Athletic fields for a private prep school and a dog park, but not veterans
 
Contact: Jill Farrell, Judicial Watch, 202-646-5172 
 
WASHINGTON, June 27, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Judicial Watch announced today that it has filed a second Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) for information regarding non-veteran use of prime real estate in West Los Angeles set aside nearly 130 years ago to serve as a home for disabled veterans. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs (No. 1:17-cv- 01078)).

The lawsuit was filed after the VA failed to respond to an April 14, 2017, FOIA request concerning the Veterans' Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (VAGLAHS):

• Any and all lease, land-sharing, enhanced-use, or other land use agreements currently in effect for the West Los Angeles/Greater Los Angeles Campus ("GLA Campus"), including but not limited to agreements with the Regents of the University of California, the Brentwood School, the Veterans Park Conservancy, and the City of Los Angeles.
   
• Any and all records concerning or relating to the review of all lease, land-sharing, enhanced-use, or other land use agreements at the GLA Campus, as referenced in Appendix H of the GLA Campus Draft Master Plan, issued January 28, 2016.
   
• Any and all notifications of the Secretary's intent to enter into or renew any lease, land-sharing, enhanced-use, or other land use agreement for the GLA Campus, as required by Section 2(j)(1) of the West Los Angeles Leasing Act of 2016, 114 Pub. Law 226:
  
  (i) The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the U.S. Senate;
  
  (ii) The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the U.S. House of
  Representatives;
  
  (iii) The Committee on Appropriations of the U.S. Senate;
  
  (iv) The Committee on Appropriations of the U.S. House
  of Representatives;
  
  (v) U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein;
  
  (vi) U.S. Senator Kamala Harris; and
  
  (vii) U.S. Representative Ted Lieu.

The property at issue was deeded to the federal government in 1888 for the specific purpose of providing a home for disabled veterans. It includes a veterans' home, but, over time, came to include facilities for entirely unrelated uses such as a stadium for UCLA's baseball team, an athletic complex for a nearby private prep school, a golf course, laundry facilities for a nearby Marriott hotel, storage and maintenance facilities for 20th Century Fox Television's production sets, the Brentwood Theatre, soccer practice and match fields for a private girls' soccer club, dog park, and a farmer's market.

MORE: www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-files-second-lawsuit-veterans-affairs-information-non-veteran-use-massive-west-los-angeles-va-facility/