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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2015)
January 23, 2015 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 3A Knight says port is in ‘dire straits’ move the whole port here to Seaside.” At that suggestion, the au- dience agreed and applauded. “We are going to make things right with the custom- ers, tenants and the commu- nity,” Knight promised. The port’s mission is to be “constantly improving,” he said. “You’re going to be proud the port is part of the commu- nity. It will be a stellar exam- ple of how a port can work with the community to help the port and to help you,” he added. More than 1,000 people are employed in family-wage jobs because of the port, Knight said. South County could ben- H¿WWKURXJKD³V\PELRWLFUH- lationship” with cruise lines that, he said, are increasing the number of ships coming to Astoria. “There is a conversation about trying to coordinate the movement of tourists from China to Astoria and to Cannon Beach and Sea- side,” Knight said. “There’s a potential explosion of even more tourists coming to the area.” The port must expend some energy to improve its capacity for more ships and upgrade the airport, he added. When asked what he thought about the proposal to have the governor appoint commissioners to the port’s board, Knight was ambiva- lent. “It doesn’t matter to me where the commissioners come from,” he said. “The work the staff has to do is the same.” Port from Page 1A 7KH ODVW ¿QDQFLDO VWDWH- ment the port issued was June 30, 2013, he said. “You can LPDJLQHKRZGLI¿FXOWLWLVWR make a decision” about any- thing the port does without knowing how much money it has, Knight said. He said he had understood that several years ago the port had $1 million in a reserve account, but he’s not sure where the money went. The port commission ZLOO KLUH DQ DFFRXQWLQJ ¿UP to perform an audit for the 2013-14 year and for the next WZR \HDUV $ ¿QDQFLDO FRQ- VXOWLQJ¿UPDOVRZLOOEHKLUHG to prepare the port for the au- dits, Knight said. Knight, who was bom- EDUGHGZKHQKH¿UVWDUULYHG by callers seeking money for RYHUGXH ELOOV ¿UHG WKH IRU- PHU ¿QDQFLDO PDQDJHU DQG hired Jim Grey, former con- troller at the Columbia Mar- itime Museum. “There’s nothing more important to me and the or- ganization than to get the ¿QDQFHV XQGHU FRQWURO´ KH said. By February, the com- mission — and the public — will have a better idea of the SRUW¶V¿QDQFLDOVWDWXV.QLJKW added. “We’re getting very, very close,” he said. Despite its problems, however, Knight said he had “never seen an organization with so much potential or facilities that had so much potential.” However, he joked, some of the facilities are in such bad shape that “perhaps the wisest thing we could do is to 1R¿HOGDSSRLQWHGWR Seaside school board school through third grade for school. Gaffney said the clinic, Cannon Beach resident held last May at the county 3DWULFN1R¿HOGZDVDSSRLQW- fairgrounds and at the Sea- ed to the Seaside School side Civic and Convention Board Tuesday night. Center, examined 134 chil- 1R¿HOG FRRZQHU DQG dren. Screenings included SUHVLGHQW RI (VFDSH /RGJ- height and weight, blood LQJZLOO¿OOWKHYDFDQF\FUH- pressure and temperature, ated by Nancy Hauger, who developmental skills, vision, resigned from the board last hearing, speech, dental, be- month. A board member for havior, nutrition and immu- 11 years, Hauger plans to nizations. move to Seattle to be closer Follow-up exams or to her grandchildren. re-screenings were suggest- Her term ends June 30, ed for: 2015. • medical exam: 14 per- 1R¿HOGKDVVHUYHGRQVHY- cent of the children eral local and state boards, • hearing: 22 percent including the Oregon Tour- • speech: 25 percent ism Commission, where he • vision: 59 percent. served as chairman. He also Gaffney said the vision has been involved in the ef- test results might be high fort to establish a charter because age-appropriate ex- school in Cannon Beach. amination tools weren’t used In other business Tuesday and some children