Bellevue mediation service marks 10 years of successes, growing caseloads

Ron Matthews looks back on his favorite settlement conference with the Bellevue Neighborhood Mediation Program and smiles.

"I came away feeling like I didn't do anything," he said. "They did it."

Two young couples in the same apartment building, both recent immigrants to the U.S., were fighting over noise. When Matthews brought them together in a mediation session, one couple spoke of the difficulties they were having assimilating to the culture of their new home. The other couple was going through the same hardship.

"The light just went on," Matthews said. "Rather than antagonizing each other, they sympathized over the same issues and concerns. They were able to get together to figure out how to make their lives better."

By the end of the session, the couples were working together to plan baby-sitting and shopping trips.

This case is just one of hundreds Matthews has seen since volunteering with the program at its inception. This week he and more than 30 volunteers celebrated the 10-year anniversary at Bellevue City Hall.

Since it began in 1996, the program has trained 300 mediators, convened more than 400 mediations and fielded more than 5,000 phone calls. Volunteers have given more than 20,000 hours.

The mediation group, established by the city, mainly fields disputes between neighbors over everything from boundary lines to obstructed views to noisy dogs. But it also helps community groups, homeowner associations and small businesses work out their differences.

In 1998 the program launched a parent-teen program in which adults and teens are paired as co-mediators to help families with teenagers struggling over school attendance, chores and other issues.

The program also offers community education, including such workshops as How to Resolve Conflicts 101.

Only one other city in the state, Vancouver, has such a mediation program. Other programs are run at the county level, such as the Citizen Mediation Program in King County.

The mediator's role is to let the parties do most of the talking, getting them to work through the issue and their concerns, said Regina Lyons, co-manager of the program.

"When people are part of the solution, they are far more likely to go along with it," she said.

The program has grown over the years, as word of its effectiveness spread, said Andrew Kidde, co-manager of the program. In the beginning just a handful of volunteers fielded a few calls; now they often have months with 10 to 15 mediation sessions, he said.

Volunteers like Ron Matthews learn to be patient.

Often the two sides will come to the table thinking there is no way the issue will ever be resolved.

But as Matthews has learned over his 10 years of mediating, the problem people complain about is often just the surface of a larger issue.

"You learn how to really listen and learn what is going on underneath," he said.

Kayla Webley: 206-464-2391 or kwebley@seattletimes.com