“LOS ANGELES – At the Brentwood Homeowners Association meeting on March 9, Rep. Brad Sherman delivered glib remarks about the West Los Angeles VA land-use controversy, trying to be funny and earning laughs from a well-heeled audience. But for veterans and advocates who have spent years fighting to ensure that the VA’s historic property is used for housing homeless veterans, the remarks were deeply troubling.
At one point, Sherman referred to advocates as people who would ‘derive psychic joy out of seeing the ball field bulldozed,’ a reference to UCLA’s baseball stadium on VA land. He then mocked President Donald Trump’s executive order directing the construction of 6,000 housing units for veterans on the West Los Angeles VA property, saying it would be accomplished ‘right after we conquer Greenland.’
This is not a joking matter. Thousands of veterans are currently sleeping on the streets of Los Angeles.”