8
in other words
february6
2014
Ask a Lawyer
By Steven Leskin
Q- My girlfriend and I have a daughter
together. We got into a fight and she’s not
letting me see the child. What can I do?
A- I am presuming that there has been
no prior court involvement. There is not
a lot you can do. Since she’s the mom,
it’s not kidnaping, nor is it custodial in-
terference because there has not been
a prior court determination of custody.
Your only option is to go to court, file a
Petition for Custody and request a hear-
ing for interim visitation. If mom does
not comply with the court order, you
can go to court and get a “Writ of As-
sistance.” The Writ of Assistance will di-
rect the Sheriff in your county to retrieve
the child.
The bigger, and most important
issue though is the daughter’s welfare.
Since there was no marriage, both the fa-
ther and mother have equal rights to the
child. Both can use the child to harass
one another. I am an advocate for involv-
ing the courts so that mother and father’s
deteriorating relationship can be placed
on a rationale footing.
My advice would be to file a Pe-
tition for Custody with the county court.
The court will make a custody determi-
nation, and order child support and cre-
ate a parenting plan. Depending on how
confrontational your relationship is with
the mother, i.e., whether you and she can
come to any agreement, the court will
have a hearing to determine what is in
the best interest of the child. If you are
able to agree to custody, the amount of
child support and parenting time, you
may not need to go before a judge.
Finally, for more information
about child support, you can go line to
the Oregon Department of Justice web-
site, and look up the Child Support Cal-
culator. Here’s the link: www.justice.
oregon.gov/guidelines.
Q- Where does the tradition of raising
one’s hand to testify in court come from?
ons with an “F” on their right palm.
It is still required to this day that
a person raise their right hand to testify.
Back in the day, this gesture would ex-
pose the palm for the world to see that
there was no “F.” Although we have
given up branding felons on the palms,
and anyone can testify in court now, the
courts still maintain this old gesture.
Incidentally, it was also the cus-
tom that only men could testify. And,
hence, the word “testify” derives from a
certain part of the male anatomy. Thank-
fully, the courts only checked to see if
the witness was a felon, and did not re-
quire proof of gender.
Q- My husband was hurt in a car acci-
dent. We don’t have car insurance. Who
will pay the medical bills and lost wag-
es?
A- Oregon law provides that every car
insurance policy in Oregon contain a
A- Many of the court’s customs go back provision for Personal Injury Protection,
to early England. Felons could not take known as “PIP.” PIP, your insurance,
an oath and therefore could not testify. It will pay all of the reasonable and neces-
was the custom of the day to brand fel- sary medical expenses up to $15,000 in-
The Sounding Board
By Jack Phillips
The board meeting of West Oregon Electric on
January 28th reminded me of “The Zen of Bulldozer
Repair”. The essay discusses the path to revitalizing
an old rusty bulldozer that had been underperforming
relative to its potential. Key to the bulldozer’s success-
ful repair was the realization that if, in the process of
disassembly, cleaning and reassembly, a part was dis-
covered having been left out, no matter how small, the
entire process of disassembly had to be gone through,
the part inserted, and the reassembly process repeated.
Otherwise, the bulldozer could not function success-
fully. The essay encouraged patience.
WOEC’s board needs to realize the same phi-
losophy and its application. Case in point: at the last
board meeting, four Vernonia business owners, key to
Vernonia’s economy, attended the meeting: Gary Mey-
er of Meyers Automotive, Mario Leonetti of Leonetti’s
Pizza & Grill; John Shaw/Janean Zavales of Napa Auto
Supply; and Jay Nesmith/Willow Birch of Vernonia
Hardware. They asked the board to review overcharg-
es admitted by WOEC, and the refunds involved.
The result? Board Chairman Robert Van-
Natta, speaking for the board, told them there was
no pragmatic recourse to the board’s decision. It was
final. He added a surpris-
ing follow-up remark. He
said the Member-Owners
were lucky to obtain a re-
fund for 3 years. He said
the law (without giving a
specific citation) allowed
for only 2 years and the ex-
tra year was generous. The
rebuff was crude, missing
the point of the Member-
Owners’ effort, their rights
as Member-Owners and
the dignity of their partici-
pation. I objected. Why?
I seem to recall that when
WOEC is owed, the issue
it centers on is full charges
plus interest and penalties.
Fair is fair. If the shoe fits,
wear it.
2/7 Elbo G String Band
2/8 Root Jack
2/14 Valentines Day dinner show with
Billy D and the Hoodoos unplugged
2/15 Billy D and the Hoodoos
2/18 Tuesday dinner show with
Freeway Revival from North Carolina
2/21 & 2/22 Twig Sullivan with
Steampunk Chuck Weekend
2/28 & 3/1 Ray Tarantino
3/8 & 9 Moody Little Sister
503-755-2722
www.TheBirk.com
11139 Highway 202, Birkenfeld
curred in the car collision per occupant.
If the other driver was at fault, PIP will
be reimbursed for their payments. You
do not need a referral to go to a doctor
with PIP. You also do not need to pay de-
ductibles or co-pays. If you miss 14 con-
tinuous days of work as a result of the
collision, PIP will pay you 70 percent of
your lost wages up to $3,000. If the oth-
er driver is responsible for the collision,
you may also be entitled to reimburse-
ment for pain and suffering and other
past and future losses. You will also be
able to collect the balance of lost wages
above and beyond $3,000 per month if
you earn more. Please note that it is a vi-
olation of Oregon law to be without car
insurance and the driver will be prohib-
ited from recovering pay and suffering if
you are at fault in a collision.
Steven Leskin is an attorney in North
Portland. He has been in practice since
1992. You can submit a question to him
through www.ModestMeansLawOffice.
com or through the Vernoia’s Voice web-
site.
Nonetheless, we proceeded and we all agreed
for the Member-Owners to meet with David Western,
Finance Manager, to determine total overcharges; and
how the designations of Large Commercial Account
vs. Small Commercial Accounts were arrived at; then
to re-approach the board.
This is the point in time when the principal of
the “Zen of Bulldozer Repair” comes in. The miss-
ing part has been the District Representatives being in
touch with, talking to, listening to, and presenting the
wishes of Member-Owners, no matter what the district
representative’s personal views are. In this case Dan
Murphy of District 4, Vernonia, needs to get together
with and consult with these business owners. No mat-
ter what his personal feelings are, Dan is obligated to
take the matter to the board for a presentation at which
business owners participate with, and interact with, the
board.
The opposite of this cooperative process is
having coded, tabbed binders at board meetings with
Member-Owners sitting on the side lines with no real
idea of what is happening. Let’s get the rust out of this
old piece of equipment and get it to run better.
Everyone has good ideas on what to do. The
trick is to do it. Contact Power of One Vernonia via
email: jphillips5295@gmail.com. We have a basic
info-page up on the net: www.powerofonevernonia.
site88.net; our post office box is P.O. Box 51, Vernonia,
OR 97064; and our president, Heather Johansen can be
called at 503-804-6997. My telephone # is 971-207-
0918. Power of One banks at Wauna CU and accepts
donations. We are a registered non-profit organization
with the State of Oregon.
Drive
Thru
Espresso
& More
Drive
Thru
Espresso
& More
Route 26 Diner
Route 26 Diner
$1.00 off
$1.00 off
Prime Rib Dinner
Sunday Brunch
503- 324-0985
503- 324-0985
47700 NW Sunset Hwy, Banks
47700 NW Sunset Hwy, Banks
