Veterans Service Commission President Richard Kisamore resigns

The president of the Highland County Veterans Service Commission has submitted his resignation, effective immediately, after serving on the commission for 20 years. 

The commission met in a special meeting Tuesday for a work session to develop a schedule and explanation regarding salaries. 

A letter of resignation from commission president Richard Kisamore, addressed to Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss, was delivered to Veterans Service Commissioners Kevin Barreras, Joe Thompson and Gary Cropper, who were in attendance at the meeting. 

The common pleas court judge is the appointing agent for the commission, according to Highland County Commissioner Shane Wilkin. 

Barreras said the five-member veterans commission had a quorum for the session, although Kisamore and additional commissioner Clarence Alexander were not in attendance. 

Upon reading Kisamore's letter, Barreras said that he was sorry to hear he was resigning, and that the matter would be addressed during their next regularly scheduled meeting, as it did not fall into the parameters of the special session. 

Meetings are normally held the third Tuesday of the month at 10 a.m.

Barreras asked if Coss had been made aware of Kisamore's resignation, and he was told that he had been.

The commission then voted to go into executive session regarding developing the salary schedule. 

Highland County Commissioner Shane Wilkin had been in attendance, but left when the commission went into executive session. 

Kisamore wrote in his resignation that, "I am tendering my resignation from the Veterans Service Commission of Highland County effective immediately.

"I could offer many reasons for my decision, but none are necessary. I have often said that the hardest action we, as people, have to take is to admit when it is time to step down. For me, that time came at the end of my last term. Unfortunately, I allowed others to persuade me to stay another term against my own desire. In retrospect, that was a mistake," Kisamore said.

"I sincerely appreciate the faith that the Lloyd C. Ludwick Chapter 123 of the Disabled American Veterans had in recommending me to this position for the past 20 years, for the judges that appointed me, and for the service I was privileged to give my fellow veterans."

The Highland County Press contacted Kisamore following the meeting asking him to elaborate on his resignation letter, but he declined to comment further regarding his reasons for stepping down.