Dec. 8, 2010
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors: Zev Yaroslavsky and Mark Ridley-Thomas
Re: Your Motion to end Veteran homelessness by 2016
Dear Supervisors:
Once again, the band-aid comes out to falsely cover the apparent unsightliness of homeless Veterans. Unfortunately, the pain never goes away.
Once again taxpayer money is being spent foolishly through vouchers and other sources to give to non-profit organizations to warehouse Veterans, which is nothing more than money laundering and sweeping the homeless Veteran problem under the carpet.
A homeless Veteran is still a homeless Veteran, no matter where you hide him or her.
There is one reason, and one reason only, that Los Angeles County is the nation's capital for homeless Veterans. That is because the Congressional Act of 1877 and the Legal Deed of 1888 have been egregiously violated and breached. The sacred land at the Los Angeles National Veterans Home has been pillaged and plundered for the benefit of special-interest, non-Veteran, non-profit corporations, all under the ruse of “honoring our veterans.”
This is the largest VA facility in the nation.
Yet we have more homeless Veterans than any other county in the nation. A second grader can tell you something is seriously wrong with this picture. In brief, malfeasance and corruption are the partners-in-crime in this dastardly and shameful abuse that leaves disabled and homeless Veterans as their innocent victims.
For once, get serious and your entrusted priorities straight and honor the Act and Deed and restore the legacy and purpose of this noble and benevolent gift, “to be permanently maintained as a National Home for Disabled Soldiers.”
Nowhere in your motion is there any mention of the Los Angeles National Veterans Home as a necessary and responsible source to house and care for homeless Veterans.
President Obama and Secretary Shinseki both proclaimed at the beginning of this year that they were going to end Veteran homelessness in five years, i.e., 2015. L.A, County now proclaims to do it by 2016.
President Obama and Secretary Shinseki pledged $3.2 billion this year alone. And what did the largest VA facility in the nation with the most homeless Veterans in the nation get?
A paltry $20 million to rehab Building 209, an 80-year old building vacant for two decades. Rehab of the building will not be complete for two years. Then it will only house 80 Veterans. That's $250K per Veteran — we could buy them their own home for that much.
Where is this money really going? Who is really benefiting? Certainly not homeless Veterans.
Rest assured, “business as usual” is over because fellow Veterans nationwide, particularly in Los Angeles, are outraged at the abusive treatment of Veterans property and the lives of Veterans, while non-Veterans are benefiting enormously.
Los Angeles County and local homeowner groups have absolutely no jurisdiction regarding this sacred land at the National Veterans Home, other than to put relentless pressure on U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-West Los Angeles), the entrusted public servant for overseeing the Veterans National Home for the past 36 years, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to ensure that the Deed is strictly enforced and the property is protected and preserved accordingly.
Please review “The Promised Land” [attached], including the Veterans Grand Plan and the Veterans Declaration of Enforcement.
Then, present and pass a new motion to place the homeless Veteran responsibility in Los Angeles County where it squarely belongs and that is on the Dept. of Veterans Affairs. This is federal land. It must be maintained as mandated in the Congressional Act and Legal Deed.
The fact there is one homeless Veteran in Los Angeles County is a heinous crime. These men and women already have a rightful “Home” that was exclusively deeded in their behalf 122 years ago.
It is incumbent upon all five L.A. County Supervisors to collectively demand that the federal government immediately provide the necessary funds to demolish the old buildings at the Los Angeles National Veterans Home and fully restore the intent of the Land Grant Gift by building a new 21st century Grand Veterans Home.
Lastly, I remain stunned that your motion was presented on Dec. 7, a day that is supposed to remind us of our great history and the men and women who sacrificed so much to save America and the world.
Instead of allowing Americans, particularly our World War II Veterans, to reflect on this historic day, you insulted their day of honor by reminding us how government has violated its sacred trust to protect those who protect us, and thereby exploited homeless Veterans with political grandstanding. This sadly underscores the insensitivity of the real problem at hand, i.e., we have 20,000 homeless Veterans in Los Angeles County because their sacred land has been prostituted through political cronyism.
Sincerely,
Robert L. Rosebrock
Director, Old Veterans Guard
Director, Veterans Revolution
www.VeteransRevolution.com
Mr. Rosebrock may be contacted at rrosebrock1@aol.com
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