may have night, the school board heard IRXQG LW GLI¿FXOW WR FRRSHU- a report from Dan Gaffney ate with the exam. About 54 RQ &ODWVRS &RXQW\¶V ¿UVW percent of the participating Early Childhood Health and parents had a doctor or an- Education Clinic. Gaffney, other primary caregiver. who retired as principal from Parents told Gaffney they Seaside Heights Elementary would like to see the clinics School last year, is involved continue. Another is planned in the county’s campaign to early this year, he told the prepare children from pre- board. By Nancy McCarthy The Seaside Signal Neawanna by the Sea under new management Problematic inspections lead facility to hire new management company By Erick Bengel EO Media Group Neawanna by the Sea, a retirement and assisted living facility in Seaside, is trying to improve its operation after an unfavorable 2014. Following a September inspection E\ WKH VWDWH 2I¿FH RI /LFHQVLQJ DQG Regulatory Oversight that revealed VRPHGH¿FLHQFLHVWKHRI¿FHUHVWULFWHG Neawanna’s ability to admit new res- idents because of its ongoing failure to be in compliance with the Oregon administrative rules for residential care and assisted living facilities. It was the third state inspection in 2014 — following others in February and July — to show a lack of “substan- tive compliance” on Neawanna’s part. “Because things were not heading in the right direction, (the restriction) is an effort to say, ‘You need to circle the wagons and not bring new people into the community and focus on getting your service back into compliance,’” said Cory Oace, manager of the com- munity-based care licensing unit that oversees Neawanna. 7KHVH GH¿FLHQFLHV DUH QRW DOO WKDW unusual, though, Oace said. Though Neawanna may lose its li- FHQVH LI LWV OLQJHULQJ GH¿FLHQFLHV DUH unresolved by the next unannounced inspection, the business is in no greater danger of losing its license than many of the nearly 500 community care fa- cilities in Oregon. “They’re all at risk of losing their license at any time,” Oace said. “We have not made any decision to — or expressed any attempt to — remove (Neawanna’s) license to operate.” Such a decision would depend on WKH VHYHULW\ RI WKH GH¿FLHQF\ 2DFH VDLG $OO RI WKH GH¿FLHQFLHV QRWHG LQ the 2014 surveys were documented as isolated incidents, and very few were determined to have actually caused harm to a resident. ,QUHVSRQVHWRWKH6HSWHPEHU¿QG- ings, however, Neawanna hired the Portland-based Frontier Management shortly thereafter as its new manage- ment company, replacing Westmont /LYLQJEDVHGLQ/D-ROOD&DOLI Frontier was “asked to step in and help move Neawanna forward,” said a Frontier employee who wished to re- main anonymous. The “drastic” change “shows a good faith effort on the part of the pro- vider to come into compliance,” Oace PUBLISHER Steve Forrester EDITOR Nancy McCarthy REPORTER 7KH GH¿FLHQFLHV UHFRUGHG LQ Neawanna’s inspections appear to be small-scale lapses largely relating to how the facility tracks its patients’ conditions and administers their med- ications. %XWWKH\UHÀHFWWKHJHQHUDODOOHJD- tions of seven of Neawanna’s ex-em- SOR\HHVZKRFODLPLQVZRUQDI¿GDYLWV ZLWKWKH2UHJRQ%XUHDXRI/DERUDQG Industries, that they witnessed Neawa- nna occasionally mistreating its resi- dents. Neawanna, along with Westmont /LYLQJ UHPDLQV HPEURLOHG LQ D 86 District Court case against its former employees, who allege in a civil suit that the business engaged in wage theft; discriminated against its workers based on age, race and sex; and may have unlawfully terminated them for blowing the whistle on its practices. In 2014, state Adult Protective Ser- vices investigated six separate com- plaints against Neawanna while the IDFLOLW\ZDVXQGHU:HVWPRQW/LYLQJ¶V management. Three of the complaints were deemed unsubstantiated; that is, no wrongdoing appears to have occurred. One of the substantiated complaints — a failure to administer ordered med- ication — resulted in exposing a res- ident to potential harm. Another — a failure to follow a care plan — pre- vented