Mediation Center Gives Small Claims a Big Hand

Steven Ling, agent for the owner of an Arcadia apartment building, did not want to cause trouble for a tenant who moved out still owing $510.

The tenant’s check had bounced because her former boyfriend had withdrawn funds from their joint bank account. In an effort to settle the matter, Ling and the former tenant went to the Community Dispute Resolution Center in Pasadena.

“The tenant knew I didn’t want to go to small claims court, so she was reasonable about going to the center,” Ling said.

“We met in April with the mediator, Peg Holton,” Ling said. “Peg worked out a schedule in which the tenant agreed to make monthly payments of $100. She has made the first payment and it worked out because both of us were willing to resolve the dispute.”

The center was founded four years ago to keep such minor disputes from clogging the legal system. Since then, 95% of the 1,800 cases handled have been resolved successfully, Executive Director Frank Zupan said.

“Most disputes are resolved in one session that rarely lasts more than an hour,” said Holton, who is in charge of community outreach. “It is businesslike but relaxed, with the mediator trying to defuse hostilities. Generally one person will make a concession and then it is easier for the other person to do it too.”

The center, 330 S. Oak Knoll Ave., uses 11 volunteer mediators who handle 60 to 80 cases each month. Referrals come from the courts, police, former clients and community organizations.

The nonprofit organization was started with funds provided by the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation, which had researched other centers across the country. The foundation, which no longer has ties to the center, agreed to finance it for two years with a beginning annual budget of $70,000.

Among the founding members who still serve on the board of directors are Dorothy Nelson, a U. S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judge, and her husband, James Nelson, a Los Angeles Municipal Court judge.

The board also includes a deputy district attorney, the assistant to the Pasadena police chief, the president of the Parsons Corp. and three attorneys.

Most of the cases handled by the center involve landlord-tenant disputes. Others include consumer-merchant disagreements, disputes between neighbors, domestic disputes and auto accidents.

And it is not uncommon for a case to involve an animal.

For example, Niall Hassett of Hayes and Co., a Pasadena property management company, faced a problem in which a tenant’s dog ruined the garden at an apartment building.

“The tenant was moving out and wanted his security deposit back, but we wanted the garden fixed,” Hassett said.

Compromise Arranged

“We went to the center last December and the tenant got his security deposit but he paid to fix the garden.”

Solutions like that are common, the mediators said. Both parties must be prepared to give a little.

Holton said emotions are especially intense in neighborhood disputes because conflicts may be longstanding.

In one case, a couple filed a complaint against a neighbor because a branch from a tree in his yard fell and damaged the couple’s fence. Neither party had insurance and the tree owner was angry because he thought the couple had insulted him.

As a result of the mediation, both parties agreed to help rebuild the fence.

Holton said that a hidden problem often underlies a conflict between neighbors.

Trying to Get Attention

“Often an elderly person will say the neighbor’s children annoy her when actually she feels lonely and ignored so she picks on the children to get attention,” she said.

“Sometimes the outcome is that the children do yardwork for the senior citizen and everyone is happy. Those cases are very rewarding for us.”

Auto accident disputes often involve a party at fault who has no insurance. In those cases, she said, a payment schedule is set.

Financing for the center’s $200,000 annual budget comes from corporate and foundation grants. Under a new state law, however, the center will be eligible for a portion of a $3 fee to be collected when a civil case is filed in a local court.

“Our center and one in Santa Monica are the only two in the county,” Zupan said, “but once the money from the courts is available, I expect that 10 to 15 additional centers will open.

Still Must Raise Funds

“We hope to collect some of this money by January but the law provides that it cannot be more than 50% of our budget so we will still have to raise funds.”

Zupan, Judy Skalnik, who acts as mediation coordinator, Holton and a secretary are the only paid members of the staff. Holton and Skalnik also serve as mediators.

A case begins when someone files a complaint and pays a $5 fee, Holton said. The center then sends a letter to the other party and, if that person agrees to participate, the complainant and respondent meet with a mediator. In those cases, the conflict is either settled or ends up in court.

The unpaid volunteer mediators range from an attorney to a college student to a chef, all of whom like to work with people, Holton said.

“It’s a way of serving the community and I am putting myself in the other person’s shoes, so it is educational for me,” said Stephen Licata, 27, who has been a mediator since May, 1986.

“I am interested in helping society defuse problems at the grass-roots level.”

People-Oriented Work

Licata, an engineer who works for Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said that listening and mediation skills are valuable in his work since much of it is people-oriented.

“The process of mediation is applicable to just about anything in life,” he said.

Skalnik served as mediator in a case in which one party refused to cooperate but Skalnik’s efforts so impressed the client that he asked her to speak to a support group for those going through a divorce.

“I would recommend the center to anybody in any dispute where two people can be brought to the table and they are looking for a reasonable resolution,” said one Temple City man, even though he and his wife could not work out child and spousal support and visitation rights at the center.

“Presently I am in court and I’ve paid one hell of a lot more than $5,” he said.

The center began a special referral program with the East Los Angeles Municipal Court in August, 1986. Those with minor disputes are told about the center.

The court administrator, Juana Conrad, reported that during the three months after the program started, 1,176 small-claims cases were filed. Of those, 160 were referred to the center and only 18 returned to the court, she said. The center’s success saved an estimated $250,000 in court costs.

To help those who decide to seek help at the center rather than file a suit, a satellite office was established at the Roybal Health Center in East Los Angeles.

“The center is attractive to litigants because of the low cost, speedy time in resolving the dispute and the fact that a self-made agreement is a better outcome than a judicial order,” Conrad said.

“I believe it is a good way to help cases stay out of the court system that shouldn’t have been here in the first place. It would help to have a mediator on the premises, but in our case they are nearby.”

Increase in Filings

Dominic Polimeni, administrator of the Alhambra Municipal Court, said that he has been working with the center since last March but that there had nonetheless been an increase in small claims suit filings.

As in the other courts, Polimeni’s deputy clerks give brochures to people who intend to file a claim about the center, but he does not share Conrad’s enthusiasm for the program.

“It is a good opportunity if the court system can’t handle the cases but otherwise they should go to court because once the decision is made it is a solid decision,” he said. “It is the ultimate resolution of the dispute.”

In Pasadena Municipal Court, which has been referring people to the center for only a month, administrator Earl Bradley said the idea has yet to catch on.

“There is no question that it will be beneficial when the community becomes aware and warms up to it,” he said. “But word of mouth is more successful than handing out pamphlets.”

Programs for Teen-Agers

The center has started two new programs aimed at teen-agers.

In one pilot program, students at San Gabriel High School received 10 hours of training in conflict management and how to communicate. Plans call for the training to be expanded to the Pasadena Unified School District.

In the other program, the center works with parents and juveniles in cases in which a youngster has been charged with offenses such as truancy or as a runaway.

Meanwhile, the center continues to focus on adult disputes, no two of which are exactly alike, Holton said.

“The type of case may be similar but the personalities are different,” she said.

But there are exceptions.

An admitted prostitute complained that one customer had stopped payment on a check. After mediation, he agreed to pay the cost of her services with a money order.