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-
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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
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ment the port issued was June
30, 2013, he said. “You can
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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
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to perform an audit for the
2013-14 year and for the next
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to prepare the port for the au-
dits, Knight said.
Knight, who was bom-
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by callers seeking money for
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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
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said.
By February, the com-
mission — and the public —
will have a better idea of the
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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
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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
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Regulatory Oversight that revealed
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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.
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unusual, though, Oace said.
Though Neawanna may lose its li-
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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
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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
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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
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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-
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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,”
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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;
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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
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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
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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
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DEL’S O.K.
Rob ert C a in , LD
45 yea rs o f
experience
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