Jobs Office to Move From Shooting Site : Oxnard: The facility will reopen Monday with most of its employees on hand. No date is given for the relocation.

Responding to workers’ concerns, state employment officials said Thursday they plan to shut down their bullet-scarred jobs office on C Street in Oxnard and move to another location in the city.

But most of the Employment Development Department workers will return to the Oxnard office on Monday when it reopens, and state officials said they have not worked out when the office would move to a new location.

Nevertheless, state unemployment officials said they plan to relocate their still-terrified office workers to another building as soon as possible.

“There are some employees who feel very strongly that they would prefer not to go back to work in that same office building,” said Anita Grandrath Gore, an employment department spokeswoman in Sacramento. “We are looking at all of the options and the plan is we will move.”

The employment office, at 1960 N. C St., has been closed since a gunman went on a shooting spree last week that killed three people, including two state employees.

Unemployed computer engineer Alan Winterbourne later shot and killed an Oxnard police detective during a pursuit before being shot dead by police outside the Ventura unemployment office.

On Thursday, a week to the minute after the shooting started, Employment Development Department employees statewide observed a moment of silence for their fallen colleagues.

Inside the Ventura office, workers formed a circle at 11:45 a.m. and bowed their heads. Many wore black ribbons and dabbed tears from their eyes. Some exchanged hugs at the end of the two-minute silent observance.

“These two offices are like one,” said office manager Annette Havens, appearing shaken and struggling not to cry. “These two staffs are like one family. We were very close.”

The Oxnard office is scheduled to reopen Monday under the watch of armed security guards and state police, Gore said. Not all of the office’s 68 employees will return to work Monday, she said, and employees from other employment offices will be brought in to help handle the workload.

The beefed-up security measures will transfer to the new office when employees are relocated, Gore said.

“We will be taking a look at this not only in Oxnard, but in Ventura and on a statewide basis as well,” Gore said.

State unemployment officials do not know exactly when the workers at the Oxnard employment office will be relocated, Gore said. She said the state first must find affordable office space that can be remodeled to accommodate the operation.

In addition, the Employment Development Department leases the C Street building from Oxnard developer Martin V. Smith. Gore said state officials must determine whether they want to break the lease.

Sue VanCamp, vice president of marketing for Martin V. Smith and Associates, said Smith has been meeting with state officials to address the various issues.

“We are working with them to make whatever accommodations are necessary,” VanCamp said. “It’s a tragedy for the entire county.”

In an effort to prevent future tragedies, state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) continues to push legislation to improve security at government offices throughout the state. He also wants to stiffen penalties for those who commit crimes in government buildings.

Torres cited a report issued in June by state police that reviewed 155 state work sites and recommended beefed-up security at those offices, including strengthening doors and adding bulletproof glass in high-risk offices.

Neither the Oxnard office nor the Ventura office were included in the state police review, according to state officials.

Nevertheless, Torres said that employees at the Oxnard office had been asking for better protection for a long time.

In fact, Gore said state officials received a request the day before Thanksgiving from the Oxnard office for an armed security guard. Gore said that request was in the process of being granted.

“California is under siege and many of our employees are working in a war zone,” said Torres, who plans to meet over the weekend with Oxnard employees who survived the deadly rampage. “Had somebody in Sacramento been listening, this tragedy might never have happened.”