Local DMV to reopen with an unclear future

GLENDALE — The newly-renovated Department of Motor Vehicles branch on Glenoaks Boulevard is slated to reopen next month after being temporarily shuttered last year amid state budget woes.

DMV officials announced last week that the branch would reopen on April 25 after it was closed indefinitely in November following a $900,000-renovation.

At the time, DMW officials said they had to close the branch at 1335 W. Glenoaks Blvd. and two other offices due to reduced staffing stemming from the state’s budget crisis. Gov. Jerry Brown continues to wrangle with the state legislature over how to close a multi-billion-dollar budget gap, but DMV spokesman Steve Haskins said the agency had managed to readjust its staffing to reopen the Glendale and Hayward offices.

“We have been able to put the staffing where it needs to be,” he said.

Brown has proposed massive statewide budgets cuts, including transferring $71.6 million from the DMV to the state’s General Fund. Whether the final budget may again impact the DMV’s ability to staff the Glendale branch is a bridge officials said they’ll cross when they get there.

“At this point, we do have the resources,” Haskins said. “We just can’t predict the future.”

The Glendale branch, which typically processes about 281,000 transactions annually, will be staffed by 45 full-time and three part-time employees, according to the DMV. All are newly trained, DMV officials said.

The Glendale branch, which served about 1,200 customers daily before it was closed, had not undergone major renovation since it opened in 1961.

Crews recently installed a new heating and air conditioning unit, flooring, furniture, signs and fencing upgrades. DMV officials said renovations were completed while the branch was closed.

In December, the City Council urged state officials to reopen the branch after residents complained about the closure and long lines at other DMV offices.

Residents were redirected to branches in Lincoln Park and Pasadena.