René C. Davidson, Alameda County Courthouse, Oakland…read more I came here for Jury Duty services. Make sure to come before 8:30am to find parking or if you plan on taking public transportation. Parking/ Transportation: You get reimbursed for taking public transportation, also $1 off the Arco Parking that is the circle parking lot, it's a block away. I believe you get $.15 for every mile driven. *Make sure you sign and return the form ASAP.* There's restrooms for jurors, vending machines located downstairs of the basement and water fountains to refill your water bottle. You may eat or drink at the waiting area. Once you are settled in, you will be required to watch a video about your jurors services. If there's a trial, the judge will come out and explain in more details. If you are selected, you will fill out a bunch of questionnaires about yourself, your views on stuff and so on.. Pay: You get paid the second day if you are required to return for jury duty services, you don't have to fill out any forms. If you work for the government, your pay is the same as your employer pay. Remember to bring your Jury Duty Summon postcard/badge, your ID, water and some snacks. You can be there for half a day or full day. :)

I was summoned for jury duty and then chosen as a member of the jury, so I was here for a few days…read morein a row. I honestly didn't have a bad experience at all. Parking is definitely a hassle. I got dropped off every morning, so that I didn't have to worry about parking. I do know that many people like the Alco park garage, but spots can fill up fast. When you first go in, there's security check. Nothing too crazy, but was told by a deputy to never bring metal forks in (if you were to pack your lunch), because security will stop you. I did pack my own lunch every day. If you needed a fork, you could go to the snack bar located lobby level. This was my first jury duty, so I didn't know what to expect. After security check, I went to a large room where I sat and wait. They played a video for us, and then had us fill out a questionnaire. The lawyers and judge then came down to speak to us a bit. You then have a chance to fill out a form in case of hardship, where the judge can excuse you. Everyone who is not filing for hardship goes upstairs to a courtroom and wait. A random number of people were then called to be questioned by both attorneys. This basically went on until both attorneys were okay with the panel. Now for my experience as a juror...it honestly wasn't that bad. I thought this was a great experience and very educational. My favorite part was definitely getting to know the rest of my fellow jurors. We had great conversations during breaks. Your experience is definitely depended on how you view being on jury duty. I hated missing work, but my fellow jurors made it fun. And the trial itself was nice to watch and take part of.

Wow.. super friendly and efficient service! I was really amazed at how happy and courteous everyone…read morewas! Did they all just get a raise today? I was here to get an extra birth certificate, and yeah you do have to wait a few minutes (10-15) but it's nothing like the DMV where you set up camp for a few days it seems! 1) Once through the double doors, meet with the friendly receptionist FIRST to get a form to fill out for the birth/death/marriage certificate or license you are trying to get. 2) Fill out the form, go back to the receptionist and give her your completed form. You'll then get a number. PRO TIP: Bring your own ID, and your own pen or pencil to fill out the form for a birth/death/marriage certificate! The tiny pencils here just barely get the job done. lol 3) Wait 5-10 minutes for your number to be called. 4) Go up to the window you are assigned and the clerks will get you what you need. On my way out, a different receptionist was just as friendly as the first one I met earlier! I'd never thought I'd say this, but Great job, Alameda County Clerks! Getting here: Super easy as it is just across the street from AC Transit bus lines. The Lake Merritt BART Station is just two blocks away. Street parking and a big county-run parking garage is next door too.

I'm pleasantly surprised with how easy it was so get a marriage license…read more We applied online, set up a zoom interview, and received our license in the mail with clear instructions on how to return. You're able to return it by mail but I wanted to hand it in so I can have the license right away. Parking can be a challenge but it's not too bad a block away from the building. The place is clean and organized. I came at around 930 on a Friday. Greeted quickly and handed a number. Sat for about ten minutes and had my license!

Nice little courthouse by the water. Friendly staff, easy security. It looks aged in the hallways…read morebut the court rooms are nice, renovated and modern.

