On Jan. 3, Rafer Johnson, legendary Olympic decathlon champion and iconic leader of major civil and human rights issues the past 60 years, spoke before the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition: “I believe everyone involved in ending the homelessness of our veterans should have been and certainly by now should be acting in a state of emergency … there is a state of emergency here in Los Angles and the time to act is now!”
This prompted the leaders of the Neighborhood Coalition, representing 96 Neighborhood Councils, to present a motion unanimously approved: “LANCC recognizes Los Angeles to be in a state of emergency for homeless Veterans and hereby requests that the Los Angeles City Council direct the City of Los Angeles with all of its resources and the Veterans Administration to unify and open a large-scale Crisis Humanitarian Relief Project on this land to immediately house and care for thousands upon thousands of disabled homeless Veterans.”
Mayor Garcetti’s office and top VA bureaucrats essentially laughed. They said Los Angeles is not in a state of emergency for homeless Veterans. No need to be alarmed, particularly if you are not a homeless Veteran in our nation’s capital for homeless Veterans.
During a Feb. 10 hearing by the Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs regarding the mismanagement and misappropriation of land at the Los Angeles VA, Skye McDougall, acting director of the Veterans Integrated Service Network and Janet P. Murphy, acting Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Operations and Management, were asked by committee member Jackie Walorski about Los Angeles being in a state of emergency for homeless Veterans. They essentially scoffed. Weaseling around, they promised to consider this in the so-called master plan due Oct. 15, now four months away. This underscores the VA’s unilateral opinion that there is no state of emergency.
On Feb. 19, Dick Southern, Region 9 Director for Vietnam Veterans of America, sent a letter to the VA requesting a 10-month license agreement to host a crisis homeless-Veteran shelter program on VA grounds for the benefit of disabled and homeless Veterans. For the record, nearly half (47 percent) of all homeless Veterans today served during the Vietnam War era. There are more homeless Veterans nationwide now than were killed during the war that ended 40 years ago.
Three months later, the VA finally got around to responding to Mr. Southern’s request by rejecting it. The notice said they were looking into different options, none emergency-oriented.
In the VA’s collective mentality, what is a state of emergency?
First, it cannot be Veteran-centric.
It must be for the sole benefit of non-Veteran entities by satisfying their urgent and unilateral want and covetousness of Veterans property at the largest VA in the nation.
A typical example for a VA state of emergency was to unconditionally accommodate the L.A. Marathon by running more than 25,000 participants through the Los Angeles VA and the subsequent public trashing of these sacred grounds while 20,000 war-injured, impoverished Veterans remain exiled, homeless and hungry.
Another state of emergency that meets VA criteria is the urgent necessity to store nearly 100 brand new Mazda cars on VA property for the sole benefit of “Mazda of Santa Monica,” at the expense of untold disabled and destitute Veterans who are living in their cars.
The most current VA state of emergency is to facilitate the annual AIDS Bicycle fundraiser held on the Veterans Grand Lawn. This is the same place where VVA9 requested to host a long-term crisis homeless-Veteran shelter program, in accordance with the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition state of emergency, but was rejected.
True to the VA’s predictable response for this non-Veteran state of emergency, they are totally devoted to facilitating a non-stop operation with massive tractor equipment that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would envy. The VA is re-grading and re-landscaping the Grand Lawn, including non-stop watering, to make sure that Veterans land is lush and green for the benefit of 5,000 public attendees this Saturday, the revered anniversary date of the invasion of Normandy during World War II.
As we know, California is in a state of emergency due to a long-term drought. Water is being rationed, except when it comes to the VA’s own state of emergency to accommodate non-Veteran entities to use VA land for Saturday.
By the way, on Thursday, VA Secretary Bob McDonald will be at the Los Angeles VA to “unlock the front gates” two days in advance of Saturday’s fiasco as a friendly gesture that the public will always be welcomed on the sacred grounds of the Los Angeles National Veterans Home.
Did I mention there’s a unanimous public outcry that Los Angeles is in a state of emergency for homeless Veterans?
Would somebody please inform Big Mac about this on Thursday, 9 a.m., at his personal gate-opening photo-op where the Old Veterans Guard has been protesting for seven years – 376 consecutive Sundays — to “Save Our Veterans Land” and “Bring Our Homeless Veterans Home?”
Here is our State of Emergency memo to Secretary McDonald: Resign.
God Bless America and the Veterans Revolution!
Mr. Rosebrock may be contacted at RRosebrock1@aol.com