CRA Workers Return to a Less-Open Office : Security: Measures are installed because of death threats against the agency’s project manager. Workplace had closed March 25.

NORTH HOLLYWOOD —  Community Redevelopment Agency employees returned Tuesday to their workplace, an office that has been remodeled to include a bullet-resistant window and a new intercom system that will require all visitors to identify themselves before being allowed in.

Although the new security measures were installed because of death threats against Lillian Burkenheim, the CRA North Hollywood project manager, Burkenheim was concerned that they might change the character of the office, which has had an open-door policy for the 14 years it has been at its current location.

“We’re an office that likes to be open to anyone who wants to walk in, and unfortunately, we now have to screen everyone at the door,” Burkenheim said.

But Tuesday morning, with the smell of fresh paint lingering and the recently installed security door still not working, it appeared her concerns might be for naught.

The office was not even officially open yet, and already visitors were dropping by to welcome back--and bend the ears of--the four-member staff.

“An intercom system is not going to stop me from coming here,” said Jim Jackson, a North Hollywood apartment building owner who stopped by to update Burkenheim on his efforts to combat crime in his area.

The CRA closed the doors to its North Hollywood office on Vineland Avenue on March 25 after a series of telephone calls from a man who criticized the agency for erecting “tall buildings” and then threatened to kill Burkenheim, who manages the 740-acre project.

Burkenheim also received mail brochures offering burial plots and services. On another occasion, a taxi and limousine had been called in Burkenheim’s name to take her to Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary, and on another a hearse pulled up in front of the office to “pick up her body.”

Out of concern for the safety of the four city employees, CRA Administrator Ed Avila decided to temporarily close the office to make it more secure. In addition to the intercom system and the bullet-resistant window, a wall was erected to create a separate waiting room for the public.

The man making the threats has not been caught, but Burkenheim said the threats have stopped.

Police Capt. Rick Wahler of the Police Department’s North Hollywood Division said the case remains open, though inactive.

“We had very few leads,” Wahler said. “If the occurrences reappear, we’ll activate the case. We’ve briefed the staff to take measures that will help us better identify the person if the threats start up again.”

When the threats began, there was speculation that they arose out of last month’s bitter election battle for 14 seats on a residents’ advisory panel, known as the Project Advisory Committee, or PAC.

The PAC has had a long history of confrontations, which has resulted in rancorous meetings and at least once erupted into a fistfight at a public meeting. Supporters of the agency say it has provided housing and new jobs, while anti-redevelopment forces on the panel have accused the CRA of catering to developers and wasting taxpayers’ money.

Opponents and supporters of the redevelopment project condemned the death threats as the act of an irrational person. Police have not connected the threats to anyone associated with the project.