Seen a Rogue on the loose? Get in touch with our Roguemeister: JOHN SCHRAG jschrag@wweek.com (503) 243-2122 FAX: (503) 243-1115 As Mary Inselman learned from dealing with the state's Vital Records Unit last week, sometimes there is nothing so roguishly cruel as a government bureaucracy. The 77-year-old wants her birth certificate, and she's tired of waiting for the legal challenge to Measure 58 to be resolved. Inselman found out she was adopted just seven years ago. She's since learned more details: that in 1922 she was put up for adoption through Boys and Girls Aid Society in Portland and that she has a sister. Inselman, who lives in Sweet Home, hopes her sister can provide critical medical history that she can pass on to her eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. After years of searching, however, she has been unable to learn the real name of her birth mother, which could lead her to her sister. There is a provision in current state law that allows judges to order specific records to be opened. Last week, Multnomah County Judge Elizabeth Welch did just that. That's when Inselman found herself in bureaucracy hell. Helen Hill, chief petitioner of Measure 58, filed the paperwork for Inselman in Portland. Hill says she got the runaround for several days from Vital Records, but on Wednesday, Oct. 6, a representative from the unit called Inselman and said the birth certificate would be sent. The next morning, however, someone from Vital Records called back and told Inselman the department had failed to notice an important detail: The document Welch signed was not an official court order, so Inselman's birth certificate would not be released. Edward Johnson, registrar for Vital Records, admits Inselman should not have been called on Wednesday. "We were trying to quickly respond," he says. "We started out by saying we could release it, then we had to backstep from that." The official paperwork has now been signed, and Johnson says the adoption file should arrive from the archives in Salem within the next week or so. Inselman isn't holding her breath. "I've had my hopes up so many times, and it hasn't happened yet." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Willamette Week | originally published October 13, 1999