By Marcie Polier Swartz
Special to Brentwood News
All of us including the veterans are facing an uncertain future use of the dog park south of the U.S. Post Office and the large parking lot north of the post office. We are working on finding a way to communicate our deep commitment to the veterans and West Los Angeles Veteran Affairs campus while making our case to continue sharing use of the lands (lands that won’t be built on and are scheduled for “green space and access roads”) with the VA. In the meantime, you can help by posting a comment on the public comment page of the Federal Register.
The public comment period ends Monday, Dec. 7. If you are so moved after reading this, please go to the website and comment on our behalf: http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=VA-2015-VACO-0001-0251. The “comment now” button is on the right.
Margaret Wheatley wrote in her beautiful book, “Turning to One Another” about the future. It inspired me to express this: This future we face does not come from nowhere.
It comes from the Federal Government and the West L.A. VA not meeting the needs of our veterans.
It is not irrational.
But the anger and frustration of the veterans, plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the VA, and those in charge of the new plans and new legislation in Washington, D.C., are poised to sacrifice our commercial community, which numbers 110 businesses, 600 employees, many of whom are veterans, and services veterans and residents use.
In addition to veterans, north Brentwood Village, including the dog park, serves residents in Brentwood, Santa Monica, Westwood, Bel Air, West L.A., Pacific Palisades, Mar Vista, Culver City, Encino, Sherman Oaks, travelers and guests in surrounding hotels, and more. People come from all over to use our services, run their dogs, eat in our restaurants, and use our many services. We are also an important part of Los Angeles. And many residents are also veterans.
We hope not to be the scapegoat for this tragic set of circumstances.
We hope not to see our neighborhood destroyed.
If we believe there are sufficient resources to provide for all, we must find the political will to spread them equitably.
Can we coexist?
We have sufficient human capacity to think and reflect together, to care about one another, to be courageous, and to create an equitable future that involves not the sacrifice of an entire swath of the Los Angeles community, but a solution for the inclusion of everyone including serving veterans.
Ingenuity provides solutions to critical problems. I hope you can help us, and not sacrifice us for the political climate, to find an equitable solution to our serious issue.
Please post supportive comments of our plans to be vet-centric and oppose the master plan for Zone 4, which suggests green space and access roads and closes off our dog park and parking lot.
Marcie Polier Swartz is a property owner in Brentwood Village.
