WASHINGTON — Illicit drug use, prostitution and other unlawful activities by veterans at the site of the National Center for Warrior Independence “threaten to undermine the success” of the major veterans housing initiative before it is built, a California lawmaker and a Los Angeles County veterans affairs official warned Wednesday.
Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., described a lack of oversight and resources for veterans at the West Los Angeles VA Campus — the 380-acre site of the future veterans housing project — during a three-hour hearing of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. He said the conditions at the campus are dangerous and unacceptable.
While hundreds of affordable housing units have opened on campus, homeless veterans continue to live in their cars and in tents on and around the property, according to lawmakers.
“Without action, this property is doomed to become a vast West Side skid row,” Takano said, adding that some of the apartment units are infested with roaches. “There is no other place besides skid row where so many formerly homeless persons live. This concentration of veterans without adequate supportive services jeopardizes tenant safety, sobriety, and public health.”