News Scrapbook 1982-1984

Section D

nDiegoUnion

SENTINEL FEB 1 9 1984 PB site of a dispute mediator? Center could help resolve problems in neighborhoods By DAVID HARPSTER S..•n(tnPI Staff James Zito couldn't have timed his announcement bet- ter. The same week that U.S. Chief Justice Warren Burger urged Americans to quit suing each other so much, Zito urged the Pacific Beach Town Coun- cil to accept his proposal to establish a legal dispute center in the community. Needless to say, Zito's plan which would give locals a means to sol vc their neighborhood arguments without going before a judge - was met with enthusiasm. "If you can reach a solution over your neighbor's barking dog without having to hire an expensive lawyer and go to court, why not have the means to do so?" the 30-year-old at- torney said A Pacific Beach resident for the last five years, Zito said clinic would help locals iron out problems with their neighbors and businesses quickly and at no cost. If his plan is materialized and Zito says several people have already volunteered to help out - the center would utilize a mediator, who would bring the parties at odds face- to-face and "get to the root of their disputes." "It's actually better than go- ing to court because here you'd resolve problems rather than have a judge determine mere liability or guilt," he said. "It gets at the causes of disputes and brings about an agreement. "You also don't have to go out and hire a lawyer for $1,500 to get your neighbor to turn down his stereo." More than 90 percent of the cases mediated in similar centers in the city have been resolved successfully, noted Zito, who said he will volunteer his time as a mediator if his plan gets off the ground. Zito, who is trying to drum up financial support and neighborhood acceptance of the settlement center said Pacific Beach is an ideal place !or it _because of its community identity. People will tend to be more sincere in keeping their half of the bargain once a dispute is resolved, he said. The center would probably be staffed with volunteer mediators and, once the scope of the agency is formalized, a secretary and a director. "We'll also need a space to operate out of and a phone,'' he added.

The Arts

tarday, February 11, 1984

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (0. 127,454)

Jl.llm '•

, ,

P. c. e

tHRH

The San Diego Union Don Barlletli

Golden Hill mediator Anne Reidman looks on as Matthew Liedle, left, and Robert Baca engage in a mock dispute. Mediators patch rifts in Golden Hill By Scott LaFee

ing her afternoon naps. Her solution was to hose the kids down. Their answer was to throw a rock at her door. She responded by return- ing the rock through one of her neighbor's windows. Both parties were willing to accept a mediated solution but neither could come down to the center Liedle set up a table on the woman's lawn and they got down to business. "The family spoke only Spamsh and the woman had trouble communicating," Liedle recalls "It all came down to the laundry. The neighbor agreed not to put laundry on the fence and the woman agreed to give more clothesline space." Arguments, it seems, always come down to something else. For Jerry and Rick, it wasn't so much the money as the frustration of a failing business and not knowing what would happen next. For the elderly widow, it was the memory of her husband. For the woman with dog leav- ings on her porch, it was a case of hurt feelings. "The woman was very upset about the situation and she wanted us to stop it," said Liedle. "I asked her if she knew why her neighbor might have placed dog droppings on her doorstep. She said the neighbor thought her dog was run- ning around too much. I asked, kind of embarrassingly, 'Well, do you know if the stuff belongs to your dog?' And she said, 'No, that's why I'm so mad. It's her dog's.' "So I called the other woman and she said the reason was the dog was running around too much. I said, 'The way your neighbor explains it, the droppings are your dog's and not hers.' " 'You're damn right it was my dog's,' she said. 'I couldn't get any of her dog's. It was running around so much.' " The women agreed to discuss the problem with a me- diator. Liedle says it soon became clear the women had once been good friends. They used to meet in the morning for coffee and talk. Then one woman's work schedule changed and when she didn't show up for a week, the other woman started getting aggravated about the dog. Before that, there had been no problem.

was the friendship. Jerry, the company's owner, was sell- ing very few machines and paying Rick only part of his salary and commission. "The tensions began building and there was a lot of arguing about silly things. Mostly reasons why we weren't making money," said Jerry. "Then we had a very severe row. I realized something had to be done. I didn't want to be fighting a friend ." Someone suggested they try the mediation center. The men were doubtful, but they went. Each was convinced the other was too steadfast to compromise. Wermers was the mediator. "I made some ground rules and tried to get them to be clear about the dispute. I tried to find points of agreement that they didn't see and what they really disagreed upon." Apparently. it wasn't much "In three hours," said Rick, 'we found we could agree on a lot." Jerry agreed to a 'The place is fantastic. It's too bad our legal system doesn't function as well as the center.' fixed repayment schedule. Rick agreed to drop some of his demands. Both agreed to speak to one another. A d they agreed about the center. "The place is fantastic," says Jerry. "It's too bad our legal system doesn't function as well as the center. There are no winners and losers. The process just keeps pound- ing for a common ground." It was common g10und, or more precisely a common fence, that helped push a dispute between an elderly widow and her handicapped neighbor to a rock-throwing climax. The story, as Liedle tells it One day, the widow found her neighbor's laundry hanging over the cham-lmk tence dividing their property. The widow's husband had built the fence and, in a way, it represented him. She didn't appreciate the laundry draped over her husband's work or the children playing alongside the fence and interrupt-

