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 and that is because the Congressional Act of 1877 and the Legal Deed of 1888 have been egregiously violated and breached, and 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 victim.
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 homeless in five years, i.e., 2015. LA 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 that has been vacant for two decades. And the rehab of the building will not be complete for two years, and 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 and who is really benefiting? Certainly not homeless Veterans. Rest assured, that "business as usual" is over because fellow Veterans nation-wide, 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 Congressman Henry Waxman, 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 Department of Veterans Affairs. This is federal land and 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 an heinuous crime as 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 LA County Supervisor to collectively demand that the federal government immediately fund 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 December 7th, 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
Dave Culmer, Past Chairman, Los Angeles County Veterans Advisory Commission, Chairman, National Veterans Foundation, Service Director for the American Legion of the Los Angeles County Council; Greater Los Angeles Mental Health Consumer Advocacy Council;
Bob Handy, Chairman, Veterans United For Truth, Inc., and Chairman of the Veterans Caucus, California Democratic Party;
Sam Cardova, Commander, Disabled American Veterans, Chapter 13;
Walter Martin, Commander, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 1898;
James Maddox, President, Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 446;
Larry Breazeale, Chairman, National Veterans Coalition;
John Stamatiades, Vice Chairman, Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission, California American Legion
John Keaveney, Retired, Chief Operating Officer, New Directions, Inc.
Stephan Sherman, World War II Veteran, Founder & CEO, Dorie Miller Memorial Foundation
Stephan Palmer, World War II Veteran, President, Veterans Coalition 
Ernie Hilger, Legislative Chairman, Disabled American Veterans, Chapter 13;
Martha Groves, News Reporter, The Los Angeles Times
Steve Lopez, Columinist, The Los Angeles Times
Gordon Duff, Senior Editor and Chairman of the Editorial Board, Veterans Today News Network
Judi McCleod, Editor, Canada Free Press
Ari Noonan, Publisher / Editor, The Front Page On Line
Terance Lyons, Editor, Strawberry Gazette
Frank A. LaRosa Jr., President THE "LOST PATROL" - 'VETS FOR VETS'
