November 9, 2024 Breaking News, Latest News, and Videos

Homeless Veterans A Huge, Neglected Problem Across The United States:

You didn’t hear a word about homeless veterans in President Obama’s State of the Union speech last January and chances are you won’t hear anything from him about those vets next month, either, unless it’s a boilerplate homage for their contributions to American freedom.

But homeless veterans are a major national problem, and an even larger one in California, where an estimated 18,000 live on the streets of Los Angeles County alone, perhaps as many as 40,000 statewide.

And yet…hundreds of beds in veterans homes are empty today. It’s true those veterans homes, mostly run by the state Department of Veterans Affairs, are intended as both skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, not as homeless shelters. Nevertheless, it’s logical to wonder why those vacant beds can’t be pressed into service for veterans in desperate need of quarters.

There are also open questions about whether the largest and most valuable piece of real estate in this state intended solely for the use of veterans will ever be used to anything approaching its capacity – or whether much of it will be sold off as a momentary deficit-easing tactic.

More than 300 acres at the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Center are used far below their capacity, something that has drawn the eye of Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, who tried to insert a selloff into this year’s budget negotiations.

The draw for Cantor and others is that the mostly undeveloped VA land bounded by the I-405 San Diego Freeway and busy Wilshire Boulevard, with multiple high-rises soaring upward nearby, could bring at least $5 billion.

This has long tempted a selloff, despite the terms of the original 1887 land donation by onetime Nevada Republican Sen. John P. Jones and his partner Arcadia B. de Baker, which required the land be used strictly “for the benefit of veterans.” Jones, a real estate developer and co-founder of the city of Santa Monica who made his fortune in silver mining, had Civil War veterans in mind, not knowing homelessness would be a major veterans’ problem 125 years later.

But it is, and not even several new California Veterans Homes constructed over the last 10 years with a combination of federal funds and state bond money are helping much. As an example, only 87 of the 396 beds in the West Los Angeles CalVet home were occupied as of last month. Brand-new homes in Redding and Fresno, with 450 beds between them, were empty because state budget woes have prevented hiring any staff. No occupants are expected there until late this year at the earliest.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, himself a Vietnam veteran, and former Santa Monica Mayor Bobby Shriver, whose sister Maria was the state’s First Lady for seven years, several years ago identified three mostly derelict buildings at the West Los Angeles site that could be rehabilitated and used by homeless veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental and emotional ills. Only one of those buildings has seen any activity, with $50 million appropriated to fix it up, but no work yet done.

Rosendahl blasted Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman of Los Angeles County – the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee – in an interview. “They just have not done nearly enough either to save the VA land or to house needy veterans,” he said. “Someone needs to light a fire under them.”

Waxman, whose district includes the West Los Angeles site, calls veterans’ homelessness “a huge problem and terrible.” He acknowledges that “We have failed our veterans.” But he insisted in a telephone interview that “the real threat we face is selling the land to reduce debt and not using it to help veterans.”

He says a new law passed last August which some veterans’ activists claim allows selling off the land actually precludes ever selling it. “A lot of the veterans’ concerns are just inaccurate,” he said. “But I do share the worry about commercializing that land.”

Veterans’ activists also complain that few of their fellow former soldiers even know about the CalVet beds now languishing. “There’s been almost no marketing,” complains John Aaron of Pacific Palisades. Echoing Rosendahl, he added that “The politicians just have not done enough.”

Waxman says he’s “all for using the empty beds for homeless veterans. I will push the Department of Veterans Affairs to do it. We did get the VA to issue vouchers for veterans to use in the community and we were getting some into housing, but the VA has stopped issuing those recently. The gap is due to VA bureaucracy. We push and push, but they seem unable to move. It’s inexcusable that they’ve stopped issuing the vouchers.”

The bottom line: There really is no excuse when politicians say they’re trying to help veterans and then point fingers at others, while thousands of veterans keep living on California’s streets.

in Opinion
<>Related Posts

Opinion: Fact Check: Why Vote Yes on Measure QS

November 1, 2024

November 1, 2024

Despite living in a famously progressive region, Santa Monicans are not immune from the same political misinformation and disinformation that...

SM.a.r.t Column: Lack of Oversight and No Accountability

October 31, 2024

October 31, 2024

S.M.a.r.t. periodically invites guest columnists to write opinion articles on topics of particular interests to our readers. Below is an...

SM.a.r.t Column: “Help! I’ve Fallen, and I …!!”, Cries Santa Monica!

October 25, 2024

October 25, 2024

Maybe fallen, but slipping for sure from being a desirable beachfront community that served all equally, the local residents who...

SM.a.r.t. Column: Vote

October 13, 2024

October 13, 2024

In a polarized country or City every vote counts. Regardless of which side of any issue or candidate you support,...

SM.a.r.t Column: Fact-Checking Election-Season Windbaggery

October 6, 2024

October 6, 2024

Claim: The state is requiring Santa Monica to build 9,000 apartments.Answer: Partially true, partially false. Santa Monica has a pretty...

SM.a.r.t. Column: Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Can Help Save Lives and Revitalize Santa Monica’s Economy

September 29, 2024

September 29, 2024

We wholeheartedly endorse the candidates below for Santa Monica City Council. Their leading campaign platform is for increased safety in...

SM.a.r.t Column: Crime in Santa Monica: A Growing Concern and the Need for Prioritizing Public Safety

September 22, 2024

September 22, 2024

By Michael Jolly Over the past six months, Santa Monica has experienced a concerning rise in crime, sparking heated discussions...

SM.a.r.t Column: Ten New Commandments

September 15, 2024

September 15, 2024

Starting last week,  the elementary school students of Louisiana will all face mandatory postings of the biblical Ten Commandments in...

SM.a.r.t Column: Santa Monica’s Next City Council

September 8, 2024

September 8, 2024

In the next general election, this November 5th, Santa Monica residents will be asked to vote their choices among an...

SM.a.r.t Column: Part II: The Affordability Crisis: Unmasking California’s RHNA Process and Its Role in Gentrification

September 2, 2024

September 2, 2024

Affordability: An Income and Available Asset Gap Issue, Not a Supply Issue (Last week’s article revealed how state mandates became...

SM.a.r.t Column: Part 1: The Affordability Crisis: Unmasking California’s RHNA Process and Its Role in Gentrification

August 26, 2024

August 26, 2024

In the world of economic policy, good intentions often pave the way to unintended consequences. Nowhere is this more evident...

SM.a.r.t Column: They Want to Build a Wall

August 18, 2024

August 18, 2024

Every once in a while, a topic arises that we had previously written about but doesn’t seem to go away....

SM.a.r.t Column: Sharks vs. Batteries – Part 5 of 5

August 11, 2024

August 11, 2024

This is the last SMart article in an expanding  5 part series about our City’s power, water, and food prospects....

SM.a.r.t Column: Your Home’s First Battery Is in Your Car

August 4, 2024

August 4, 2024

This is the fourth in a series of SM.a.r.t articles about food, water, and energy issues in Santa Monica. You...

SM.a.r.t Column: Food Water and Energy Part 3 of 4

July 28, 2024

July 28, 2024

Our previous two S.M.a,r,t, articles talked about the seismic risks to the City from getting its three survival essentials: food,...