The woman was angry and confused. It's one thing to be upset with a neighbor. That happens all the lime. It's quite another to find dog leavmgs on your doorstep. Something like that flies in the face of common decen• cy Especially if it isn't even your dog's doings. Matthew Liedle smiles at the recollection. The Golden Hill Mediation Center doesn't often handle cases involv- mg omething as personal as dog droppings. Residents usually take care of that themselves. Mostly, L1edle sees ordinary disputes· tenants with leaking apartment pipes and apathetic landlords; unhap- py owners of crippled cars that supposedly had been recently repaired. The stuff of commonplace conflict. It's been nine months smce Liedle and fellow director Arlene Kirsch opened the mediation center on the second floor of a Victorian buildmg at 1004 24th St. At the time it opened, it was the first privately funded neighborhood mediation center m San Diego Now there are centers in Mira Mesa and Santee The pomt of a mediation center is to resolve disputes before they end up in court or at the police station. Gold- en Hill was chosen because it is a diverse community of Filipinos, blacks, whites and Hispanics living close to- gether. That diversity is represented in the center's 15 volun- teer mediators. "They come in all races, ages, occupa- tions and languages," says Liedle. "The youngest is 28, the olde ·t in her early 50s. They are husbands, housewives, contractors, religion teachers and court reporters. They all have some connection to the neighborhood." Though Liedle and Kirsch screen requests for services, the bulk of the work is done in confidential sessions by mediators like Jim Wermers Jr. Wermers, a building contractor, says the secret is simply finding the middle ground. Still, it doesn't always work, says Liedle. "Some people would rather live with the conflict, but we do have an 89 percent success rate." Consider the case of Jerry and Rick, a couple of would- be electronics entrepreneurs, who were trying to market a video editing machine. Thf'ir business was failing and so

Imperial Beach, CA (San Diego Co.) Imperial Star Beach News (Cir. 2xW. 2,087)

Eventually, the women agreed to build a communal dog run. And they agreed to get together for coffee again. LaFee is a free-laDce writer. eek board seats for utility consumer group .~ , . " Pat_ton, a retired Mar!nes Corps Those elected to h . . You re mad, Mr. President! officer and now president of vol t . t e board are uve m dealing wi"th th · ,, · d Edd" w· h • , Id . a un eermg their f h . e issues cr~e 1e. It out thmkmg, he go mme leasing firm · and The w·u _ime, s e said. said Kevin Cahill t b' seized the watch and dashed from Joseph W. Egan of El CaJ·o'n 1 . YUC 1 no_t receive compensa- for PUC "Th ' · mem er h O I Off . . . , ex- 10n. AN 15 ho · e process is so t e va ice. ecut1ve vice president of Uni·vers· 1 . ' wever, current- complex there B h· d · . 1- Y acceptmg appi" f , are so many d e m him, a gra~ hair pop- ty Ene~gy, a co-generat ion full -time executa 10 ~~ for a issues, that one small pricing pe out of the president's left corporation. which is a sal . ive . . irector, issue gone unnoticed can af . temple and the shadow of a According to Gayle Takahashi Att aned position. the utility's whole P . . feet crow's foot darkened his right spokeswoman for UCAN voter; memborneys and _other staff The more ears ;1c1~g system. eye.. He sank weakly into his must sel~ct their candidat;s based funds e;~;i~:~s\paid out of t~e better." e ave, the chair and pushed a button. on the mformation included in fees Y membership It's never too late t b "S t s · ? " h "d th · • o ecome a ecre_ ~rv1c~. e_ sai , a _e votmg packets . Each packet "B . member of UCAN T • c1ack m his voice. "Fmd Eddie will contain each individual's board te ~1me we have a n_ew noted . SDG&E cus~om~~ahash1 Hocknager._ He stole my watch." backg~ound and statements budge~ 0 ; 1 2:I~a~e; workm~ would like to join are ur:e;~~ San Diego, CA (San Diego Co ) Evening Trlbu~e (D. 127,454) B 2 S 1 4

