The Department of Motor Vehicles closed the office on Aug. 20 so workers could install new flooring, wiring, heating and ventilation systems, and furniture in the 49-year-old building. The 51 workers who processed some 1,200 customers daily were reassigned.
The work progressed and the office was scheduled to reopen in November, before a high number of retirements and the state budget crisis forced officials to postpone its debut indefinitely.
"Because of the hiring freeze that's going on right now, we're really short-staffed," DMV spokeswoman Jan Mendoza said. "We thought, 'Since it's closed anyway, we can keep it closed until we can (and then) maybe something happens."'
However, no one really knows what that "something" might be.
As the state faced a recurring multibillion-dollar budget deficit, the DMV began cutting its operating hours in early 2009 and still is closed three Fridays a month.
There is hope in some quarters that the winner of Tuesday's gubernatorial race will have a solution to the Golden State's financial woes.
"They could turn around next week and say we're opening next year," said Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, a government watchdog group.
"It could be a typical situation in state government – where one hand doesn't know what the other is doing."
Vosburgh is among those who believes that motorists would be better served if the DMV was privatized.
"The locations of the DMV offices and customer service of the personnel would improve if they could contract out to private contractors," Vosburgh said. "They would be in locations where they could serve the most people."
DMV officials say they expect the hiring freeze to eventually be lifted and they will be able to reopen the Glendale office. In the meantime, customers are asked to go to other branches, such as Van Nuys, Arleta or Pasadena. | 
