The San Luis Obispo (CA) Tribune reports that mediation is being used to settle a dispute at their baseball stadium over dates between two semi-pro teams wanting to use the stadium. A new team, the SLO Rattlers wants to use the same field as the established SLO Blues have played for years. City officials were going to use a lottery system to determine the dates, but mediation has apparently been so successful thus far that they are entering a second round of mediation.
Lotteries are often used to split up assets, but bouncing balls rarely take the parties’ interests into account. Mediation can do just that. The lottery will always be available as a failsafe backup.