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Castro Valley Area News

Veterans meet with VA officials to discuss delayed disability claims

Hundreds of veterans gathered in San Francisco Monday afternoon to meet with members of Congress and Department of Veterans Affairs' officials about their backlogged disability claims.

The regional VA office in Oakland has approximately 34,000 backlogged cases, VA Western Regional Director Willie Clark said.

Additionally, an inspection by the department's Office of Inspector General revealed 39 percent of sampled claims at the Oakland office were processed incorrectly.

The OIG report also said that as of December 2011 the average claim's pending period was 269 days -- 89 days longer than the targeted 180 days.

"It is a problem that we intend to have addressed...immediately, so that these claims can be handled in a timely manner consistent with the law," Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, said Monday.

"Our country is swift to go to war but not swift in responding to the war heroes when they come home," she said.

Clark said the VA's goal is to meet that 180-day mark with 90 percent accuracy by 2015.

To try to streamline the backlog, the Oakland office stopped taking new claims, filtering them to other VA offices around the country.

According to Clark, there are more than 600,000 claims backlogged in the 18 offices he oversees.

"The problem is bigger than what has been identified and it's our intention today to find out more specifically ... why it's taking so long to be processed," Speier said. "If we need more staff to be brought to Oakland, then we're going to demand that more staff be brought to Oakland."

"We have the data, all of which is damning," Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said. "We will fix Oakland VA."

Sgt. First Class Ari Sanderberg, who served three tours in Iraq as well as a tour in Bosnia, has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and brain trauma.

Sanderberg said he went more than a year and a half in the VA system without hearing back about his disability claim.

"I suffer from depression and the haunting memories of the horrors of war which has caused me to attempt suicide," Sanderberg said. "I'd like to use this opportunity to express to the VA benefit section how the unnecessary delay, the loss of documents and the mishandling of information cause added stress and anxiety to my already difficult life."

Sanderberg said it wasn't until he called Speier that his claim was expedited.

"If it were not for her, I would still be floating around the system," he said.

Dean Lundholm of Walnut Creek has been out of the military since 1991 and still goes to PTSD meetings. Lundholm, who had been in a coma and suffers from brain lesions, said it took him six years to get his claim adjudicated.

Lundholm said he has heard others talk about their struggles with the VA, including one veteran in his PTSD group who took a bullet in the head while serving in the Army in 2007.

"Now, he walks and talks so he can get a small medical retirement from the Army but no compensation from the Veteran's (Benefits) Administration," Lundholm said. "You can't tell me that a guy gets a bullet in the head, has visible scars, and no compensation."

_{Mon, 21 May 2012 19:48:34 -0700}

Hundreds mourn Calif soldier killed in Afghanistan

Family and friends in Alameda are mourning an Army staff sergeant who was killed earlier this month in a bomb blast in Afghanistan.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports 30-year-old Thomas Fogarty died while commanding a vehicle on May 6, when enemy forces attacked his unit.

Fogarty deployed to Afghanistan in April and before then had worked as a military recruiter.

Relatives say Fogarty knew he wanted to serve in the military even as a young child, and decided to enlist following the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Alameda High School graduate was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medal, which recognizes heroic service or meritorious achievement. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

_{Mon, 21 May 2012 17:46:42 -0700}

Rumors of Warriors move to San Francisco gain momentum

As rumors continue to swirl about the future home of the Golden State Warriors, more evidence surfaced on Monday that the team could well be relocating across the Bay to San Francisco.

News of a possible impending deal prompted the city's mayor, Ed Lee, to choose his words carefully Monday afternoon.

Lee has openly wooed the Warriors to return to the city where they played for nearly a decade until 1971, when they moved to Oakland.  

The team has a lease at Oracle Arena that runs through 2016. The arena is next door to the O.co Coliseum, which houses the Oakland A's baseball team and Oakland Raiders football team.

"We've put our best foot forward for the Warriors to consider San Francisco," said Lee. "We're going to patiently wait for their decision."

The potential deal with the Oakland team nearly upstaged a special event in San Francisco Monday afternoon that honored House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

That decision is expected soon.

ESPN reported this weekend that the team is close to making a deal to move to San Francisco in time for the 2017 season and that came after weeks of overtures from the city.

City officials and labor leaders sent a letter to the Warriors encouraging the team to build a privately financed, 17,000- to 19,000-seat arena on the site of crumbling Piers 30 and 32.

Red Java House owner Shawn Paton first revealed to KTVU Monday morning that Warriors President Rick Welts promised him on Sunday that the team is moving.

"[Welts] was out in the back eating cheeseburgers, and he said everything will be fine with Red's and building the arena … it'll all be OK," Paton said.

Paton said he'll profit from the move because his restaurant would likely sell more cheeseburgers.

Sources told KTVU that talks of building a Warriors arena on a plot of land to be developed by the Giants stalled out over control of the project.

Mayor Ed lee said Monday an arena deal would not be funded by taxpayer money and that the ball is in the Warriors' court.

"I really think that our city has got that whole pedigree of success that we would like to share with them," Lee said.

Pelosi also talked to reporters about the team's possible move back to San Francisco.

"I really hope that the Warriors do come, I love going to the games and it would be great having them closer by," she said. "I'm rooting for the announcement to be made ... it's pretty exciting."

Oakland Assistant City Administrator Fred Blackwell released a statement about the reports saying that Oakland city officials are still committed to keeping the team in their city.

"We are still in direct dialogue with the Warriors about the opportunity to build a new arena. We have always been aware that they are exploring all their options, including a San Francisco site," Blackwell said.

"We continue to believe that Coliseum City offers the best new home to the Warriors, Oakland A's and Oakland Raiders," he said.

_{Mon, 21 May 2012 17:12:34 -0700}

News Source: MedleyStory More Local News Stories