The agency posted a message on its website late Monday it said it had terminated leases to Brentwood School and a parking company and the permit for an oil pumping operation on the 388-acre site.
The VA said it seized the property in furtherance of President Trump’s executive order last May calling for the creation of a National Center for Fighters’ Independence with housing for 6,000 veterans.
The notice did not say whether the school would lose access to the extensive sports facilities it had built on its 22-hectare leasehold. These include a soccer/soccer stadium, baseball field, basketball pavilion, fitness equipment and a 10-lane swimming pool.
School officials issued a brief statement saying the VA had offered to meet them in Washington.
“We look forward to that meeting in hopes of continuing our long-standing relationship and the comprehensive services Brentwood School provides that so many veterans value.”
The school’s use of the facilities continued as usual on Tuesday.
The announcement threw a new twist into the confused intersection of a federal court order demands that the VA build more than 2,000 housing units on campus and Trump’s executive order.
While the two initiatives are nominally aligned with the goal of creating more housing for veterans, the VA indicated in a petition to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday that it plans to appeal the federal court ruling. It sought an en banc review of a three-judge panel’s ruling in December that upheld the order.
That petition shocked attorneys representing veterans in the class action lawsuit, who said they believed they were on the verge of a productive relationship with the VA.
One of those attorneys told The Times in an interview Friday that he had two productive conversations with agency officials and found them thoughtful and deliberate.
“What I try to convey is positivity and optimism,” says Roman Silberfeld of law firm Robins Kaplan. “Time will tell.”
Silberfeld’s optimism came as the agency apparently backtracked on plans unveiled at a January court hearing to install up to 800 tiny homes on the site. Veterans objected to the 8-foot-by-8-foot units as unsuitable. A call to contractors posted by the agency after the hearing described a project of modular units from 120 to 390 square meters with bathrooms and kitchenettes.
After the petition was filed later on Friday, Silberfeld emailed a follow-up: “Bad VA!”
“A day of incalculable shame for our government,” co-counsel Mark Rosenbaum of the civil rights law firm Public Counsel wrote in an email. “No previous administration has ended veteran homelessness, but no previous administration has sunk so low in arguing before an entire appellate bench that the law should be preserved.”
The lease terminations also create tension between the VA’s approach and U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, who is overseeing the case.
In his ruling, Carter voided the leases on the grounds that they did not primarily benefit veterans as required by law. He also voided UCLA’s 10-acre lease for the baseball stadium and ordered the VA to immediately build temporary housing in the parking lot.
But Carter took a conciliatory stance toward the Brentwood school, saying he did not want to deprive students of the facilities. He signed a new lease agreed to by the school and the veteran claimants, which expanded veteran access and limited it to one year so the land could be repossessed if needed for future housing.
The VA rejected the proposal and appealed Carter’s ruling.
In a split decision, the appeals panel upheld its annulment of the leases to Brentwood and Safety Park Corp., but reversed its ruling on UCLA, which was based on a different law.
Monday’s post cited Carter’s finding that the leases violated the law, but he took a dramatically tougher stance, saying the VA found the leaseholders were underpaying $40 million annually.
“These groups have robbed taxpayers and veterans for far too long,” VA Secretary Doug Collins was quoted as saying. “And under President Trump, VA is taking decisive action to secure the West LA VAMC [Medical Center] campus is only used for what it is intended: for the benefit of veterans.”
Rob Reynolds, an Iraq war veteran who often speaks on behalf of named veterans in the case, said he was conflicted about the new developments.
He praised the VA for ending the illegal leases and said he was encouraged by its apparent openness to larger housing units.
He also said he supports the executive order but is alarmed by the agency’s continued resistance to court oversight and reluctance to include veterans in its deliberations.
“We really don’t know what’s going on,” Reynolds said. “The history of this property is one of decades of broken promises, so it is very difficult to trust that this will be done in good faith.”
VA spokesman Pete Kasperowicz said that as it explores all options, the invitation will allow the VA to consider larger units.
“However, no final decisions have been made yet,” he said.
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