The City of Philadelphia Human Relations Commission has a division that does neighborhood/community arbitration. I knew of their work some years ago and thought they were quite good. It might be worth a call. I just found a description of the program on the City web site. (see below) The Commissioner's phone number is : 215-686-4670
Good luck! Dispute Resolution Program The Dispute Resolution Program (DRP) focuses on providing mediation, conciliation, counseling, and referral services to neighbors and others who have ongoing conflict. Services are rendered for disputes that have not yet escalated to a violent level or are currently in the courts. The program helps prevent the escalation of lesser neighborhood problems into full-scale tension events. A variety of approaches are used to encourage people of all backgrounds to cooperatively coexist with each other irrespective of group identity. The goal of mediation is to provide disputants with skills that enable them to resolve the conflict themselves. The DRP provides formal mediation sessions that are conducted by a trained and experienced mediator. The mediator helps the parties identify the nature of the conflict. The mediator also develops a legally binding and confidential agreement that describes the parties' future relationship. Most of the DRP cases are referred to the PCHR by the District Attorney's Office or the courts. --- On Wed, 1/5/11, Ann Mayer <[email protected]> wrote: From: Ann Mayer <[email protected]> Subject: [UC] re: neighbors dumping their trash in my receptacles To: [email protected] Date: Wednesday, January 5, 2011, 5:39 PM Anyone know what the best way is to handle my student neighbors who dump their trash both in my trashcan (both before it is put out on the sidewalk and after it is placed out for collection) and in my recycling bin? What they often do is COMBINE recycling material with trash, and I am worried that I am going to get in trouble with the city for not recycling properly. I just came back from the holidays to find my trashcan (on my property) stuffed to the brim with a combination of their trash and materials that we are required to recycle. These are exceptionally piggish students, who are also inconsiderate in other ways. Since they are not nice peoplet to begin with, I am anxious not to get into a situation where I unduly antagonize them, which would likely result in more hassles. Any advice would be appreciated. Ann
