The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current, December 10, 2018, Image 5

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The daily Astorian., December 10, 2018, Page A5, Image 5

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Newspaper Page TextA5 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2018 Trump looking at several candidates for chief of staff Top pick dropped out of the mix By ZEKE MILLER, JILL COLVIN and CATHERINE LUCEY Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is considering at least four peo- ple to serve as his next chief of staff, after plans for an orderly succession for depart- ing John Kelly fell through. The high-proﬁ le hiring search comes at a pivotal time as the Republican president looks to prepare his White House for the twin challenges of securing his re-election and fending off expected congressional investigations once Democrats gain con- trol of the House next year. Trump’s top pick for the job, Nick Ayers, announced Sunday that he would instead be leaving the White House, surprising even senior staffers who believed the move was a done deal. Trump is now soliciting input on at least four people, including Ofﬁ ce of Manage- ment and Budget director Mick Mulvaney and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. Ayers, who is chief of staff to Vice Pres- ident Mike Pence, was seen as the favorite for the job when Trump announced Satur- day that Kelly would leave around year’s end. But a White House ofﬁ cial said Sun- day that Trump and Ayers could not reach agreement on Ayers’ length of service and that he would instead assist the president from outside the administration. The ofﬁ - cials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive personnel matters. Ayers conﬁ rmed the decision in a tweet Sunday, thanking Trump and Pence for giving him the opportunity to work in the White House. “I will be departing at the end of the year but will work with the #MAGA team to advance the cause,” he said. Trump offered his own take on the devel- opment: “I am in the process of interview- ing some really great people for the posi- tion of White House Chief of Staff. Fake News has been saying with certainty it was Nick Ayers, a spectacular person who will always be with our #MAGA agenda. I will be making a decision soon!” Even senior White House ofﬁ cials were caught off guard Sunday by the news of Ayers’ departure. No obvious successor to Kelly was in sight, and there was some fretting that Trump may not be able to ﬁ ll the job by the time Kelly leaves. Ayers and Trump had discussed the job for months, making the breakdown Sun- day all the more surprising. Trump said Saturday that he expected to announce a replacement for Kelly in a day or two. But with Ayers no longer waiting in the wings, Trump may now take until the end of the year, according to a person familiar with the president’s thinking. And it remains unclear who wants the job. Mulvaney, the budget director, was not interested in becoming chief of staff, according to a person close to him who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Mul- vaney has been saying for almost two months now that he would be more inter- ested in becoming commerce or treasury secretary if that would be helpful to the president, the person said. Also among those thought to be in the mix were Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representa- tive Robert Lighthizer, who said in a CBS interview that he hadn’t spoken to anyone at the White House about the job and was “entirely focused” on his position. The White House ofﬁ cial said that, while the president likes Lighthizer, he is reluctant to move him from his current post because of the ongoing high-stakes trade negotiations with China and others. And a person familiar with Mnuchin’s thinking said he, too, was happy with his AP Photo/Evan Vucci White House chief of staﬀ John Kelly will leave his job at the end of the year. work at Treasury and had not sought the job of chief of staff. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and Trump’s former deputy cam- paign manager David Bossie were also among the names being ﬂ oated by some close to the White House Sunday. Trump’s administration has set records for staff turnover, and he has often strug- gled to attract experienced political profes- sionals, a challenge that has grown more difﬁ cult by the upcoming threat of costly Democratic oversight investigations and an uncertain political environment. Workers: ‘It’s not just that it’s a lot of money for us. We worked for it’ Continued from Page A1 Former Klean employees are skeptical after struggling through months of escalating chaos. In Long Beach, employ- ees say there were signs of major trouble, including bouncing and missing pay- checks, severe understaff- ing and declining levels of patient care. Brett and Melissa Sholin, of Ilwaco, were among the staffers who lost their jobs last week. The Sholins say Klean owes them about $5,000 in unpaid wages that were repeatedly promised, but never delivered. Brett Sholin feels the con- stant broken promises were so stressful they amounted to “mental abuse.” “We really need our money,” Sholin said. “It’s not just that it’s a lot of money for us. We worked for it. It’s a mess.” John Thelen, a former chemical dependency spe- cialist with Klean, has ﬁ led a wage complaint with the Washington State Depart- ment of Labor and Indus- tries. Thelen claims the company owes him nearly $4,000. Thelen said he started working for Klean in early September. After receiving his ﬁ rst couple of checks from the company, they started coming in late and later started bouncing, he said. Thelen has since found a similar job at a nearby treat- ment center, but said the loss in pay from Klean nearly put him and his wife out of a home. Spanswick did not respond to