GORE SHOULD HEED VETERANS' NEEDS.

Byline: Dennis McCarthy

Miss Jones, take a letter. Address it to the Honorable Albert Gore, vice president of the United States and Democratic presidential nominee.

Dear Al: Before you come out to L.A. in August to accept your party's nomination for president, you might want to check out this little firefight we have going on over at the Sepulveda Veteran's Administration Medical Center in North Hills.

I know it's small potatoes to you, but it could blow up in your face if you're not careful.

How's it going to look, Al - the whole country tuned into CNN, watching a couple of thousand war veterans picketing outside the Staples Center while you're on the convention floor inside trying to unite the troops?

Not a great photo op, Al. Could be ugly. These aren't the anti-war demonstrators and peaceniks who protested at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. These are the guys who went off to fight our wars. They've got the country in their corner, Al.

The vets have already applied to the Los Angeles Police Department for a permit to picket, and their leaders have been going on line all week to rally the troops to arms - the American Legion and VFW posts, Korean and Vietnam vet groups, all the guys.

They're angry, Al - angry at the VA for not following through with a promise made by former Secretary of Veteran Affairs Jesse Brown to rebuild the gym and pool building at the Sepulveda VA damaged by the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.

Not only has it not been rebuilt, but it got shut down completely last year, Al, so the guys were hit with a double whammy.

Hell hath no fury like an angry, lied to vet, Al. You should know that. These guys don't know the meaning of quit.

They're not the only ones ticked off, Al. Three of the local congressmen out here - two Democrats and one Republican - have been fighting to get the VA to live up to its promise, too.

So far, though, all they've gotten is snubbed by your current Secretary for Veteran's Affairs, Togo West, who sent an underling to meet with them this week because he was too busy.

I talked to the congressmen after they left that meeting with Hershel Gober, deputy Secretary of Veteran's Affairs, and they weren't happy, Al.

``We spent an hour and a half going back and forth, and I did not come away feeling comfortable that the deputy secretary would be arguing our case with Togo West,'' said Rep. Howard Berman, D-Mission Hills.

His counterpart on the other side of the aisle, Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, called the meeting ``bureacratic boneheadedness.''

Has a nice ring to it, don't you think, Al? McKeon said Gober had no good answer when the congressmen stressed that a promise was a promise, so why couldn't the VA seem to keep its?

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Woodland Hills, said basically the same thing.

``I came out of that meeting feeling it was a promise they wish they hadn't made,'' Sherman said. ``But it was made, and it should be adhered to.''

But it isn't, Al, and that's the point. Basically, the answer the congressmen got back from Gober was the VA wasn't in the entertainment business - meaning the gym and pool were not necessary for health or rehabilitation programs at the VA, and served only as a recreational, entertainment outlet for the men.

Gober had some dental surgery Friday and couldn't talk, so he issued this statement through his press office.

He said he thought the meeting went well and that as soon as he can find the time, he plans to come out to Los Angeles himself to make sure he has ``the full picture.''

Sounds like he doesn't trust the picture the congressmen and vets are painting, Al. Not exactly a vote of confidence.

``Certainly, nobody's mind is closed (on the issue), but we want to make sure medical care dollars are used for medical care,'' Gober said.

Read between the lines, Al - AND NOT USED ON ENTERTAINMENT!

If Gober does get to the coast, I know a couple of hundred vets who were using that gym daily for both physical and mental rehabilitation who would love to argue the point with him, Al.

In the meantime, though, the congressmen are tired of waiting for Togo to get his act together.

In a bipartisan effort, all three signed off on a letter March 15 to Congress seeking $3.5 million in funds to rebuild the pool, lockeroom, and gym. The money would come from the Veterans' Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act.

Sherman puts the odds at no better than 50-50 to get the funding, but who knows, maybe Gober will finally see the full picture when he gets to the coast, and convince Togo they should at least pick up the $1.5 million tab for the gym.

Or maybe you can help him see the full picture, Al.

The one without 2,000 war veterans picketing the Staples Center during the Democratic National Convention this summer with signs that say the Clinton-Gore VA lies to its vets.