Amphitheater Construction Comes to a Halt at West Los Angeles VA Campus

NEIGHBORHOOD POLITICS-For Brentwood and West LA residents, there’s no denying that the intersection of Wilshire Blvd. and San Vicente Blvd. is almost always laced with traffic and construction. 

To stand in peaceful protest on a weekly basis amidst such chaos, however, is a Sunday norm for me other veterans and their advocates. 

This past Sunday, Jan. 18, marked the 356th consecutive weekly demonstration that I have led on the bustling street corner, which is also the location of the Los Angeles National Veterans Home. 

Veterans and their advocates have characterized the VA’s leases to non-veteran-related businesses and nonprofit groups at the West Los Angeles VA campus as a “land grab.” 

This land was deeded as a national home for disabled soldiers back in 1888. 

Now there’s a park, an athletic stadium, a baseball diamond, and all sorts of things but nothing to take care of our homeless veterans. 

Small victories, however, have been made in recent weeks for these veterans. On Jan. 8, a federal judge halted construction of an amphitheater on the grounds of the VA facility under the ruling that the Department of Veterans Affairs has overstepped its authority by approving the project. 

The amphitheater was being built “under the guise” of potentially becoming a place where veterans could practice yoga and tai chi. 

In addition, event organizers of an upcoming PGA golf tournament lost permission to use the VA campus for parking. Although there was no clear explanation behind the decision, the 2013 federal judgment seems to be the leading cause, as spectator parking is clearly unlinked to health services. 

We’re really making some progress. I hate to fight, but there’s actually not much in it for us – this is out of concern for the younger veterans, the Afghanistan and Iraq generations. Who is going to take care of them? 

A federal judge put a halt to construction of an amphitheater on the grounds of the Veterans Affairs facility in West Los Angeles on Jan. 8 – a decision that has pleased a group of veterans who hold a peaceful rally outside the VA every Sunday. 

According to a deed, the Veterans Affairs (VA) property was determined as an act of Congress to serve as “land to be permanently maintained for disabled soldiers.” 

Despite the original intent of the property, there are currently nine tenants on VA soil that are “totally divorced from the provision of [Veteran] healthcare,” according to U.S. District Judge S. James Otero. The nine contracts include a laundry service, a parking lot operator, and a UCLA baseball stadium.

Such non-veteran-related tenants began to occupy the land as early as 1981 (UCLA baseball field) before non-profit group Veterans Park Conservancy (VPC – founded in 1986) made an arrangement with the Department of Veteran Affairs to start construction of a rent-free public park. 

Fast-forward to March 2008 when the establishment of a “Veterans Revolution” began, with Rosebrock summarizing the mission as “bringing an end to the mismanagement of veteran property and to stop abuse of fellow veterans who are disabled, disadvantaged, or homeless.” 

Ever since, the Old Veterans Guard, a volunteer group of elderly veterans with an age range of 60-90 years old, has been leading the Revolution and peacefully demonstrating outside the gates of the Los Angeles National Veterans Home (also known as the VA Greater West Los Angeles Healthcare System). 

In 2011, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit on behalf of veterans and veteran advocates in an attempt to bring forth the alleged illegitimacy of certain land leases.

As a result, Judge Otero ruled two years later that the VA had violated federal law by “abusing its discretion” and leasing land for purposes unrelated to veteran healthcare. 

Following the ruling, other parties such as the LA County Veterans Advisory Commission, the American GI Forum of California, and the Board of Supervisors have voiced their support for veterans as well. 

Still, the Department of Justice alongside the attorneys representing the VA defendants appealed the federal court decision made by Otero in 2013. Therefore, the Brentwood School athletic field, the UCLA baseball stadium, and the other unrelated tenants on the VA campus all remain under appeal. 

There are nine illegal contracts on this land. We could be putting up an emergency tented shelter here instead. One of our current goals is to withdraw the appeal in order for the illegal institutions to vacate the premises. 

The VA serves a widespread range of veterans, who travel as far as Orange County and Riverside County to come to the VA. With such a demand for veteran housing, My hopes are not dwindled. 

I’m willing to stay the long battle and expedite it. The veterans’ land keeps getting smaller while the homeless veteran population grows bigger. We believe it’s going to take the help of the general public to step it up.

 

(Robert Rosebrock is a Brentwood resident and the director of the Old Veterans Guard. He alongside a handful of veterans and veteran advocates take part in the weekly peaceful demonstration every Sunday in front of the Los Angeles National Veterans Home outside Brentwood.)

-cw

 

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CityWatch

Vol 13 Issue 8

Pub: Jan 27, 2015