Sen. Dianne Feinstein says she will introduce legislation to move veterans from the county’s alleyways and sidewalk shantytowns onto the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ long-contested West Los Angeles campus.
Speaking at a VA building recently refurbished for homeless housing, Feinstein said the Los Angeles Homeless Veterans Leasing Act of 2015 will remove a legal barrier to opening the sprawling campus to temporary and permanent housing, recreational facilities and job training for homeless veterans, The Los Angeles Times reported.
“For a long time it’s been our dream to see this campus as housing for homeless veterans,” said Feinstein, who promised to put the bill forward on Tuesday, The Times reported Thursday. “I strongly believe with this bill we will finally turn the corner.”
As part of a legal settlement with civil rights lawyers reached this year, the VA promised to end veteran homelessness in the greater Los Angeles region this year and to arrange “exit strategies” for commercial leaseholders, including a hotel laundry, movie storage lot and parking service.
But the bill, which authorizes a lease for “an institution of the State of California that has had a medical affiliation with the (Veterans Affairs) Department at the campus,” seemingly earmarks UCLA for retention, homeless advocates said.
But Vince Kane, special assistant to Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald, said the bill “does not guarantee UCLA anything any different than anyone else.” The VA is negotiating with leaseholders including UCLA, which has long offered treatment and medical research to benefit veterans, Kane said, according to The Times.
—City News Service