Bring a coat and warm pants, I brought lightweight versions of each just in case and was still…read moreshivering, along with many others. They say to come at 8:30, but the only thing worth coming before that is to get parking in the small lot next to the courthouse. If you find yourself with extra time beforehand, there's a path and a beach just across the street. Airport style security does not involve removing shoes. They let me in with my salad and chopsticks without a second glance. Also my poi made it in, a performance art prop, that I take with me everywhere. If you're at the end of the line entering the building (because you were off on a fun walk and not standing in line for half an hour to enter the building), you may be told that the jury assembly room is full and that you'll had to wait outside on some benches. This happened to me. The sounds of voices down the hallway are semi muted and semi echoey. There's no explanation for what comes next, when you're sitting outside the room, just the instructions to wait outside the room. I haven't been to any other courthouse in the Bay Area, so I can't compare. I have to say, expectations have not been set appropriately for the 8 of us sitting outside the room right now. And we still have no idea of the time we are summoned for today. Some time later into orientation... the group of us waiting outside the room have been let into the room to stand. There was a long introduction speech that contained about 10% useful information. It felt like we were getting a review of the courthouses in Oakland (learned that it is 7$ parking over there). Now the TV / DVD isn't working and we're all sitting around while potential jurors volunteer to try to debug the system. 5 minutes and counting... the potential juror trying to help just slapped the DVD player... Apparently the video is just to tell us about the first day. If not selected for today, dismissed for 12 months. Otherwise, depends on judge and case. 3 hours after start time, I've effectively completed one questionnaire and now we are released until tomorrow morning. Day 2 update! Line up to enter at 8:40, get in at 8:50, they've run out of work slips. Told to wait outside jury summons room, attendant will collect us and bring us to court before 9am start time. 8:58am and attendant hasn't come, a group of us walk downstairs and enter courtroom just before 9am. Sometime around 9:10am, roll call is taken to figure out who the missing person is. Sometime later judge enters. Everyone stands, everyone sits. 9:40am: judge explained that they had to call in another pool of potential jurors and asks us to return 9am next day to be selected with the other pool, and dismisses us for the day. Why couldn't they just give us a call? There's only 20 of us left in the pool.

This organization is so defunct, it is beyond explanation…read more Got a ticket? Cool, try paying it... Gotta work with the city? As a sole proprietor or fortune 500? Get to the back of the que, which is five hours long... Oh, and our automated phone system? State of the art in 1997. It's a perfect labyrinth, there is no actual way out except hanging up on the minotaur after you starve yourself to death and give up in abject apathy... We like to think of ourselves as the personification of government irresponsibility. We have realized final metamorphosis of organization. We are perfection and YOU have no chance. One less cog in the wheel affects us none the less. Good luck and goodbye, ~Alameda City Hall

Today was our 1st time here at the city hall....I was lucky to get a sweet front roll parking in…read morefront of this place... Nice day to walking around downtown Hayward after finishing out business with the city hall..

Hayward City Hall located at 777 B Street is the best place to go for Passport Services. Briea in…read morethe passport office was friendly and very helpful. She provided clear information and reviewed my application, resulting in a quick turn-around time. I received my new passport that expires in 2035.

Went to drop off my ballot at the Alameda County Courthouse drop box. The Registrar of Voters set…read moreup a couple of drive up ballot drop off stations at 13th St. and Fallon. They were ready, PPP and tongs. No doubt they anticipate a rush but also given the FAKE ballot boxes put up by the GOP motherfuckers, this is added security. Nicely done. Give them credit for doing an excellent job and protecting democracy.

The Registrar of Voters has got the right message for a government entity: they train their…read moretemporary election workers that the objective is for the voters to have a positive experience! Obviously also, the Registrar insists upon an honest election conducted within the laws allowing all qualified voters to cast their secret ballot, and also the Registrar seeks to give the taxpayers value for their money. In increasingly many ways, the Registrar puts advancing technology to work delivering cost effective services.

Disappointed and frustrated with APD's inaction and unhelpfulness with a crazy-making situation…read morewith a toxic neighbor. I have an upstairs neighbor who has been causing a relentless noise disturbance in my home, using some vibrating sound machine every day and at nearly all hours. Attempts to discuss the issue with the neighbor directly and respectfully have only resulted in her spitefully ramping up the noise assault. It has made for a truly unbearable living situation. My property management company has been useless (see previous review of Drysdale Property Management), so I reached out to APD for help. I called and reported the situation, and an officer called me back a short time later. I explained the situation in detail, stressed the seriousness of matter, and pleaded for any assistance they could provide to put a stop to this. The officer told me he would talk to the neighbor and Drysdale and get back to me. Then... nothing. Not another word about the matter. I called and left a voicemail for the officer asking for a follow-up, and still got nothing. Meanwhile the noise assault continues, and I have been pretty much displaced from my home, as I literally cannot be in my apartment when this noise machine is running, which is all waking hours of every day. The neighbor turns the machine on first thing in the morning and leaves for the day, leaving the noise on, and not turning it off until nighttime. When I called APD for help, it was for a reason. If the situation wasn't serious, or could be handled any other way, I wouldn't be calling. So treat it seriously. APD should have visited my residence, listened to the noise for themselves, then made in-person contact with the offending neighbor and put the neighbor on notice that the noise harassment is unacceptable and needs to stop. A phone call is not an appropriate response in a situation like this. A visit from the police sends a message. A phone call much less so. I still have no idea if the APD even talked to the neighbor, as there has been zero follow-up. This isn't the first time I've noticed passiveness from the APD, especially in recent years. Slow response times (if they respond at all), phone calls instead of in-person visits, and a hands-off approach seem to have become more the rule than the exception, and I'm not the only one in town who has noticed this. I know police departments across the country have experienced major public blow-back for excessive force in the past, but the solution is not going in the extreme opposite direction, and just not intervening in situations that deserve to be handled seriously and promptly. I will give the officer I spoke with credit for advising me how to go about addressing this through the legal system, but I still expected more of an assertive response from the APD themselves. I expected help. This is what we pay taxes for. The only time I see APD reliably showing up these days is in the South Shore shopping center, apprehending shoplifters. Because when it comes to a business' bottom line being affected, they're on it, but when it comes to a crazy neighbor making your life a living hell, you're on your own, and good luck dealing with the clown show known as civil court. Unacceptable.

