IN THE LONG-WINDED world of city council meetings, the time for a speaker to read a 3-minute statement would seem trivial, but the city of Cotati will have to pay $80,000 to settle the civil rights claims that resulted from refusing to allow a speaker to proceed.

Plaintiffs George Barich, a former member of the Cotati City Council, and Laurie Alderman, a local resident, announced Tuesday that they have settled their federal court case against the city and former Mayor John Dell’Osso.

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Joe Dworetzky is a second career journalist. He practiced law in Philadelphia for more than 35 years, representing private and governmental clients in commercial litigation and insolvency proceedings. Joe served as City Solicitor for the City of Philadelphia under Mayor Ed Rendell and from 2009 to 2013 was one of five members of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission with responsibility for managing the city’s 250 public schools. He moved to San Francisco in 2011 and began writing fiction and pursuing a lifelong interest in editorial cartooning. Joe earned a Master’s in Journalism from Stanford University in 2020. He covers Legal Affairs and writes long form Investigative stories. His occasional cartooning can be seen in Bay Area Sketchbook. Joe encourages readers to email him story ideas and leads at joe.dworetzky@baycitynews.com.