LANCASTER IN LINE FOR VETERANS HOME; BILL TO DESIGNATE SITE AWAITS GOVERNOR'S SIGNATURE.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer Legislation locking in Lancaster's place in line for a veterans home is heading to the governor's desk after being approved by the state Assembly. Local leaders hope the bill will stop any attempts by other communities to take Lancaster's place in line. ``There's a lot of thought, a lot of government work and money put into it,'' Lancaster Mayor Frank Roberts Frank Roberts may refer to:
Senate Bill 584, authored by Sen. Jack O'Connell
Jack T. O'Connell (born October 8, 1951) is a California politician. , D-Santa Barbara, names Chula Vista Chula Vista (ch  `lə), city (1990 pop. 135,163), San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1911. , Lancaster and Saticoy in Ventura County as the next sites for veterans homes. The bill was approved 57-9 Thursday by the Assembly, after earlier gaining Senate approval. Roberts was in Sacramento last week and was ready to testify on behalf of the bill before the Assembly's Government Organization Committee, but his testimony wasn't needed. The bill would put into law site recommendations made by the Governor's Commission on a Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, Veterans Home. In January 1996, the commission reaffirmed Lancaster and Chula Vista as their choices for home sites. The commission later added Saticoy to the list. ``I felt that the veterans home commission's decision needed to be written in stone,'' O'Connell said. In August, the governor signed a bill providing $36 million to be applied toward the construction of three veterans homes, starting with a home in Chula Vista. The bill initially identified Lancaster as a home site, but was later amended to leave the sites unspecified Adj. 1. unspecified - not stated explicitly or in detail; "threatened unspecified reprisals" specified - clearly and explicitly stated; "meals are at specified times" except for Chula Vista. The proposed Lancaster veterans home would house about 400 veterans and employ 230 people. It would offer three levels of care, ranging from apartments - for veterans able to live independently - to a convalescent con·va·les·cent adj. Relating to convalescence. n. A person who is recovering from an illness, an injury, or a surgical operation. convalescent 1. pertaining to or characterized by convalescence. 2. hospital. Lancaster owns 22 acres at the northwest corner of Avenue I and 30th Street West designated for the home. The property is valued at $950,000. Construction of the Lancaster veterans home is contingent on Adj. 1. contingent on - determined by conditions or circumstances that follow; "arms sales contingent on the approval of congress" contingent upon, dependant on, dependant upon, dependent on, dependent upon, depending on, contingent the federal government providing 65 percent of the funding for the project, about $24 million. The state has two veterans homes operating now - one in Yountville in Napa County that houses 1,125 veterans and another in Barstow. The Barstow home, which opened last year, has 247 occupants but has room for 400 veterans. |
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