美国国家公共电台 NPR Overcoming A Shameful Past, VA Plans Haven For Homeless Vets In West Los Angeles

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Here in Los Angeles, there is a vast, green space in a very posh neighborhood that may soon become a haven¹ for homeless veterans. And this is going to be a big change for the campus of the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration. For years, parts of the property were illegally rented to a variety of commercial enterprises that had nothing to do with helping² veterans. NPR's Ina Jaffe reports that this month, two men involved in those deals are going to be sentenced to federal prison for bribery³ and fraud.

INA JAFFE, BYLINE⁴: The nearly 400 acres of the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center were donated in the 19th century to be a home for old and disabled soldiers. It hasn't been that in decades. More recently, it's been home to parking lots for school buses and rental⁵ cars, a commercial laundry for hotels, a storage facility for TV shows and so on.

ROBERT MCDONALD: The money didn't add up. There was some indication of payoffs, of bribery.

JAFFE: ...Says Robert McDonald, who examined all the rental deals when he became Veterans Administration secretary in 2014.

MCDONALD: And if we found monkey business, we turned it over to the FBI.

JAFFE: There had been no public accounting⁶. NPR obtained documents in 2012 that show that West LA VA rentals⁷ had brought in at least $28 million and maybe more than 40 million. At the same time, there was no action on plans to create housing on campus for homeless vets⁸. Former VA Secretary McDonald says the parking lot deals look particularly fishy⁹.

MCDONALD: And if there's a sweetheart deal going on, who made that sweetheart deal? And what are they getting out of it?

JAFFE: A man named David Richard Scott got a lot. He had the parking concession¹⁰ and lied about how much he took in, so the VA didn't get what it was owed. According to court documents, he shortchanged the government more than $13 million. He pleaded guilty to fraud, forfeited¹¹ millions in cash, cars and real estate and agreed to serve nearly six years in prison. He got away with the scam because he was bribing¹² a man named Ralph Tillman who oversaw¹³ all the rental deals on the VA campus. Tillman has pleaded guilty and faces a maximum sentence of eight years in prison.

MEGHAN FLANZ: We need to rebuild veterans' trust in what we're doing on this campus. We need to rebuild the trust of the community.

JAFFE: ...Says Meghan Flanz. She's in charge of turning the West Los Angeles VA campus into a community for at least 12,000 chronically¹⁴ homeless veterans. This plan was part of the settlement of a lawsuit¹⁵ brought by homeless vets. Despite the history of conflict and corruption¹⁶, Flanz describes this as her dream job.

FLANZ: This is a moral imperative¹⁷. There are veterans who need housing. We've got the space to house them. The property was deeded to us to house them. So we will get this done.

JAFFE: The vision is huge. It encompasses¹⁸ not only housing with onsite services but places for residents to socialize, to get job training, to make music and art. The obstacles are also huge, including the need to find funding for renovations or new construction because the VA doesn't pay for housing. So out of the 1,200 or more veterans who might someday live here, there are now just 54 who do - all of them in building 209. It's the only one that's been converted to housing so far. William Williamson (ph) loves it.

WILLIAM WILLIAMSON: I look at it this way. It was God given to me. And I bless him and the people here at the building every day I wake up.

JAFFE: He was a jet mechanic on an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War. When the Navy was no longer his home, sometimes prison was.

WILLIAMSON: Mostly manufacturing drugs. Last time I got busted¹⁹, I went for 10 years.

JAFFE: Three years ago, Williamson lost his permanent housing in a roommate dispute. Then it was couch surfing, a shelter, and eventually, the street. That was new.

WILLIAMSON: It was eye opening, especially at nighttime when you try to find a place to sleep because you never know what's going to happen.

JAFFE: Now, Williamson is close to all his doctors at the VA Medical Center who help him with his asthma²⁰, heart problems and nerve damage in both legs. And the social services right here in the building work with him on everything from military benefits to grief over the death of a friend. An outside organization provides those services. It's called Step Up On Second. But Tod Lipka, the CEO, says there's one thing his organization can't provide for the residents here.

TOD LIPKA: Most people want to live in a neighborhood where other people are. But right now for the first tenants²¹, there's no other housing on the campus. So you're a little bit isolated²², too.

JAFFE: That will change. Two more empty buildings next to 209 are about to be converted to housing, but the renovations won't be done for almost two years. Even then, there will be around 170 formerly²³ homeless vets living on the campus, a small fraction of the number the VA says will someday live at this former home for old and disabled soldiers. Ina Jaffe, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF DISTANT.LO'S "MELODY OF THE SOUL") [POST BROADCAST CORRECTION: In the audio of this story, as in a previous Web version, we incorrectly refer to the Department of Veterans Affairs as the Veterans Administration. And a previous photo caption²⁴ incorrectly referred to the VA West Los Angeles Medical Center as the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center.]

1 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

6 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

7 rentals   

n.租费，租金额( rental的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In some large hotels, the income derived from this source actually exceeds income from room rentals. 有些大旅馆中，这方面的盈利实际上要超过出租客房的盈利。 来自辞典例句
• Clerk: Well, Canadian Gifts is on the lower level. It's across from Prime Time Video Rentals. 噢，礼品店在楼下，在黄金时刻录像出租屋的对面。 来自口语例句

8 vets   

abbr.veterans （复数）老手，退伍军人；veterinaries （复数）兽医n.兽医( vet的名词复数 )；老兵；退伍军人；兽医诊所v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的第三人称单数 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• I helped train many young vets and veterinary nurses too. 我还帮助培训了许多年青的兽医和护士。 来自互联网
• In fact, we've expanded mental health counseling and services for our vets. 实际上，我们已经扩大了退伍军人的心理健康咨询和服务。 来自互联网

9 fishy   

adj. 值得怀疑的

参考例句：

• It all sounds very fishy to me.所有这些在我听起来都很可疑。
• There was definitely something fishy going on.肯定当时有可疑的事情在进行中。

10 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

11 forfeited   

（因违反协议、犯规、受罚等）丧失，失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Because he broke the rules, he forfeited his winnings. 他犯规，所以丧失了奖金。
• He has forfeited the right to be the leader of this nation. 他丧失了作为这个国家领导的权利。

12 bribing   

贿赂

参考例句：

• He tried to escape by bribing the guard. 他企图贿赂警卫而逃走。
• Always a new way of bribing unknown and maybe nonexistent forces. 总是用诸如此类的新方法来讨好那不知名的、甚或根本不存在的魔力。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻

13 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

14 chronically   

ad.长期地

参考例句：

• Similarly, any pigment nevus that is chronically irritated should be excised. 同样，凡是经常受慢性刺激的各种色素痣切勿予以切除。
• People chronically exposed to chlorine develop some degree of tolerance. 人长期接触氯气可以产生某种程度的耐受性。

15 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

16 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

17 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

18 encompasses   

v.围绕( encompass的第三人称单数 )；包围；包含；包括

参考例句：

• The job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. 这项工作涉及的职责范围很广。
• Its conservation law encompasses both its magnitude and its direction. 它的守恒定律包括大小和方向两方面。 来自辞典例句

19 busted   

adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You are so busted! 你被当场逮住了！
• It was money troubles that busted up their marriage. 是金钱纠纷使他们的婚姻破裂了。

20 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

21 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。

22 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

23 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

24 caption   

n.说明，字幕，标题；v.加上标题，加上说明

参考例句：

• I didn't understand the drawing until I read the caption.直到我看到这幅画的说明才弄懂其意思。
• There is a caption under the picture.图片下边附有说明。