This new program made possible by a grant from California Healthy Cities and Communities will help Watsonville residents peacefully address a wide range of neighborhood disputes including conflicts over noise, parking, pets, boundaries, aesthetics and landlord-tenant issues. The Neighborhood Services Mediation Program is a collaboration between the City of Watsonville and the nonprofit Conflict Resolution Center of Santa Cruz County (CRC). The City brings to this collaboration its strong commitment to improving community life and to grassroots problem solving as well as this accessibility to Watsonville residents. Together, CRC and the Neighborhood Services Division are positioned to reach community members where they live and to develop the capacity of residents and neighborhoods to address and resolve their own conflicts.

Neighborhood conflicts occur everyday in Watsonville. In fact, due to the high cost of housing and the shortage of living wage employment opportunities, more people are living closer together, making Watsonville's neighborhoods increasingly conflict prone. The Program will offer:

1. Mediation Services: Residents now have a safe place to resolve nighborhood conflicts before they escalate and damage relationships, lead to costly litigation, or erupt in violence. Local people with advanced conflict resolution training from CRC will mediate the disputes.

2. Conflict Management Training: The Program will offer Watsonville residents training in the tools and skills they need to prevent and resolve their own disputes through respectful, proactive communication. These trainings will be tailored to the cultures and languages of the residents.

By providing Watsonville residents with the skills to prevent and manage conflict and a safe trusted venue for resolving neighborhood conflicts peacefully, the Neighborhood Mediation Program can help promote a healthier, more vital community. The program can help improve safety in Watsonville neighborhoods, increase cooperation between neighbors, and reduce the demand on city service providers such as the police.

Back to Other Projects

This site is maintained by the following local students: Tony Galera, Omar Meza, Jesus Murillo, Ramon Pacheco, and Edmundo Silva.