans agent position is a mayoral appointment and Mayor Rob Dolan has signed off on Webb; her appointment will go before the Board of Aldermen’s Health, Education and Welfare Committee on Thursday, June 18 for a recommendation to the full board.

Driscoll said Webb’s computer and organizational skills, along with her approachability, were “highly touted” by her references. Included with her resume were letters of recommendation from Sen. Richard Tisei, R-Wakefield, who represents voters in Melrose Ward 1-5, and Paul Reynolds, the veterans services representative at The Career Place in Woburn.

One key factor from Webb’s administrative work in the private sector, Driscoll said, was her attention to confidentiality.

“An example was there were people who were going to be laid off,” he said. “She knew of it and couldn’t tell any of her co workers because of the confidentiality of her position.”

Webb’s volunteer work with veterans also impressed city officials, Driscoll said.

“That showed to us that she was committed to veterans, that she was doing a lot of stuff on the volunteer end with no pay,” he said.

Last year, Dolan included in his proposed budget funding for a full-time officer in the veterans office who would handle all the paperwork that goes through the office, citing state requirements. That position instead turned into a part-time administrator, a role filled by the city’s emergency management director Ed Kelly, who assisted current Veterans Agent John Dunne.

This year, however, the city has to “bite the bullet” and create one full-time position in the veterans office, Dolan said.

According to Melrose Human Resources Director Marianne Long, the veterans agent position previously received a stipend of $10,000, which was raised to $15,000 in 2005. Webb will receive a starting salary of $43,901.

“The Veteran’s Advisory Board recommended and the mayor agreed to change the status of the role and the qualifications,” Long wrote in an e-mail to the Free Press. “The compensation is in line with other Municipal Veteran’s Agent roles.”

Dunne did not apply for the new position, telling the Free Press this week that the position was advertised as a veterans administrator, not a veterans agent, and with a salary step of Level 11 — one level below what he says is the current salary step for the position.

“I’m supposed to be paid at Level 12. Why would I apply for a different job and a pay cut?” he said. “They advertised the position of veterans administrator. I happen to think the last thing the veterans of the city need is another pencil pusher … my position has been and continues to be a veterans advocate.”

Dunne said the change is the “the mayor’s decision, not mine … if it’s the mayor’s decision to put administrators in there, that’s his business.”

Friday, June 26 will be Dunne’s last day as the city’s Veterans Agent, he said. Asked if he had any plans, he said, “I’ll tell you what — we have a few more days like this [a sunny and warm Wednesday] and I’m going to see if I can get a senior’s discount on a fishing license and go kill some worms.

“I’ll stay active one way or the other,” he continued. “Right now it’s just the time to sit back and watch. I’m very proud of what I’ve done [as the veterans agent] and this is a decision I don’t necessarily agree with it.”

In an interview this week with the Free Press, Webb said she served in the Air Force — she was stationed in Japan and Korea, as well as stateside in Texas — and was one of seven women admitted into the Aircraft Generation Program, as well as the first female aircraft mechanic assigned to the 18th Aircraft Generation Program at Kadena Air Force Base in Japan.

Serving just as the after the Vietnam War’s end, Webb said seeing the experience of veterans returning home from that war fueled her passion to help veterans at home.

“It wasn’t a welcoming time or a good time to be in the service,” she said. “There was a lot of angst I want to say.”

Military service runs in Webb’s family. Her father was a World War II veteran, her stepfather was in the Navy and her two brothers and her sister also served.

A member of the Melrose AMVETs, the Melrose Elks Lodge and the Melrose Running Club, Webb said she first began volunteer work focused on veterans in 1999, wanting to bring awareness to veterans — and to educate youth.

Webb said the veterans agent position has two focal points: outreach to veterans, making them aware of the benefits they are eligible for, and the administrative work that secures those benefits.

“Massachusetts is the only state that has Chapter 115,” she said, referring to the state law that provides direct financial assistance to veterans. “That was [enacted] right after the Civil War. I know a lot of people don’t know about that, especially veterans, and I want to get that word out. I remember what it was like when I came home.”

Webb said that administratively, she is “highly organized” when it comes to paperwork, documentation and finances.

“The more organized you are in your profession, the better you can do in your job, in your outreach, and for the city,” she said.

Assuming approval from the Board of Aldermen, Webb will begin in her new job on Monday, June 29. Her appointment would expire on April 1, 2010.