Sands of Time All but Bury Public’s Debt to Contractor

Patrick Barkley is 74 years, 11 months and 353 days old--numbers that, as you will soon see, are taking on increasing relevance. Barkley lives in a trailer in Trabuco Canyon, and he so much resembles one of those ruddy-faced, strong, silent types that there’s a great temptation to call him a mountain man. I guess we’ll have to settle for canyon man.

In 1955, Barkley was a general contractor living in Northern California. On Aug. 5, 1955, the city of Blue Lake, in Humboldt County just north of Eureka, accepted Barkley’s low bid of $142,423 and awarded him a contract to lay about 20,000 feet of sewer pipe.

Take note that Barkley would have been 34 years old at the time.

Barkley’s crew began the job, but in June of 1957, Blue Lake sued Barkley and confiscated job-site equipment, claiming that the pipes were leaking. In January of 1958, Barkley counter-sued the city and the city engineer, claiming that the official insisted on using a defective sealant of which Barkley disapproved.

At this point, the details matter much less than knowing that his lawsuit is still unresolved, 37 years later.

When I say unresolved, I don’t mean wiped off the books. No, it is very much on the books, which is why Barkley gets a tad miffed when discussing the fact he was awarded a judgment of $90,354.88 in December of 1969, plus interest accrued since 1958. That judgment has not been overturned; nor has Barkley ever collected a penny of it.

“The case before us has had a long and stormy history,” a state appellate court judge wrote in one opinion. Those words were written in December 1981.

The current amount due Barkley, based on the original order and accumulated interest, is roughly $475,000.

The legal technicalities that have kept this case alive are too complicated to detail. Barkley’s attorney says it partly has to do with collecting money from a public entity--such as a city--compared to a private individual.

To give you an idea of the protections, though, consider that while the original judgment was entered in 1969, it didn’t become “final” until 1982--the result of available appeals and other procedures.

Earlier this year, Humboldt County Superior Court Judge John Buffington addressed the time element while shooting down what was then the city’s latest filing. “I find no reason to allow the city to avoid a debt it has known about and fought to avoid, despite legal orders to pay, for some 26 years,” Buffington wrote. “To make the situation as clear as possible--this debt is 37 years old. The judgment is 26 years old. The judgment has been final for 13 years.”

The city has won occasional short-lived victories over the years. Amid that welter of mandamuses and writs and demurrers, Barkley still is waiting.

He isn’t overly chatty when discussing it. Nor does he fly off the handle when recounting the delays. “I’m a contractor, not an attorney, and I don’t know how it’s happened,” he says.

Local newspapers in the Blue Lake area indicate the city now has offered about $100,000 less than what Barkley is owed. Thus far, Barkley isn’t budging. “I think the city felt strongly enough about it that if they just kept fighting, we’d give up.”

Asked if he considered that, he says, “No. If 13 of my friends hadn’t gone broke using that stuff [the defective sealant], I might have done it. But I thought I’d just see the end of it.”

Appellate attorney Richard Rader is a newcomer to Barkley’s side, having joined only a year and a half ago. He says the city has indicated it is willing to fight another 10 years, if need be. “They think if they stall payday forever, maybe he’ll die and go away,” Rader says. “And he will. He’s almost 80, and he’s trying to get paid for work he did as a kid of 40.”

Blue Lake City Atty. Richard Platz did not return a phone call to his office Thursday. However, on Oct. 25, Platz spoke in the only language understood in this affair: He appealed Buffington’s April ruling in Barkley’s favor.

In addition to making his legal arguments, Platz wrote: “[Blue Lake] is not unsympathetic with the court’s desire to resolve litigation expeditiously. [The judge], however, appears . . . to be more interested in reducing his case load, rightly or wrongly, than in spending the time necessary to resolve the legal contentions of this lawsuit. . . . “

Perhaps not surprisingly, the case has become somewhat personal. In response to the city’s appeal, Rader wrote: “First, [Barkley] still has to put up with being accused of discontinuing work on the sewer project, 26 years after proving that to be false. He had to wait 13 years to get a judgment for the damages inflicted by the city, only to learn he couldn’t collect until it was final on appeal, which took another 12 1/2 years. Then, he learned that lawsuits are expensive even when you retain counsel on a contingency, and that those expenses can rapidly eat up your life’s savings. Finally (the crushing blow), he learned that a city purportedly unable to pay its just debts can afford to fight him in court for 50 years.”

Barkley isn’t sure how much he has spent on the case. Nor is he sure the end is in sight. “I’m always optimistic about getting it resolved,” he said, “but I don’t know which way the courts bounce.”

Dana Parsons’ columns appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at the Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.