Lost In the Lot : Ventura: The parking complex at the County Government Center is proving a maze for frustrated visitors.

The courtrooms are inside. But the real trials take place dozens of times a day outside the Ventura County Government Center.

They occur when jurors, witnesses, traffic ticket-payers and other visitors step from the Hall of Justice, jail and county administrative headquarters buildings into a sprawling parking lot that surrounds the office complex.

When they look for their cars, they can’t find them.

“Nine out of 10 times they say it’s been stolen,” said Gloria de los Santos, a security supervisor at the courthouse building. “They’re hysterical. They pound on the desk. They swear their car’s been taken.”

But their automobile hasn’t been stolen. It’s only been swallowed up by Ventura County’s most confusing parking lot.

The 3,131-space Government Center parking lot on the east side of Ventura is shaped like a giant wagon wheel whose hub is the Hall of Justice.

Landscaped walkways radiate like the spokes of the wheel into six sections at the 15-acre lot. The walkways are similarly landscaped, and each leads toward one of the three water fountains that decorate the Government Center.

The place leaves motorists a-mazed.

A driver who remembers that he parked three trees away from the fountain when he walked into the office complex is dismayed to discover when he walks out that there are seven tree-lined walkways.

When he reaches the spot where he is certain that he parked, his car is nowhere to be found.

“They look over toward the jail, and they think that somebody escaped and stole their car,” said Steve Pell, a Ventura lawyer who said he has helped “lots and lots” of victims hunt for their autos in the parking lot.

When drivers rush into Government Center buildings to report their cars missing, De los Santos and the other guards try to dissuade them from calling police.

“Nine out of 10 times they say their car has been stolen. They swear they parked next to a tree. But there are 50,000 trees out there. I can’t even remember any car being stolen here,” she said.

Men are the worst because they refuse to admit they’ve forgotten where they parked, she said.

“People come in here with dazed looks on their faces who say they’ve been walking around the lot looking for their cars for 45 minutes. A couple of times people have waited around until the end of the day, when the lot has cleared out, to find their cars.”

By patiently questioning visitors about which Government Center building they were in and about the direction from which they entered the parking lot, guards are usually able to reunite cars and drivers in about 10 minutes, said security officer Edward Skelton.

But it took Ventura oil-field worker Jamie Conner 18 minutes to find his pickup truck recently when he visited the courthouse.

“I’m lost,” he said, shrugging as he stood helplessly in the middle of the lot. “All the angles seem to go the same way. Everything looks the same. There really are no landmarks in this lot.”

Conner was grateful when Skelton stopped his Cushman motor scooter to assure him that people often lose their cars.

“So I’m not the only idiot,” he said, grinning. “I remember taking a right turn when I came in here and then coming down this row over here. It seems to me it should be right here.”

It wasn’t. But before Skelton could ride off to scour a nearby parking section for the pickup, he was interrupted by another man who ran up to report that his car had been stolen.

As Skelton calmed the second man, Conner walked to the next section and finally spied his truck.

Ventura police detectives say stolen-car calls from Government Center visitors are common. But stolen cars aren’t.

“I can’t recall any car being taken from there in a long, long time,” said Detective Ray Vance, an auto theft investigator.

“It’s fairly easy to be confused up there. We’ve gone up to assist people, and they jump in a patrol car and ride around the lot until they find it.”

County officials said they have tried to relieve some of that confusion.

About four years ago, workers numbered each section of the lot and installed letters and numbers atop light poles to help visitors remember where they parked, said Richard Wittenberg, county chief administrative officer.

The signs are tiny, however. And they are so high on the poles that some drivers complain that they do not notice them when they park.

Peter S. Pedroff, director of the county General Services Agency, which operates county facilities, said officials originally opted for low-profile signs. He said his staff is considering installation of a larger numbering system.

Pedroff said a $50,000 study might be required before a new sign system is designed, however. Construction of the actual signs could boost the price to $100,000, he said.

“It’s costly,” he said. “It’s really not a high priority to us unless we determine it’s a very serious problem.”

But Arnold Robles, deputy agency director in charge of facilities and grounds, said the agency is considering asking county supervisors to include money for easily readable parking signs in its 1990-91 budget.

County supervisors said they hope the parking problem can be corrected more cheaply than that.

“I can’t believe there isn’t something less expensive that can be done,” said Susan Lacey, whose 1st Supervisorial District includes the Government Center. “Maybe work-furlough folks could do the work. Maybe we could do some creative thinking.”

Said District 2 Supervisor Madge Schaefer, who is a member of a board committee that oversees county facilities: “A $50,000 study? Come on, guys. Four different colors of spray paint at a buck a can and we can paint the posts to make them identifiable. Give me a break.

“I bet I could get an Eagle Scout to do the project. Five minutes and I could get it done for free. I’m serious.”

Painting poles could prove more complicated than that, said District 3 Supervisor Maggie Erickson, who also serves on the board’s facilities committee.

“I hear over and over again” that there’s a problem out there, Erickson said. “The security people have always been good about helping people. We’ve had a couple of appreciative letters saying, ‘Thank goodness those people helped me find my car.’ ”

Back in the parking lot, Thomas Kratz of Port Hueneme and Debbie Herold of Camarillo were wishing they could find a helpful security guard. They certainly weren’t having any luck hunting down Herold’s new car on their own.

“I knew I was in trouble when I got to the car that I thought was mine and noticed that it was blue. Mine is red,” said Herold, a property manager.

Kratz, a mechanic, finally hoisted Herold’s 7-year-old daughter, Jessica, to his shoulders so she could help scan the lot for the car.

After a 10-minute search, Jessica spotted it.