Equally meaningful – every year, fellow veterans and their families come from all over the region to participate in the San Fernando Valley Veterans Parade. They look forward to the large gathering of support. It’s a reunion of veterans who look forward to lining up their cars and reconnecting at the parade.
Hundreds of spectators line the street along Laurel Canyon Boulevard, cheering, waving miniature American flags and holding homemade posters of their family’s veterans who may go as far back as World War II.
But this year, the future of the parade is uncertain, with a cloud of worry looming for its organizers.
Much to their surprise, a bill from the city of Los Angeles was sent to them.
The parade, founded by Marine veteran Fred Flores in 2004, with encouragement from his eldest son – who tragically passed away in 2009, has grown to be one of the largest tributes to veterans in the city of LA.
In the nearly 22 years that Flores has been organizing the event, he has never been charged by the city, and any fees they incurred were waived by the LA City Council. But this year, in early October, they received an email from the city’s Department of Transportation (LADOT) saying they needed to pay a fee of $30,000 for the traffic cops, and another $7,000 for street and parking signs.
If the organizers couldn’t pay the $37,000 bill, the event would not be allowed to proceed.
“I still can’t understand what that money is needed for, what we do, [especially] if they never asked us for that amount at all anytime during the last 21 years,” Flores said. “We never got asked for any type of [payment] to do a public event the way we do it.”
He admitted that a part of him wondered if they would have to cancel this year’s parade, but he and the organizers refused to give up.
Flores went to Councilmember Monica Rodriguez’s office to inquire why he and the organizers were suddenly being told they had to pay. It was explained to him that due to budget cuts by Mayor Karen Bass, city departments – like the LADOT – have to make up the difference elsewhere. So the organizers of various parades, including the San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade, are now being charged.
Fortunately for Flores, Rodriguez was more than willing to help out. She contacted Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who was one of the parade organizers in its early years, and explained the situation. Blumenfield agreed to pitch in without hesitation, and the two council members paid the LADOT fees – allowing the parade to proceed.
“I’m grateful to those two elected officials who stepped up to help with this parade,” Flores said. “[This parade] is not about me, it’s about … who we serve. … It’s an event that has grown to be part of the community.”
While Flores is relieved that the parade will continue as planned this year – its future is in question.
Editor Diana Martinez contributed to this article
Next week: The San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol will report live from the parade via Facebook.
The parade starts on Tuesday, Nov. 11, promptly at 11:11 a.m. on the corner of Laurel Canyon and San Fernando Mission boulevards and proceeds south on Laurel Canyon Boulevard, and ends at the Ritchie Valens Recreation Center, 10736 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Pacoima, on the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Paxton.
To register for the parade, download the packet from https://www.sfvveteransdayparade.com/. Registrations will be accepted even on the day of the event.
