January 17 Commentary
Thursday, January 17, 2008 12:03 PM PST
Score a win for local veterans
By Mary Scott
It’s been a long and ongoing battle to save the Veterans Administration grounds in West Los Angeles from the VA. It sounds strange having to save something from itself, but considering what the VA, an organization whose priority should be to provide for our men and women in uniform, has done through the years, advocates and public officials had to step in.
Donated 120 years ago for the purpose of creating the Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, the 387-acre property has grown lonely in the absence of soldiers — and Marines, sailors and Air Force personnel. In their place are storage facilities for the Fox Entertainment Group and Enterprise Car Rental. UCLA received rights to housing over homeless and disabled veterans. And the current administration wants to sell off some of the property — estimated value: $4 billion, according to the Los Angeles Times. None of these private entities preserve the vision of Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker, Sen. John P. Jones and others who intended for this land to be dedicated as an “old soldiers home,” where combat-weary personnel could rest their bodies and souls.
“This land was set aside for the exclusive use of veterans,” said Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) in a statement released in April 2007. “I will continue to work to ensure that it stays this way.”
Working in conjunction with Congressman Henry Waxman (D-West Hollywood), Feinstein inserted a provision in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill, a $555-billion spending bill, that restricts commercial development of the site and prevents the VA from selling any portions of the land for private use. President George W. Bush, saying he was “disappointed in the way the Congress compiled this legislation,” reluctantly signed the bill on Dec. 26, 2007.
“It is a big victory,” said Keith Jeffreys, president of the Culver City-based Citizens for Veterans Rights. “But the VA is always looking for ways around whatever laws are passed. We are as diligent as we can be and will be into the foreseeable future to make sure the VA does not find some legal mechanism to go around this law.”
Will the VA stop toying with the notion of commercial development?
If the past is any indication, the CFVR, a nonprofit, all-volunteer veterans’ advocacy group, and other supporters must continue to serve as watchdogs over what happens on the property.
“Our experience in the past is that, again, VA will do anything they can to circumvent the law,” Jeffreys said. “But I don’t want to take anything away [from the signing of the bill]. It sure is a victory, and it’s something we can always fall back on.”
The next crucial step, said Jeffreys, is to ensure that the VA continues to improve its services at the hospital and that it develops a master plan for the property, as mandated by congressional legislation signed into law in 1998. If and when the comprehensive plan is completed, it will address the future — and hopefully, the current — needs of veterans. Since 1998, former VA secretaries have promised to create this master plan, but none have.
“When [Anthony] Principi was secretary of the VA, he promised that a master plan would be implemented,” said Jeffreys.
“In the meantime, the CARES (Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services) process came up and some of the decisions were made through [it]. But now it is time we regroup and start pushing again for a master plan,” Jeffreys continued. “[It’s] an opportunity for veterans to work with not only the elected officials but also the VA and the community on implementing that.”
The community, which really includes all residents in the greater Los Angeles area, can help by telling elected officials it is behind the proper use of the VA campus and that making services available to all former and current combat veterans is a priority.
“And that really helps everybody in the community,” Jeffreys said. “For example, we have — and I cite different numbers — between 15,000 and 24,000 homeless veterans in Los Angeles County. Now that’s a tremendous burden for taxpayers in this county.”
The transition from military to civilian life is a difficult one for anybody, but more so for combat veterans. All over the country, these veterans are being turned away from VA hospitals and turned away from programs that would help them make that transition.
There are many thousands of veterans on the streets and, worse, the suicide rate increased in 2006 because that help wasn’t there. How many more will end up in these situations before the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq end?
The federal government and the VA must be held accountable for their promises to veterans. It’s as simple as that. The VA in West Los Angeles must incorporate a plan that turns those abandoned buildings on the campus into low-cost, assisted-living apartments for disabled veterans and transitional housing for homeless veterans.
It may be an old deed, but it’s still legally binding and we should honor it. Although a lot has changed in 120 years, the need for the property has not.
To learn more about the CFVR, visit its Web site at www.cfvr.org.
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