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Published on 01/12/1998 All articles from this issue

Mediation: A way to fix feuds

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By Linda Taaffe

Town Crier Staff Writer

Programs available for those able to compromise in neighborhood disputes

Somewhere in every American neighborhood, there is at least one Hatfield and one McCoy feuding over broken fences, overgrown trees, rental agreements or barking dogs. Experts say if each of these neighbors took all of their complaints to court, there would be about 100 million new court cases in the United States.

It's no wonder community mediation programs are popping up in cities across the nation to help prevent neighbor issues from escalating into neighborhood wars.

The Los Altos Mediation Program is just one such community program. It is a free mediation program that provides disputing parties in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills the opportunity to reach an agreeable solution under the guidance of a neutral third party. Unlike court, the program is voluntary, confidential and unless agreed upon, the outcome is not legally binding.

Los Altos Mayor Kris Casto said the city doesn't always have the authority to rule on certain issues, but "mediation fills that niche where the city has little control."

Casto said the city council has recommended mediation in situations in which no one has broken any city codes, but a neighborhood issue exists. She said if a resident with health problems wanted his neighbors to stop using their fireplace, for example, the city could recommend mediation. She said, "Where else do we go? The city doesn't have a code to say 'stop burning.'"

Casto said she has seen a 10-year feud start with mixed feelings about a room addition and end with one neighbor cutting down the other neighbor's shrubbery.

"I've seen people do just anything to make the other neighbor mad," Casto said. "I'm delighted that mediation can help the community responsibly solve its own problems if residents choose to take advantage of it."

Sarah Oeschger, code enforcement officer for the Los Altos Police Department, spends about half of her time responding to disputes between neighbors. Oeschger said she has received as many as 10 calls from one neighbor complaining about another neighbor.

Oeschger said the community mediation program has been "very beneficial" for solving neighbor issues that are not a "true code violation." Oeschger has referred two cases to mediation since August, she said. Oeschger said after recommending mediation, "there's been less calls to the police. I assume the issues have been resolved."

Cities have also turned to mediation to reach other areas of their communities. To solve the growing number of landlord-tenant issues in Mountain View arising over rent increases, the Mountain View City Council is in the process of outlining rental agreement guidelines, which include mediation participation, instead of passing mandatory rental control laws.

The program has also trickled into many elementary schools. To lessen playground disputes, children are trained to act as recess mediators.

The Los Altos City Council hired a mediator earlier this year after squabbles among council and planning commission members caused dissension at City Hall.

Ralph Vetterlein, a volunteer mediator for the mediation program in Los Altos, is quick to correct people who "think we're Judge Wapner," he said. Mediators have no clout, he said. They are trained community members who are simply there to set the ground rules so disputants can find common ground, he said.

"Mediation is a meeting of the minds," Vetterlein said. "People are allowed to hear one another and understand each other's passion and why they feel the way they do."

Founded in 1995, the Los Altos Mediation Program has assisted 782 callers and has mediated 71 cases. Of the 39 cases the mediation program accepted this past year, 12 were successfully resolved through the program, according to the association's' annual report. The remaining cases were either resolved before mediation, are still unresolved or were never mediated because one party declined. Vetterlein said the program receives many calls about disputes over barking dogs, fences, trees and rental issues.

Vetterlein said mediation is successful 90 percent of the time in cases in which both parties are willing to meet face to face. He said mediation can lead to some "strange and amazing" settlements. Vetterlein said he has seen parties settle a dispute over several thousand dollars for $1.

Vetterlein said he believes mediation compromises are successful because the solutions are based on each person's promise. "Honor is important to people," he said.

Despite the benefits, mediation is not always a successful alternative. Michael Kasperzak, a former attorney who now works as a commercial mediator and also serves as a volunteer mediator on the Peninsula Area Information and Referral Service of Palo Alto and Mountain View, said only 69 out of the 250 cases brought to the service agency resulted in mediation last year.

Kasperzak said getting the second party to agree to mediation is the most difficult part of the process. He said surveys show that only one person in 100 will agree to mediation. He said not enough people are educated about the process. Vetterlein said Los Altos' program has about a 50 percent success rate.

Mediation proved unsuccessful for Los Altos Hills residents Douglas and Steve Grimes, who say their neighbors are responsible for the ongoing avalanche of mud that destroyed their back yard during the rainy season last year and is threatening to do so again this year.

The Grimes' say the damage will cost tens of thousand of dollars to repair their yard. The two landscape architects said they attempted to resolve the situation over the telephone and then through mediation, but their neighbor declined. The Grimes said going to court seems to be the only solution.

"We're not sue-happy. We never wanted to lock horns, but going to court seems to be the only way to get any restitution," Steve said. He said his father and he would have agreed to a compromise if their neighbor had attempted to cooperate with them or at least had met with them face to face.

Alexander Traficanti, program director for Los Altos' program, said when both parties agree to mediation and are able to compromise, "it's a win-win situation." In comparison, he said, taking cases to court can be costly, time-consuming and no one ever knows who's going to win.

Kasperzak said, "mediation is better for your soul. Community programs do a lot to maintain the sense of community. It says something to the disputants to have a community lay person do the work when nothing is in it for them except to help."

Donna Shoemaker, a volunteer mediator for the Los Altos program, said residents who decide to use mediation should prepare a list of their concerns, know what they want, know what they are willing to bargain with and should be willing to make a decision at the end of the session. She said, as in any compromise, both parties should expect to lose and win part of the agreement.

The Los Altos Mediation Program will mediate neighbor-neighbor, merchant-consumer, landlord-tenant, city-resident and employer-employee cases only. For more information, call 949-5267.

For more information about the Peninsula Area Information and Referral Service, call 960-0495.