Jl.llf!n'•

/ r

P C B

tH

l~bere Is your utility bill too high? If you were one of many San Diegans who recently answerec;I "yes" to this question asked by the newly formed Utility Con- umers Action Network; chances are you've already mailed in your $4 per adult membership fee and become one of 52 ,000 ratepayers who have joined this advocacy group working for lower utility bills. With over $270,000 collected thus far, UCAN will hire lawyers, rate experts, and accountants to represo::nt the interests of con- sumers before 1he state Public Utililics Commission (PUC) which sets rates and regulates th; electric, gas and telephone s.ervices . UCAN was flfst ini1iated by Michael Shames, a tudent who monitored the ac1ivites of the PUC as an mtern . hamen knew of.a similar consumer group call- ed the Wisconsin Consumer Utili- ty Board and thought the idea would serve San Diegans well. The organuation urpassed its fellow acronym agencies scrambl- ing for grants and public recogni- tion last April when PUC com- ~issioners grant~d the still fledg_l- mg group the right to send its pitch for funds and membership thr?ugh monthly bill , a move which not only saves UCAN thou ands of dollars, but ensures that the message is hitting con- . umers at the right time - as get a look t the size of their gas and Pie I ri bill. ~----~........J

LA JOLLA LIGHT f£B 2 3 1984

USO - "The Indignant Ar- tist," an exhibition .that in- cludes visual expression of ar- tists' protest and social com- ment from the 17th to the 20 th century, will be on display at the Founders Gallery thrpugh March 27. 29 J-6480.

...

Jl.!len~

join by maili·ng th • dress and $4 contr"b UCAN p O B

akahash1

'

'

s •d a1

.

regardmg the issues.

A magruficent chase ensued White House. But the Secret Ser- th h th "d f roug e com ors o the Rocknager. .T~ey did, however, locate the missmg watch. A baby boy was playing with it in the Lincoln Bedroom. Indeed, the baby cried lustily when the president smilingly removed the watch from his pudgy little fingers. "Sorry about all the distur- bance, Mr. President," said the head of the Secret Service detail. "Think the culprit may have been in the pay of your enemies - like vice never did :ind Eddie

.

P. C B

e1r name ad 1 ution fee to: · ' -

'

l.

.

ltJ8X

' I

/ ~~exican university delay pact

"O

· suspect some of them w·II

1 ~71~

ver th e ye~rs, the PUC has :~~o;ei non-mterested parties

callin

by

campaign

c:N

O

Diego,,caiif.", 9~:1111~23, San information, call 293 _;;0;ore

phone," she added . '~But ~t

.

th

Q~ing of an agreement bet tonomous University of Mex· c·tween S.fill Diego, scheduled for to ico

really be lo" key." to he~p present a ce an alternative perspec- -~---~--===:=:;-~---------~ balan sd

e Na_tiona_l Au- I y a~d the ~tyof

'

or

291-6480 e t 4383

The postponement d morrow, will be rescheduled. which will establish aca': _not ;tfect the _agreement, the two universities S ~1c an cultur~I ties between rector, said yesterd~y. ara Fmn, USO public-relations di- Dr. Octavio Rivero Serra . university and h• .d ~o! president of the Mexican would be ~nable : !(t:dn~ifled USO officials that theY, "There was e ceremony,. being on camp:'J:ie~em~rgeCn_cy wh!ch necessitated thei xico 1ty," Fmn said.

·

x ·

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (D. 127,454)

F B22194 Jl.ll~n 's P. c. B

•

THE TRIBUNE FEB 2 3 1984

, "

1888

Cttdidate, 21, urges help for seniors By Elizabeth Wong

USD, Mexican university delay pact The signin~ of a_n agreement between the National Au- tono~ous Umvers1ty of Mexico City and the University of San Diego, scheduled for tomorrow, will be rescheduled. ~he ~tponen:ient does not affect the agreement, which will _esta~l~sh academic and cultural ties between the two u~1vers1ties, Sara Finn, USO public-relations di- rector, said yesterday. ~r. ~tavio Riyer? Serrano, president of the Mexican umversity, and bis aides notified USO officials that they w~~ld be unable to attend the ceremony,. .There was some emergency which necessitated thei bemg on campus in Mexico City," Finn said. r

Mar Shores School site presently ~sed by MiraCosta Colleg~ as a satel- lite_ campus, might accommodate a . :rsly, there IS no _semor cen- Mar, and there IS a need in the community for such a center" ::ne~t said._ "Hopef~lly, there wiil . ~1mple, mexpens1v~ answer for e m erun. That is, until the Power- ~ouse (Park) site or a permanent sen- 10r center could be built." According to the 1980 census, 760 er m th semor center "Ob · · . t

of the city's 5,127 residents - or nearly 15 percent - are 55 or older. Councilman Lou Terrell bas asked ~arnett, who made bis request dur- ~ng a _council meeting this week, to mvestigate the matter further. Barnett, '!ho says he has attended every_council meeting since January 1982 , is a political science student at the University of Sao Di<:!go and a member ?f the city Traffic Advisory Comm1ss1on.

Tribune Staff Writer

A 21-year-old Del Mar Cit candidate says the city /hoCuolduncbell omg more for its senior citizens . Scott Barnett, the youngest of . d · .

f

.

three

e1gbt people seekin seats in the A ril asked the city ti allow de! Mar as a tern

. council

~!

O

the council chambers at 1050 Camino

.

rar

y meetmg

po

place.

He also ha

s suggested that the Del