a question about when he planned to pay his employees. Legal trouble The 30-bed rehab cen- ter on Pioneer Road opened in 2013. It was one of sev- eral Klean-brand treatment facilities owned by White Rabbit Partners Inc., a West Hollywood-based holding corporation. In October, Presidential Healthcare Credit Corp., an Alpharetta, Georgia, lender, ﬁ led a federal lawsuit, ask- ing White Rabbit for nearly $8 million in overdue loans. In 2013, White Rabbit used its holdings as collat- eral for a $1.1 million vari- able interest loan and a $2.9 million revolving loan from Presidential. Revolv- ing loans allow borrowers to borrow and repay up to their limit any number of times. They are often used to help businesses stay liquid in day- to-day operations. White Rabbit allegedly asked Presidential to extend payment deadlines several times. Presidential agreed, in order to give White Rab- bit “time to reorganize their affairs and to pay the indebt- edness,” according to the lawsuit. In mid-September, White Rabbit signed over even more collateral in order to borrow another $250,000. About a week later, the com- pany allegedly requested another $250,000 so they could make payroll. By then, White Rabbit was over its borrowing limit, but Presi- dential agreed, once again. They also lent White Rab- bit $99,000 to “preserve and protect its collateral.” Spanswick and his part- ners had agreed to provide Presidential with weekly ﬁ nancial statements and pay at least $200,000 in August, but allegedly failed to do so. By the end of October, the company reportedly owed more than $7.9 million. Presidential terminated the loan, demanded full pay- ment and ﬁ led the lawsuit, which asked the court for permission to take control of White Rabbit’s assets. White Rabbit denies the allegations, and says Pres- idential acted unethically. The judge postponed any decision about the takeover, but ordered White Rab- bit to round up its report- edly scanty ﬁ nancial records and cooperate in a ﬁ nancial audit. Klean is also facing two lawsuits from Astoria prop- erty owners Sean Fitzpat- rick and Anne Carpenter, who, through their company, Wecoma Partners, rented Klean an apartment com- plex on Alameda Avenue for a 40-bed sober living facil- ity and ofﬁ ces at 12th and Exchange streets for outpa- tient treatment. One lawsuit, ﬁ led in Cir- cuit Court against the Well in Mind nonproﬁ t associated with Klean, claims the com- pany has fallen behind on rent at the apartment com- plex by more than $44,000. The other, ﬁ led against White Rabbit Partners, claims Klean has fallen behind by more than $16,000 in rent at the ofﬁ ces. Fitzpatrick also has locked Klean out of the ofﬁ ces, with equipment still inside. The total Klean owes Wecoma Partners now exceeds $100,000, Fitzpat- rick said, and he expects a default judgment against the company, which has not responded to either lawsuit. Patient care In better times, Klean served up to 30 patients and employed 50 to 80 peo- ple in Long Beach. But the patient census ﬂ uctuated. White Rabbit’s leaders laid off or ﬁ red a dozen or more workers on two or three occasions, employees said, claiming patient numbers had fallen too low. In late October, pay- checks were late. 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Kulhanjian Paperwork Mediation 552 Commercial Street Astoria (503) 325-9115 A division of Stahancyk, Kent & Hook SCHEDULE THE DAILY ASTORIAN was going on,” she said. “It was hard for them not to know.” On Tuesday, some work- ers learned they’d lost their jobs via text message. Most patients made plans to move to other treatment options. A couple of patients told work- ers they had nowhere to go and would likely end up liv- ing in their cars. The Sholins and others stayed because they liked their jobs despite the tur- moil, and because they felt a sense of duty to the remain- ing patients. Many patients want to get out and get high again, Brett Sholin said, but the ones who were still there on the last day were people who wanted to get clean. “For these clients to stick with it and stay in that build- ing for their treatment — I couldn’t leave,” Sholin said. Edward Stratton of The Daily Astorian contributed to this report. RESOLUTION SERVICES Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 A processed in the usual way, Sholin said. Eight paychecks bounced. When the staff got paid again in early Novem- ber, a group of leery employ- ees rushed to a bank in Asto- ria to cash their checks. “No one wanted them to bounce,” Sholin explained. They didn’t receive their late November or early Decem- ber paychecks. A worker who asked not to be publicly identiﬁ ed said patient care steadily declined as employees got laid off and quit. A few stalwarts strug- gled to provide counseling, groups and classes. “The clients that were left were not getting good care. Not even close to what they were supposed to be get- ting,” she said, noting there was so little structure or accountability for patients that staffers started urging them to ﬁ nd other treatment centers. “The clients knew what Evening listings MONDAY D ECEMBER 10 A - Charter Astoria/ Seaside - L - Charter Long Beach 6:30 7 PM 7:30 8 PM 8:30 9 PM 9:30 10 PM 10:30 11 PM 11:30 KATU News at 6 (N) Jeopardy! (N) Wheel Fortune (N) CMA Country Christmas Join in a celebration of the holiday season. (N) C'mas Light Fight "All Stars" (N) News (N) (:35) Jimmy Kimmel KOMO 4 News (N) Wheel Fortune (N) Jeopardy! (N) CMA Country Christmas Join in a celebration of the holiday season. (N) C'mas Light Fight "All Stars" (N) KOMO 4 News (N) (:35) Jimmy Kimmel NBC News (N) KING 5 News KING 5 News Evening The Voice "Live Semi-Final, Top Eight Performances" (N) Pentatonix: Not So Silent Night (N) KING 5 News (N) (:35) Tonight Show KOIN Local 6 (N) Evening News (N) Extra Ent. 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