Settling for Defeat?

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28 minutes

UPDATE: 9-23-09

Has a private attorney (with the cooperation of just three people with disabilities) gone too far in concocting an unusual class action settlement agreement affecting fourteen cities in Contra Costa? The proposed settlement allots five percent of a city’s gas tax on the condition that people with disabilities be prohibited from taking legal action having to do with pedestrian access--for the next 30 years.

Disability access specialist Richard Skaff and attorney Terry Kilpatrick discuss this controversy with hosts Adrienne Lauby and Eddie Ytuarte.


The 14 cities are Antioch, Brentwood, Concord, Danville, El Cerrito, Martinez, Moraga, Orinda, Pinole, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, Richmond, San Pablo, and Walnut Creek


If you to object to the proposed class-action settlement, do something about it. Please be aware that all objections must be in writing and postmarked no later than September 8, 2009. You can either object in writing or you can write to the attorneys and the court to let them know that you plan to appear at the Superior Court hearing in Martinez at 9 a.m on September 22, 2009. You can also go to the hearing and hope to be allowed to speak. Either way, please write and get your objections on file by September 8th. A copy of your objection must be sent to each of the following people:


1. Morse Mehrban, Esq.
Law Offices of Morse Mehrban
12100 Wilshire Blvd., 8th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90005-1206
(Attorney for Plaintiffs)



2. Eugene B. Elliot
Bertrand, Fox & Elliot
The Waterfront Building
2749 Hyde Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
(Attorney for Defendants)



3. Honorable David B. Flinn, Dep. 6
Contra Costa County Superior Court
725 Court Street
Martinez, CA 94553
(Judge Assigned to the Case)