‘He’s our lifeline’: Veterans rally to reinstate ousted county services officer

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors meeting was standing room only on Tuesday morning as roughly 40 United States veterans filled the seats. Even Supervisor Justin Cummings remarked that he’s “never seen so many people come out to advocate for an employee during my time at the county and city.” 

That employee is former Santa Cruz County Veterans Services Officer (VSO) Xavier Bianchi. On March 17, Bianchi was terminated from the position only five months after he was hired last October.

The veterans who showed up in droves at the supervisors meeting made it clear they believed Bianchi’s exit from the post was wrongful termination, even though Bianchi was still in a probationary period. 

“He’s our lifeline,” said U.S. Army veteran Robert Lackey. “He doesn’t treat the file, he treats the individual and gets to know everyone he helps.” 

Neither county officials nor Bianchi would comment on the details of his termination. The county is “prevented by law from discussing confidential personnel information,” county spokesperson Jason Hoppin wrote in an email to Lookout.

“I’m sympathetic to the reality that when there is a personnel issue, it’s not something we can talk about in open chambers,” Supervisor Monica Martinez told the meeting. “Thanks for understanding the constraints that we have today.”

Bianchi did address the county supervisors, however, and received a standing ovation from the audience. “This isn’t about my pride, anger or loss of a job,” he said. “This is what I do. I serve veterans in this community.”

The Veterans Services Office aims to make sure those who have served the country are able to receive everything from financial and medical aid to housing, employment, job training and general support. It is part of the Santa Cruz County Human Services Department, an arrangement currently common in counties across the country, though the office was its own entity prior to 1999. 

Lackey told the board that Bianchi went above and beyond to help veterans in need no matter if it was morning, evening or on the weekend. He said veterans often are made to feel as if they don’t need services, making it seem that the people who are supposed to help veterans are working against them. 

“Working with someone who has shared the same experiences is invaluable,” Lackey said. 

Bianchi served in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper for 7½ years. In 2014, he was sent home from active duty in Afghanistan due to injuries sustained in an explosion that left him hospitalized for over a year. He is a recipient of both the Purple Heart and the Army Commendation for Valor. 

Upon returning to civilian life, he said he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), along with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In September 2015 his home in Middletown, north of Santa Rosa, was destroyed in the Valley fire; Bianchi ended up homeless on the streets of San Francisco until May of the following year. 

Since then he has made it his mission to continue to serve and give back to the community, he said. In 2018, he was one of the founding members of the Veterans Surf Alliance (VSA), a nonprofit that connects veterans to each other and the community through surfing.

Last year alone the VSA raised $10,745, which Santa Cruz Gives matched for a total of $21,490, all of which went to local veteran services. 

“It’s a calling and a sacrifice,” Bianchi told Lookout about the job. “It’s not easy being a VSO. It’s not easy dealing with veterans. We can be cantankerous and irascible. But at the same time they need somebody like that to represent them.”  

Others agree. “You are very fortunate to have Xavier,” Calvin Angel told the supervisors. 

For the past 15 years Angel has served as the local interagency coordinator for the California Department of Veterans Affairs. It is his job to work with local VSOs across the Central Coast to make sure that county organizations are receiving everything they need to help veterans. 

“He is not typical — by any stretch — compared to” his counterparts, Angel said. “They aren’t anywhere near what he is in terms of what he contributes to your community.” 

During Tuesday’s meeting, 20 different people spoke on behalf of reinstating Bianchi to the position. Veterans of all ages — including a 97-year-old woman who served with the Navy in the Korean War — discussed their personal experiences with Bianchi, how he helped them, and why he is the right man for the job. There were even a few civilians who were at the meeting for other reasons but were so moved by the show of support for Bianchi that they added their own voices to the chorus of approval.

One woman fought back tears as she described how Bianchi personally helped her find her brother, a veteran who was living on the streets of San Francisco. In an outpouring of emotion, she said Bianchi talked her brother back from the brink of suicide and was able to get him the services he needed. 

“[Bianchi] was able to communicate with him in a way I could never because he understood the trauma [my brother] went through,” she said. “Do we not understand compassion to give this man another chance?”

Dean Kaufman, who served as the VSO prior to Bianchi, told the board that there are two ways to do the job. The first is during business hours from behind a desk. The other is with “boots on the ground,” going out into the streets, hospitals, shelters and jails to meet veterans where they are and find out what they need directly and at that moment. 

“Xavier does that all the time,” Kaufman said. “Not because he wants to get paid but because he cares immensely about this community, as you can see.” 

Kaufman told the board he believes whatever issues arose with Bianchi could “easily be corrected.” He also said Bianchi should have been given accommodations for his PTSD and ADHD while still learning his new position. At the end of his two minutes of speaking time, Kaufman submitted 14 letters of support from the community for the supervisors to review. 

Veteran Curtis Carolson worked with Bianchi at the Veterans Service Office at the Santa Cruz County Veterans Memorial Building. He told the board that “Xavier is the best man for the job.”

“He came to that office and instantly started trying to make everything better,” Carolson said. 

Carolson also explained that after his car was T-boned in a collision, Bianchi gave Carolson an old car he wasn’t using so Carolson could continue commuting from his mountain home to work and to Cabrillo College where he is a student. 

“He drove me [to Lake County] so I could drive it back and he took care of everything,” Carolson told Lookout in an interview. “That same day he went to the DMV with me, paid for all the fees and helped me get set up so I could continue going to school and be successful.” 

Bianchi acknowledged that like many veterans, he still suffers from PTSD along with his ADHD. He said he had received paperwork to accommodate both disorders and was about to turn them in to the veterans affairs office right before he was terminated. Bianchi told the room that if he is reinstated he is more than willing “to learn from my mistakes,” though he didn’t elaborate on what those mistakes were. 

Supervisors Cummings, Martinez and Felipe Hernandez all addressed the issue, offering support and expressing an openness to further investigate Bianchi’s termination. 

“It’s tough to find good help for veterans especially now when veterans are being attacked by the federal government,” Cummings said. “We should be doing everything we can to support them locally and it sounds like he is of value to our community and this county.”

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FOR THE RECORD: This story has been corrected to clarify that Xavier Bianchi served in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper.
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