DAVIS OPPOSES VETS HOME PROPOSED A.V. SITE CALLED INAPPROPRIATE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

LANCASTER- The city is in danger of being dropped as the site of the next veterans home after Gov. Gray Davis vetoed the $12 million earmarked for the project and issued a statement Thursday that the city does not meet site criteria.

The veto was not entirely unexpected, but project backers said they were stunned by the governor's statement. They said the governor's action defies voters - Californians approved the money in a ballot measure last year - and ignores state legislation locking in Lancaster as the site for the next veterans home.

``I think he's finally run out of excuses and is saying one should not be built in the Antelope Valley,'' said Assemblyman George Runner, R- Lancaster. ``I think that's the message.''

Runner said the legislative process has been exhausted after two vetoes by the governor. One possibility is to file a lawsuit.

``I think there should be some discussion as to whether the next step is to litigate,'' Runner said.

Runner and state Sen. W.J. ``Pete'' Knight, R-Palmdale, have been trying to get the state to appropriate a share of the money so applications can be filed for federal funding for the home.

State Department of Veterans Affairs officials have said they don't want to start the Lancaster project until veterans homes in Barstow and Chula Vista are fully operational.

Calling it premature, Davis vetoed a similar budget allocation last year but gave no hint then that he wanted to reopen the site-selection process.

``I have received correspondence from the state commanders of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, AMVETS and the American Legion urging me to move forward with building more veterans homes in Southern California with greater attention given to location, services and resources available to better serve our veterans,'' Davis said in his new veto message.

``In addition, my Blue Ribbon Task Force on Veterans Homes has recommended that any future veterans homes be located in proximity to a United States Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and close to available nursing professionals. The Lancaster site does not meet either of these criteria.''

Runner and Knight say that veterans groups are staunch supporters of building a veterans home in Lancaster, not opponents as Davis claims in the veto message.

``This just shows that the governor is ignorant on the needs of our veterans,'' Knight said. ``He continues to ignore the need for more homes and the will of the voters. I am very disappointed.''

The veto was a bitter disappointment to Tom Craft, a former Navy officer who heads a citizens committee supporting the project.

``He (Davis) is supposed to be looking after veterans, but he has not,'' Craft said. ``He hasn't done anything for them.''

A convalescent hospital and apartments for independent living are proposed for 400 veterans in Lancaster. City government has donated land for the project at Avenue I and 30th Street West.

The state's share of the financing was earmarked in a $50 million ballot measure approved by California voters last year. Supporters, anticipating $24 million as the federal share, have missed the last two rounds of federal funding because the state's share had not been appropriated.

The state measure also called for funding a new veterans home in Ventura County and refurbishing a century-old one in Northern California.

Supporters of the Lancaster home, who once hoped it would be the first in Southern California, have persisted in their efforts despite setbacks. They lost to Barstow in their first pitch. In 1994, a state task force placed a Lancaster home behind one in Chula Vista on the list of future projects.

Then a state law prohibited construction from starting on the Lancaster project until the Chula Vista home was open and operating.