More than 60% of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ land-use agreements on its West Los Angeles campus are illegal or improper, a federal audit found, including leases for a Los Angeles city dog park and ballfields, Red Cross offices, a Shakespeare festival, a parrot sanctuary and the private Brentwood School.
The VA inspector general audit also found that housing construction for veterans on the sprawling property has fallen behind schedule, with the initial deadline of 490 units by March 2019 now out of reach.
Although the VA is making progress on its building plans, “it will not meet its initial milestone,” the inspector general said in the report, adding that environmental review could push the goal of housing homeless veterans even further into the future. The audit also faulted the VA for failing to include veterans in oversight of the campus project.