We are on our own. This has become more and more evident as…read morewe see APD just not handling calls seriously. When someone calls regarding an issue it is serious and should not be taken lightly. Hence, put down your coffee and donut and check out the complaint in person. Find out what is going on. Talk to the parties involved in person not by a phone call. Show up in person. It's amazing the impact an officer at your door has. There is no way to investigate via phone calls. I know, I know dealing with people face to face can be confrontational but that's your job. And if someone needs to be detained then cuff them and haul them off. And if you the police don't intevene in conflicts, the peeps will, and it more than likely is not going to turn out well. I'm not sure when the shift happened but it did. Not too long ago Alameda Police would be showing up promptly, banging on doors, and getting problems solved. Not any more. Not sure if it's part of this upside-down 'criminals and other troublemakers are the victims' mentality, or what. But there has definitely been a shift in how things are handled. I do see a lot of police presence at South Shore though. And there is a lot of crime there but we have criminals and troublemakers in the residential areas also that need to be dealt with. Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge supporter of the police. I have multiple friends on the force in different cities and counties so this isn't random cop bashing. But from what I've seen, APD has abandoned their responsibilities to the law abiding citizens of Alameda and that needs to change now.

There's a very rude "Karen" lady working at the window number 8, appointment window…read more I went to renew my DL. Did the eye exam, my right eye was perfect, but left right wasn't so good. So she told me to go to window number 23 to do another eye exam looking thru something that looks like a binocular. First, I did it without my eyeglasses on but failed. I asked the lady I want to try with my eyeglasses on. She said in that case you're gonna have to go back in line and wait. WtH. It probably takes about a minute to finish. I don't know why she told me to get back in line. That's like you walk into a bank and tell the teller that you want to deposit a check and withdraw some cash, but saying you can deposit your check, but you're gonna have to get back in line to withdraw your cash. No wonder this place has a lot of bad reviews. A few days later I went to the DMV in Hayward. I was able to renew my license in 10 minutes without any problems. If you want to get a job at this Oakland location, be sure to put. I am very good at coping an attitude, giving people a hard time, unprofessional, rude and yelling at people as a job skill, you will be hired on spot 100%.

Thank you Yelp for being here when I need you. I need to vent sooooooo bad!…read more My insurance agency just called and apparently my license was revoked - 8 months ago!!! How in the world is it that I had no idea whatsoever this was happening? I was in an accident that was the the other driver's fault, but I didnt have my license with me so received a fix it ticket for not carrying my license. One week later, I had it signed off by my local friendly ocifer and took it to the courthouse. A few hours of my time wasted but that was that, all taken care of. But, apparently NOT. I guess somehow the paperwork was lost at the courthouse. AND THIS IS HOW I FOUND OUT. So now I get to spend my Saturday in the skanky over crowded pit of anger that is the Oakland DMV. And the kicker is I can't even drive there because it would be a major crime of some sort. Someone just shoot me. Now.

Alameda County rules! Its outstanding climate and proximity to San Francisco make it an excellent…read moreplace to live. But please move somewhere else instead, we have enough traffic and jacked-up housing costs.

I cannot say enough good things about this process serving company…read more A special thank you to Henry and LaToya who were extremely professional and knowledgable. Henry sense of humor helped ease my nervousness and made the entire experience much less overwhelming. Once I had all of my paperwork in order, they moved at lightning speed. The individual was served almost immediately. I highly recommend this company. Their expertise, responsiveness, and outstanding customer service made all the difference.

Henry and Latoya are great! Their motto is "Delivering results, not promises," and that was exactly…read moremy experience. After cautioning me about all the ways process serving could go wrong (ie being honest vs. chatting me up to get my business), they got the job done on the same day; and I couldn't be happier with their service. While this was my first and hopefully last time needing to serve court papers to someone, I would 100% hire this team again should the need arise. Worth every penny for the peace of mind.