Ken wrote on Nov 19, 2008 7:27 PM:What a joke! I used to work there. Know what happens when the counters close and the department doors are closed? The clerks get to chat and play on the computers. Oh, they ALL have internet access. And they use it! They're pampered and overpaid! Taxpayers need to demand more of their public agencies or else stop supporting them!

BK wrote on Nov 19, 2008 8:09 PM:Cut services, save A+++++++ Pensions
Same ol' story
City pensions up to and over TEN TIMES
what Social Security Pays out.
Times are a change'n

Wonderful wrote on Nov 20, 2008 3:04 AM:I had the unfortunate task of asking for paperwork at Vista. I felt like a ping pong ball. I was bounced around to at least 5 different people before getting a resolution. I cannot wait until lay offs hit ...

Dave wrote on Nov 20, 2008 3:17 AM:I Agree with those first two posts. I checked the court's webpage. You can view job descriptions, qualifications and compensations. The court operations clerk III makes nearly $50,000!! The post does NOT require a college degree, or any college whatever!!! These folks are WHINING about coasting on Easy Street! Sack 'em all and hire people willing to WORK for a living!!!! No sympathy here!

Larry wrote on Nov 20, 2008 6:37 AM:Good. This will give the judges more time to figure out how to overturn the Proposition 8 results.

John E wrote on Nov 20, 2008 7:28 AM:Public servants should be put on Social Security and 401-Ks, like the rest of us, and they should have to buy their own health insurance after retirement, again as the rest of us do.

Employee wrote on Nov 20, 2008 8:22 AM:Hey Ken. We work very very hard here. We are allowed to use the internet for breaks and lunch only. Don't make sweeping generalizations about everyone that are not true when maybe that's what you used to do. Maybe that's why you don't work here anymore...

slackeremployee wrote on Nov 20, 2008 9:38 AM:Yes Employee,

You work hard? Sure you do. Look at the time of your post....8:22 a.m. and you are surfing the net. Get off your chair and help the person at the desk.

Hard Working Employee wrote on Nov 20, 2008 10:10 AM:Ken, you should use your brain before sharing your thoughtless, generalized opinions and making everyone think that all of us are doing the same thing. Most of us work so hard we are constantly dealing with carpal tunnel and tendonitis and it's NOT from using the Internet!!

Mayra wrote on Nov 20, 2008 10:19 AM:So is that why it takes about an hour on the phone to get through to anyone at this courthouse?

Another employee wrote on Nov 20, 2008 12:22 PM:Yes, I use the Internet on the job. So? I also take about 5 or six breaks every hour. We all do. The last thing we care about is getting paperwork for you people who are constantly in and out of court.

P. L. wrote on Nov 20, 2008 1:47 PM:Why would anyone want more layoffs! This country needs more folks employed. The Court employees pay into Soc. Sec. and Disability Insur just like everyone else. Court employees pay much of their own medical and retirement benefits. There are no matching funds for 401's. If an employee can afford a 401 they pay all of it themselves. If the way of doing business in the court seems archaic, well it is done according to legal mandates. This is done with very old inadequate computer programs and some "back in the day" techniques. However, these things cannot be changed by the office workers. Governing bodies have to make the changes within the budgetary and legal constraints. Lets hope they get to hire more workers and get more folks employeed and better customer service.

Well... wrote on Nov 20, 2008 2:27 PM:Since no one follows the law any more--- or at least it isn't being enforced as it should--- this seems to be a logical end result of an overload of cases.

I wonder how many of these "cases" involve "foreign nationals"? Man, the sound of "foreign nationals" is like sugar on the tongue.

Agree wWonderful wrote on Nov 20, 2008 2:30 PM:I also have the unpleasant task of filing paperwork at Vista court for our law firm. The clerks are rude and lack customer service and plain old-fashioned people skills. These clerks have worked there for many many years and are simply no longer able to deal with the public. I say get rid of all of them. Hire new people at a lower pay scale and start fresh. Out with the old!!

Oh Please wrote on Nov 20, 2008 3:29 PM:it has ALWAYS been this way. It is not the economy it is typical government workers and lack of organization and accountability! And people want the government to take over healthcare??? Get rid of some rediculous law suits and free up the courts! Privatize the admin functions and that will fix it.

ac wrote on Nov 20, 2008 6:46 PM:For those of you dissatified with Customer Service at the Court and who may be going there as a first timer, you msy want to take your gripe to those who keep on coming back time after time for the same offenses, making a profession out of it and clogging up the System!!

another opinion wrote on Nov 20, 2008 9:02 PM:I have extensive experience with most of the San Diego courts. Although you will find incompetence, poor customer service and lack of interest in all the departments,I do not think it is the norm. Most of the employees are courteous and do their best considering the (read above)rudeness and hostility directed at them. Court employees are generaly not on the positive side of the transaction, they provide a service to people who in most cases would rather be somewhere/anywhere else. Divorce, Civil suits, Small Claims and Criminal cases, none of those have the most positive of vibes. Add to that, shortages of staff, more paperwork and you have a no win situation. So, they want to close the doors an hour early to try to keep up, deal with it.

Yet another employee wrote on Nov 24, 2008 12:21 PM:To those of the public that are dissatisfied with the customer service and timeliness of the court...stop suing each other over petty things in small claims, stop filing for divorces, paternity tests, child visitation & support and domestic restraining orders in family, stop suing over every car accident, doctor you don't like, person you don't get along with in civil. Also paying your rent, car payments and credit card bills would omit nearly half of the civil cases worked on daily. Don't fight over estates of the deceased like uncaged animals in probate. And lastly, if you don't want to deal with the court don't commit crimes & break laws...this includes those of you who cry over why you have to wait in line to pay your speeding ticket, grow up and take responsibility for your actions. And as to the phone lines, if you listen to the prompts and press the correct number you'll get to the department you want immediately...if it's taking you an hour you don't know how to listen. And to the attorney service runners, if you don't like the rules and procedures of the court because you don't get special treatment, get a new job. P.S. It is 12:20pm, lunch hour.

Employee X wrote on Dec 1, 2008 12:12 PM:I have worked for the court for more than ten years. I have never met a more organized and professional group of people in my life. I used to work for a private law firm, and people told me I was crazy to want to work for the court because everyone there was a dead end bureaucrat. Nothing could be further from the truth. This morning the new office hours went into effect and ALL of the clerks in the area where I work were in the file room dealing with the filing backlog. They were not surfing the Internet. We have been dealing with a personnel shortages since the last state budget crisis four years ago. We are not city employees, so the City of San Diego pension debacle does not apply to us, thank you very much. We work very hard here and maintain our professional demeanor despite constant verbal abuse from the public. We make less money than our counterparts in the private legal community, so we deserve our pensions.