a resident from receiving need- ed lotion on a sore. And the sixth — a failure to provide SYSTEMS MANAGER Carl Earl CONTRIBUTING WRITERS PRODUCTION MANAGER ADVERTISING SALES John D. Bruijn Complaints and allegations a resident with prescribed narcotic medications when the resident moved to another facility — had caused the resident unreasonable discomfort for several days. “This failure is a viola- tion of resident rights, is considered neglect of care and constitutes abuse,” DFFRUGLQJWRWKH¿QGLQJV However, that number of com- plaints is “not uncommon,” Oace said, which “is not to say that the goal isn’t zero.” “We have lots of facilities that have more, we have lots that have less.” The plaintiffs in the civil suit — Wesley Cordova, a former cook; Elo- dia Gonzalez, a former caregiver; /\Q]HH -RKQVRQ D IRUPHU PHGLFDO WHFKQLFLDQ .\OHH /XQVIRUG D IRUPHU medical technician; Amy Patterson, a former medical technician; Matthew Perry, a former dishwasher; and Mi- chealyn Schroeder, a former resident services director — also claim in their DI¿GDYLWV WKDW 1HDZDQQD LJQRUHG XQ- sanitary conditions, created a hostile work environment and allowed sexual harassment to occur. They have retained lawyer Michael Ross, of Slater Ross Attorneys in Port- land. Slater is handling the plaintiffs’ allegations as a single claim against 1HDZDQQDDQG:HVWPRQW/LYLQJ'D- vid Silke, of the Seattle-based Gordon 5HHV//3UHSUHVHQWVWKHGHIHQGDQWV The seven are still seeking eco- nomic damages, liquidated damages, noneconomic damages of $100,000 per plaintiff, equitable relief, pre- and post-judgement interest and costs, dis- bursements and attorney fees. Attempts by the Signal to reach :HVWPRQW/LYLQJZHUHXQVXFFHVVIXO Samantha McLaren Betty Smith ADVERTISING MANAGER said. “We’re encouraged and hope that they’re headed in the right direction.” CIRCULATION MANAGER Claire Lovell John Rahl Darren Gooch Esther Moberg Katherine Lacaze (5,&.%(1*(/3+272 Neawanna by the Sea, on North Wahanna Road in Seaside, underwent three in- spections by state officials in 2014. A new management company recently took over the facility. Seaside Signal The Seaside Signal is published every other week by EO Media Group, 1555 N. Roosevelt, Seaside Oregon 97138. 503-738-5561. www.seasidesignal.com Letter policy Laura Kaim Wendy Richardson The Seaside Signal welcomes letters to the editor. The deadline is noon Monday prior to publication. Letters must be 400 words or less and must be signed by the author and include a SKRQHQXPEHUIRUYHUL¿FDWLRQ:HDOVR request that submissions be limited to one letter per month. Send to 1555 N. Roosevelt Drive, Seaside, OR 97138, drop them off at 1555 N. Roosevelt Drive or fax to 503-738-9285. Or email nmccarthy@seasidesignal.com SUBSCRIPTIONS Annually: $39.00 in county • $55.00 in and out of county • e-Edition: only $30.00 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Seaside Signal, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103. Postage Paid at Seaside, OR 97138 and at additional PDLOLQJ RI¿FHV &RS\ULJKW E\ the Seaside Signal. No portion of this newspaper may be re-produced without written permission. 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This one-time FREE workshop will provide you with skills and tools including logical consequences, avoiding power struggles and how to build healthy self-esteem. Thursday, January 29th 6:15-7:30 p.m.* Seaside Heights Elementary O reg on C oa st Lincoln C ity 503-7 38-524 2 54 1 -9 9 4 -9 9 54 SW W a shing ton 503-7 38-524 2 www.budgetblinds.com *Offer not valid with any other offers. Offer good at time of initial estimate only. Offer good at participating franchises only. Each franchise independently owned and operated. CCB#177717 Hours: Mon-Fri 8-6 Sat- 8-4 • Den tu res for a ll a ges • New , pa rtia ls & cu stom den tu res • Den tu res for im pla n ts • Relin es a n d repa irs *Arrive between 6:15-6:30 to sign children into free childcare and enjoy refreshments. Program begins at 6:30. Spanish Workshop January 27th Se habla español