CommentsTHE WAR AT HOME--In two weeks, on November 16, the Los Angeles VA will hold a public hearing to present a proposal for the "contemplated" first Enhanced Use Leases (EUL) that would consist of approximately 150 units of newly constructed permanent supportive housing on undeveloped open space located north of Buildings 336 and 339.
The reason for these EUL's with non-profits is that the VA bureaucrats and politicians claim the federal government does not have any money to build housing for a few thousand war-injured and homeless U.S. Military Veterans. However, there seems to be plenty of money available to house and care for hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.
A written promise to settle the Federal Judgment against the VA's illegal use of Veterans’ legally deeded land included Secretary of the VA Robert A. McDonald, a defendant, as well as attorneys Ron Olson and Bobby Shriver (neither are veterans) who represent the plaintiff, homeless Veterans. In fact, it was guaranteed in writing by McDonald and Olson that they would end Veteran homelessness in Los Angeles by December 31, 2015.
It's now nearly a year after the promised deadline and Los Angeles is still the nation's capital of homeless veterans, a city where thousands upon thousands of war-injured and impoverished U.S. Military Vets are forced to live in deplorable and inhumane conditions at skid row and in back-alley squalor.
On June 5, 2015, less than six months after he "promised" to end Veteran homelessness in Los Angeles, Ron Olson received ACLU's Humanitarian Award "for his work on behalf of homeless Veterans."
Did I mention Los Angeles is still our nation's capital for homeless Veterans?
And the ACLU also awarded Bobby Shriver a Humanitarian Award "for his work on behalf of homeless Veterans," even though the City of Santa Monica was sued in 2009 for abusing and mistreating the homeless when Mr. Shriver was Mayor and a City Councilman.
Nearly two years after the infamous written promise, the VA is now "contemplating" leasing land for the building of 150 beds by "non-profit developers," which is an oxymoron if ever there was one.
Did I mention Los Angeles is still our nation's capital for homeless Veterans with thousands upon thousands of needy disabled Veterans exiled from this land exclusively deeded on their behalf?
Moreover, the current illegal occupants adjudicated in the Federal Judgment were to vacate Veterans’ land via an "exit strategy" as promised by McDonald and Olson. That promise and the ending of Veteran homelessness promise, have as much credibility and validity as Richard Nixon not being a crook and Bill Clinton not having sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky.
While Veteran housing was reprehensibly and shamefully neglected, the illegal occupants never exited but are well-entrenched with long-term sweetheart deals that will now make their illegal real estate agreements "legal," thanks to Humanitarians Olson and Shriver.
Compare this article ...
L.A. County Supervisors move ahead with a $2-billion new jail plan.
Recently, the LA County Supervisors moved ahead with a $2 billion new jail plan. Why doesn't the County follow the federal government’s lead and lease property for non-profits to build the jail for criminal prisoners -- or does LA County actually have more money than our Federal Government, which prints it endlessly?
Think about this: LA County will spend $2 billion for 3,885 beds for convicted criminals while the federal government spends $0 for housing our war-injured homeless Military, yet still has billions to spend on Syrian refugees.
Instead, the VA will lease this sacred land to non-profits to take care of only 150 of the tens of thousands of homeless Veterans in LA.
Consider that Humanitarian Ron Olson and his law firm represent some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world, including mega-billionaires on the “Forbes 400” list (Warren Buffet: $65 billion) as well as wealthy CEOs from “Fortune 500” companies. Any one of these people could personally build seriously needed housing on VA property without an EUL, and it wouldn't make a dent in his or her individual wealth.
Incredulously, Mr. Olson was entrusted to represent the plaintiffs – destitute and disabled homeless Veterans -- in the settlement that pitted poor homeless U.S. Military Veterans against the very rich and powerful non-Veteran elite.
Ron Olson and Robert A. McDonald may have co-signed a promise to end Veteran homelessness in Los Angeles by December 31, 2015, but LA is still our nation’s capital for homeless Veterans. And the unlawful squatters – Mr. Olson’s wealthy and powerful non-Veteran cronies -- remain on Veterans’ VA property without providing one bed or even a blanket.
This is not being a humanitarian. This is a crime against humanity -- against disabled, destitute and disadvantaged homeless Veterans.
How can the ACLU present Humanitarian Awards to individuals who have done absolutely nothing to help end Veteran homelessness in Los Angeles as promised?
Bobby Shriver has children attending the wealthy, private Brentwood School, which is one of the illegal occupants on Veterans land. And as mentioned before, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the City of Santa Monica for neglecting and mistreating the homeless while Mr. Shriver was a prominent politician of this wealthy sea-side resort.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti sat next to First Lady Michelle Obama during a private luncheon in 2014 at the ritzy Hyatt Regency in fashionable Century City and publicly promised to end Veteran homelessness in Los Angeles by December 31, 2015. Later, he confirmed four months before the end of 2015, that this “wasn't going to happen this year.”
All of this neglect and abuse by entrusted officials is illegal and immoral.
On behalf of all disabled and homeless Veterans in Los Angeles, this is a demand notice to Robert A. McDonald that he must declare a "state of emergency" and immediately establish crisis humanitarian housing and care on the grounds of the Los Angeles VA. He must then begin the immediate construction and permanent maintenance of a new and modern National Veterans Home.
God Bless America and the Veterans Revolution!
(Robert Rosebrock is Director of The Veterans Revolution, Captain of the Old Veterans Guard, and Director of We the Veterans…and an occasional contributor to CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
Destitute and Homeless Vets in LA Still Wait for Promised Housing
