Martinelli said Ratto owes the family several hundred thousand dollars, and he doesn't intend to let Ratto off the hook.

"He's not going to pull the same stuff with us that he pulled with other people," Martinelli said but did not elaborate.

Ratto is involved with several other waste-disposal firms, and he owns various garbage companies including Novato Disposal.

In addition to owing the family money, Martinelli said Ratto never made good on a promise to bring the landfill garbage from his other operations.

"He never fulfilled his obligations," Martinelli said. "If he'd done what he was supposed to do, [financially] everything would have been fine."

Notwithstanding the payment issue, Ratto at one time tried to buy the landfill, Martinelli said.

"I laughed in his face," the landfill president added. "I told him the credibility isn't there."

The Light tried to reach Ratto for his version of the dispute, but the paper's phone calls were not returned.

Martinelli said Ratto is trying to buy Fairfax Garbage Disposal, which shows that he has money to spend.

"I called Fairfax and told them, 'You're going to spend all your money on legal fees with this guy,'" Martinelli said.

Serving legal papers on Ratto, however, has been difficult because "every time the guy serving the papers comes in, Ratto's lawyer goes out the back," Martinelli said.

Greg McCoy, a Danville lawyer representing the Martinelli family, confirmed: "The process server did say he was having difficulty serving the papers."

McCoy said court papers were finally presented to Ratto by "substitute serving," in which the summons were left with a receptionist and also mailed to him.