Assemblywoman Blanca Pacheco was the guest speaker for the Veterans Discussion Group at Post 9148 La Mirada, August 3.
Pacheco has been an avid supporter for our veterans for many years, “The issues that our veterans deal with on a day to day basis is a challenge for them and for their families. I will be representing our veterans now at the state level. I want to make sure that we have laws and legislation that will help our veterans. I am a friend and an advocate for you.”
Many issues were brought up, one of which was a resource center for veterans. “We would like to have a location for such a program here in La Mirada.” The Center would be a community-led center, providing veterans services in education, employment, entrepreneurship, wellness, and family support. The idea behind having such a resource is to enable to meet the reintegration of veterans and their families back into the local community by integrating government, non-profits, veteran-serving organizations, and private partners around a mutual agenda that holistically addresses the challenges veterans face in reintegration.
Another hot topic was the proposed Veterans Cemetery. Even though Southern California is home to the largest veteran population in the United States, there is no State Veterans Cemetery. For 60 years, Irvine was home to the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS). After MCAS was decommissioned, 125 acres of the former base (known as the “ARDA” site) was designated to become the Southern California Veterans Memorial Park.
In 2018, Irvine residents voted to support the Veterans Cemetery on the ARDA site. When the Irvine City Council ignored the outcome of the 2018 election, a committee was formed, and gathered 19,790 signatures for a ballot initiative to officially designate the ARDA site as the only legally available site in the City of Irvine. As a result of that effort, on May 12, 2020, the Council relented and adopted a citizens’ initiative as an ordinance, making it effective immediately.
Recently, Irvine’s new Mayor and Council majority voted to abandon the long-promised Veterans Cemetery in Irvine, pushing it off to a site alongside the noisy 91/241 freeway interchange in Gypsum Canyon, 2 miles from the Riverside County border.
