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On June 11, Judge John E. Munter ordered the Patels and the Shaikhs to cough up a total of $1.35 million, of which each named plaintiff would receive $17,500. After the lawyers took their fees, the rest of the money would be divided among the class.
Since the settlement, tenants admit that things around the Bridge Motel have been better. Each day, several people clean the hallways and bathrooms, and a building department inspector said that nearly all of the code violations have been corrected.
There is still a bedbug problem, the back door still has no lock, and the building itself is still tilted and still smells like a charnel house. The cops are still called out there almost daily. On the same day the city attorney's office filed an injunction against the Bridge, a female tenant was arrested for attempting to hijack a car from the gas station down the street.
That was on Oct. 26, nearly three years after Fritz and her neighbors took on the motel. In addition to finally taking action and filing the injunction, the city attorney's office sent out a self-congratulatory press release: "Herrera Sues Bridge Motel for 'Egregious Pattern of Crime, Safety Code Violations.'"
By that point, of course, the conditions were livable. Show up now, and it's as if the place had been decent all along.
Although Fritz, Stewart, and Evans say they are satisfied with the changes and continue to stay at the Bridge, they all have plans. Evans says that when he gets his final check, he's going to Oakland to live with his family again.
Stewart told Fritz on a recent night that he expects to buy himself a motor home to travel the country. "I'm working my way to get out of here on the first of the year," he said.
"Me too, darling. Me too," she answered.
Sometimes Fritz can't believe that after all these years, she's still living at the motel, but she has her reasons. At first, she stayed because her man was here. After they split up and she got involved in the lawsuit, she began to feel a renewed sense of purpose and obligation to the people around her. The feeling, she says, is not so different from the passion she felt for her old job at the ad agency.
Fritz hopes that her work at the Bridge Motel will have a lasting effect, and that the management will continue to take care of the building.
