Mediation Centers Cut Down on Trials and Tribulation

By HUGO MARTIN

Sept. 15, 1991 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

A parrot that was guaranteed not to fly that flew the coop.

Three teen-age boys who tried to chop down an oak tree in a Thousand Oaks park.

A teen-ager who accidentally burned a classmate with a firecracker.

The disputes involving these parties could have gone to court, but they wound up instead in three community dispute resolution centers, which offer mediation without the cost and frustration of a court battle.

The nonprofit programs strive to keep minor squabbles from entering the court system by resolving them through negotiation. Most of the cases end in a simple handshake, but a few end with one side voluntarily paying restitution.

While court officials in Ventura County say their workload has increased over the years, they believe the dispute resolution programs have stemmed the tide of litigation. But they say more alternatives are needed.

“We need more people who are willing to resolve problems without litigation,” said Ventura County Presiding Judge Edwin M. Osborne. “We don’t have the resources to litigate everything.”

Vince Ordonez, assistant executive officer of the courts, agreed. “The workload of the court continues to increase, and yet the judiciary does not increase. . . . There have to be ways to help the court in dealing with its workload,” he said.

One way is through dispute resolution, say the directors of the programs. During a 12-month period that ended June 30, 828 disputes were mediated in the county’s dispute programs.

A vast majority of those were settled at the Consumer Mediation Section, a program operated by the Ventura County district attorney’s office. The center specializes in consumer and business-related disputes.

The program mediated and settled 568 cases involving disputes over billing, contracts, mail orders, home-improvement contracts and landlord-tenant problems.

At the Ventura Center for Dispute Settlement, formed last year, 42 disputes were settled and 80 volunteers were trained as mediators. The center specializes in neighborhood squabbles, such as disputes over loud music or hedges that need trimming.

e Victim Offender Reconciliation Program in Oxnard began operating in March. A total of 218 disputes were settled during the same 12-month period. The program specializes in getting first-time offenders under the age of 17 to make restitution for minor offenses, such as vandalism and petty theft.

In all three programs, mediators are volunteers who take a four-day training session.

The programs are funded primarily through state grants that are apportioned to the centers by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. Only the Ventura Center for Dispute Settlement charges fees, which range from $10 to $100 per hour based on a sliding scale.

The concept of neighborhood resolution centers was given a boost statewide in 1986 with the passage of legislation that allows counties to increase court filing fees to fund such nonprofit programs.

Resolution programs have been established in 18 counties, including Los Angeles, San Diego and San Bernardino.

Mediation is more popular than arbitration as a form of resolution because parties sit down with each other, figure out common objectives and reach their own agreement with the assistance of a third person. A goal of the process is mending the relationship or at least ensuring a peaceful coexistence.

The mediator does not determine guilt, liability or fault. And if the two sides decide that one should pay restitution, it is the responsibility of both parties to see the agreement through.

The mediation proceedings are confidential, and the participating parties are not prohibited from taking the dispute to court in the future.

Melodieanne Duffy, the supervisor of the district attorney’s Consumer Mediation Unit, said the dispute over the parrot began when a woman in Ventura bought a $2,000 parrot from a private breeder. She said the breeder had clipped the wings and had promised that the bird could not fly.

But when the woman got the bird home, “it flew all right,” Duffy said. “It flew right out the window.”

The breeder and the woman agreed to take the dispute to the mediation center, where the two sides decided that the breeder would reimburse the woman for the cost of the bird.

The most common consumer dispute Duffy comes across is between car dealers and new car owners who mistakenly believe they have three days to change their minds.

When the dealer refuses to refund the cost of the car, tempers flare, words are exchanged and often the entire matter ends up in her office, Duffy said. The confusion stems from a bill circulating in Sacramento that would give new car owners the right to change their minds. The bill has not become law.

Usually, the new car owner stops complaining when this is explained, Duffy said. On one occasion, she said, a car dealer agreed to return the cost of the car.

“Sometimes when you tell a person where they stand, you are providing them with the biggest services,” she said.

The disputes over the oak tree and the firecracker accident were both brought to the Victim Offender Reconciliation Program in Oxnard.

Sallie Danenberg, program director, said that in both cases the youngsters apologized for their misdeeds.

“The kids that we have usually get caught doing something foolish,” she said. “Usually it’s on the spur of the moment.”

In the case of the teen-ager with the firecrackers, she said the boy’s father agreed to pay $100 for the classmate’s medical bills. For his part, the boy agreed to work for his father until he paid off the debt.

However, restitution in the matter of the oak tree had to be resolved outside the mediation center, because the cost of replacing the tree would have been more than $7,000. As a rule, the program passes on any cases in which restitution would be more than $5,000, Danenberg said.

Richard B. Chess Jr., an attorney who mediates disputes for the Ventura Center for Dispute Settlement, said he once was called to help settle an argument between a contractor and a homeowner who complained that the workmanship on several projects in his home was sloppy.

After the two sides discussed the matter, the contractor agreed to fix some of the problems, he said. Later, the homeowner complained again, saying the workmanship was still sloppy.

The two sides met for a second time and agreed that Chess would decide whether the workmanship was adequate or not. He decided the work was done properly and the dispute was settled.

“People will be reasonable given the opportunity,” he said.

Where to Find Help Dispute-resolution centers:

Ventura Center for

Dispute Settlement

4475 Market St., Suite C

Ventura

650-9202

Victim Offender

Reconciliation Program

515 S. C St.

Oxnard

487-3943