The Barrington Town Council appointed three members to the newly-formed Veterans Advisory Committee, during a meeting on Monday night, Nov. 4. 

After interviewing each candidate, the Council voted unanimously to appoint Natalia Akin, Jeffrey Martin and Alexander “Sasha” Meyer to the Committee.

Akin served as a US Army officer; Martin is recently retired from the Army Reserves; and Meyer served in the US Marine Corps. All three residents told members of the Council that they were looking for ways to advocate for local veterans and assist with veterans issues. 

The Barrington Town Council created the new Veterans Advisory Committee in September and carved out its duties to include the organization of the town’s Memorial Day parade, maintenance of veterans monuments in Barrington, and helping process veterans tax exemptions. 

The newly-formed committee will fill the void left by the resignation of the entire Barrington United Veterans Committee last March. The BUVC had operated in Barrington for decades, but abruptly resigned last spring, protesting the town’s flying of certain flags above the veterans memorial outside Barrington Town Hall. 

Since the BUVC resigned in March, members of the Barrington Town Council had been discussing how the community should move forward. Eventually, Council members settled on the creation of a new veterans committee. 

The committee will include 10 members — seven are voting members and five of the voting members must be veterans.