N. Hollywood CRA Office Cites Threats in Move Plan

Citing concerns about death threats against city employees and the need for more modern facilities, the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency hopes to move its North Hollywood field office.

In a report to the CRA board, agency administrator Jerry Scharlin said such a move is “necessitated by concerns for staff safety and security,” as well as the need for a larger, more efficient office. The move is proposed for October.

The redevelopment project, which has spent more than $150 million to attack blight by subsidizing new development, has always been a contentious issue in North Hollywood, with many property owners angry the agency has used eminent domain powers to take land for developers.

But in recent years the debate has turned particularly ugly, CRA officials said, citing death threats over the past four years against agency staff members and one incident in which a hearse was dispatched to the field office on Vineland Avenue.

“Over the last four years, North Hollywood staff has been subjected to a number of threats,” Scharlin said in his board report. “These threats have continued despite the best efforts of agency staff and the Los Angeles Police Department.

“Relocation to a security building within the Project Area will afford agency staff additional protection,” he added, proposing a move of the agency’s six staff members on Vineland Avenue to the Academy Business and Entertainment Complex on Lankershim Boulevard.

The proposal immediately drew criticism from agency watchdogs, including Mildred Weller, a member of the elected North Hollywood Redevelopment Project Area Committee.

Weller questioned why the agency would give up a building it owns for leased space that would cost the agency $84,816 annually in rent and maintenance--at a time when the agency is incurring budget problems and staffing cuts.

“It’s outrageous,” Weller said. “They have spent thousands on security systems at that building and now they are moving into the most expensive building in the area.”

The base lease is $1.85 per square foot, plus $55 per month on parking for each staff member.

Walter Beaumont, the CRA’s assistant project manager in North Hollywood, said the agency plans to offset the lease costs partly through sale of its building to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, with the $188,000 purchase price paid over 10 years.

The agency also contends it would save money because the current building is old and expensive to maintain.

Scharlin said the agency’s 2,275-square-foot office is too cramped for staff members and not large enough to easily host community meetings.

Beaumont said the agency has spent about $20,000 on security measures in recent years, including a wrought iron fence, security gate, intercom system, bullet-proof window and a video surveillance system.

The building the agency hopes to move into has security patrols and systems already in place.

The activities of the Community Redevelopment Agency in North Hollywood have generated lawsuits, scuffles and heated debate since it began condemning properties in 1979. The agency uses property tax revenue to buy land, demolish old structures and package the property for new development in an effort to revitalize the area.

The security system was installed in the current building in 1994 after a series of threats against project manager Lillian Burkenheim, which culminated when a hearse was dispatched to agency offices to “pick up her body.”

Agency officials closed the office for a month in 1994 after they received brochures in the mail that offered cemetery plots and services.

Agency staff members this year have received four threats that led to the filing of police reports. Three police reports were filed last year.

“We’ve had bomb threats. We’ve had anthrax threats. We’ve gotten calls from people who said, ‘We know where you live and we’re going to shoot you,’ ” Beaumont said.

LAPD officials said they have opened investigations but have not made an arrest.

“Somebody’s apparently not happy with them,” Police Capt. Bruce Crosley said. “It’s not a huge number but it might be enough to cause me to think twice about staying.”

The proposal to sell the current CRA building and approve the lease at the Academy building goes to the CRA board Friday for review.

If the lease is approved, the move will probably be made in October, Beaumont said.