Loss of Shelter Beds False Alarm

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

May 4 -- Reports that 150 cold-weather shelter beds may be lost with the impending auction of 10 acres near the Westwood’s Veterans Administration facilities have turned out to be false.

Despite warnings sounded at a Santa Monica City Council meeting last month, the California National Guard facility where the beds are kept will not be part of a controversial land deal by the Army National Reserve involving an adjacent property, according to several military officials.

“We have similar uniforms so I can understand the confusion,” said Major Jon Siepmann, a public affairs officer with the California National Guard. “I’m absolutely positive… we are not part of this deal at all.”

That fact was corroborated by The Lookout with two other high-ranking military officials Wednesday.

The rumors continued to be spread at a press conference and protest Wednesday morning against the impending auction of the Army National Reserve building at 1250 Federal Avenue, which is adjacent to the National Guard building at 1300 Federal Avenue that shelters the homeless during bad weather.

Nearly 100 people, many veterans, held signs saying “No Land Swap” and “Buyer Beware,” at the rally attended by a who’s who of City, County and State officials who weighed in against the land deal on the same day that prospective developers were to view the Army Reserve property.

Those against transferring the site – which is currently used for veterans -- said the land would be swapped for land elsewhere to the highest bidder in a June internet auction, raising concern among many officials that the site will be developed, for profit, with little or no public input.

Standing on a chair with a bullhorn in hand, County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky spoke to the protesters, vowing that he and other officials would do all in their power to stop the auctioning of the site by the Army Reserve.

“We’ve got news for them, it’s not going to happen!” said Yaroslavsky, who promised to have the County file an injunction to halt the looming land exchange under the National Environmental Policy Act, which he contends the reserve will violate if the deal goes through.

“If it’s done right, we’ll stop the swap,” he said to cheers of supporters, as reserve officers in pressed whites and fatigues peered on from the steps of the facility.

Yet, military officials counter that the deal is necessary to add additional training and staging space at bases in California and to build an entirely new base in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“We don’t do this lightly,” said Major Jorge Swank, public affairs officer for the 63rd regional readiness command of the Army National Reserve.

Swank said there has been outreach by the Reserve to the community – a point disputed by officials who oppose the deal. He also acknowledged that up until now, the military has not commented on the proposed land deal.

“We have been silent on this,” Swank said. “That is something we’ll need to change.”

In addition to Yaroslavsky, U.S. Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, U.S. Congressman Henry Waxman, LA Mayor Antonio Villaragosa and LA Council members Jack Weiss and Bill Rosendahl opposed the deal.

Santa Monica City council member Richard Bloom and several Santa Monica-based service providers for the homeless also attended the protest and spoke after the event about the confusion over which property is at stake.

“It’s good news,” said Bloom of the fact that the beds are not going to be lost after all. “But this points to how screwed up the whole lack of process is (in the land exchange deal.) We had to hold a demonstration with a bullhorn to learn about that.”

Confusion about the deal was widespread, from County supervisors to City staff to local newspapers that announced the news after a report was given by a local service provider, New Directions, at last month’s Westside Council of Governments meeting on homelessness. The news gained steam after it was aired at the April 26 Santa Monica City Council meeting,

“I don’t know how we got the information we got,” said Executive Director & Co-Founder Toni Reinis, who spoke at the WCOG meeting last month. “We found out there were 11 acres up for grabs with three building, and I guess we assumed it was the wrong buildings.”

“We thought the national guard armory was part of the deal,” said Reinis, whose organization – which services veterans who have fallen on hard times – will continue to oppose the land swap at the Army National Reserve site.

“We’re trying to make sure that land stays for the veterans,” she said.

The site at 1300 Federal – operated by the California National Guard and home to the winter homeless shelter – is owned by the State and can only be transferred if Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger directs such an action or if the County designates the site for other uses, according to Guardsman Colonel Darryl Balcoa who specializes in real estate dealings for his branch of the military.

The 10 acres next door to the National Guard Armory, at 1250 Federal, which is still subject to the land swap, was originally part of 300 acres conveyed in 1888 by private individuals to the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, according to officials at the protest. The Army Reserve acquired the 10 acres in two separate transfers, in 1956 and 1976.

The property had been the subject of speculation for weeks. Then, on April 16, the Army placed a small advertisement in The Los Angeles Times. The headline read: Prime U.S. Government Real Estate Offered for Exchange. Technically, the deal would be a "real property exchange."

The fight over the land is part of a larger battle to determine how land at the Veteran’s Administration site should be used.

Local Council member Bobby Shriver has introduced a proposal to use three other buildings which are being considered for private development to house homeless veterans. (see story).

That plan is currently under review by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, James Nicholson, who is expected to issue his opinion at any time.

On the larger issue of land use at the site, Wednesday’s protest may be a sign of things to come.

In the words of Supervisor Yaroslavsky: “This is just the beginning.”