TESTIMONY
Sergio Villaverde on Addressing the Challenges and Discrimination Faced by Reservists and National Guard Members
1:49:10
·
3 min
Sergio Villaverde, a Coast Guard Reserve veteran, speaks on the overlooked challenges reservists and National Guard members face, including employer discrimination and family stresses.
- Villaverde discusses the special stresses reservists face, notably employer discrimination and the impact on family life.
- He calls for greater support for reservists and guard members, highlighting the need for creative solutions to support employers who hire them.
- As a small business owner and vice chair of his local community board, Villaverde provides insights from both the reservist and employer perspectives.
- He acknowledges the efforts of the current city commissioner, a reservist, who has expanded benefits for reservists but stresses there is more to be done.
Sergio Villaverde
1:49:10
Good good morning, chair holding and committee members.
1:49:14
I thank you very much for holding this important hearing and all all the work that you do.
1:49:19
My name is Sergio Boulevardy.
1:49:21
I personally disabled veteran as well.
1:49:24
I served 32 years in the Coast Guard Reserve.
1:49:26
I'm a retired New York City police officer, former New York City EMT, and I'm currently in a training with my own small community practice.
1:49:34
I also serve as vice chair of my local community board and chair.
1:49:38
It's a special committee on veterans.
1:49:40
I do wanna bring to the attention of of the of the committee as as in our discussions much has been said Maybe everything's been said, but not everyone has said it.
1:49:51
But there are some things, particularly with respect to being a a reservist and a national guard member that we are often overlooked as was testified to previously.
1:50:02
We don't have to meet the federal guidelines for veterans who are not counted.
1:50:05
And you know, during during World War 2, and during most of the major conflicts of the Jordan, the People Survey are our fellow citizens.
1:50:14
That's Winston Churchill called them twice a citizen serving as citizens and serving as part of the military.
1:50:21
And the reservists, you know, face special stresses that even active duty people don't face the employer discrimination.
1:50:30
It's illegal.
1:50:30
It's illegal by federal law, by state law, but you know, people have a hard time with people serving in the in the reserves and losing them the time that they do.
1:50:38
I think we need to do we need to find ways to do more to support our employers.
1:50:43
As a small business owner.
1:50:44
I I know how it is on both sides of that.
1:50:47
So, you know, the employer discrimination that we that we face the families the family stresses that all military families face, even serving on your weekend, serving on your 2 weeks of training, missing family events, missing birthdays, missing holidays are all things that reservists and garden members face.
1:51:10
And we don't I I don't believe we do enough.
1:51:14
I know that our current commissioner in the city is himself reserved So that's a great thing.
1:51:19
He's he's able to speak to that with authority.
1:51:23
And he has expanded many of our many of our benefits, but there are there we still have a a long way to go in supporting, recognizing the reservists their families, the guardsmen, their families, also the community that supports that we really have to find creative ways to support employers who hire reserve and guard members because they play an important role as the as the gentleman who was here before, you know, he served us day that duty.
1:51:53
He's been he's been he's been critical during COVID, during other crises for us, and we need to be able to provide support.
1:52:01
In that community.
1:52:02
And I thank you very much for your time.
Robert Holden
1:52:05
Well, thank you.
1:52:06
Again, your resume is unbelievable of all of your your service to our nation, our city.
1:52:13
We thank you.
1:52:14
But you just gave me another hearing topic.
1:52:16
I just wanna thank you for that one because we do have to address this.
1:52:20
That all the discrimination against the reservists, this needs to be really exposed.
1:52:26
So And so like you're right about supporting businesses, but that's a very, very good idea.
1:52:31
Maybe we could do that through legislation as possible.
1:52:35
But again, I just can't believe your all of your accomplishments and how you served our our city and our nation.
1:52:41
And, again, I wanna thank you.
Sergio Villaverde
1:52:44
Thank you, Mister Chairman.
1:52:45
Thanks for the meeting.
1:52:45
Alright.