NEWS
By Jeremiah Dobruck | April 30, 2014
A bill that would require drug and alcohol rehabilitation homes to report residents' deaths passed the California's Assembly Health Committee last week. Assembly Bill 2374, introduced by Assemblyman Allan Mansoor, (R-Costa Mesa), would order the residential treatment centers to call in any resident's death within one working day and follow up with details in a written report to the state Department of Health Care Services. The reports would be required regardless of the cause of death or whether the death occurred at the rehabilitation home.
NEWS
By Jeremiah Dobruck | April 23, 2014
A Newport Beach-based chain of rehabilitation centers that had been under fire from state regulators for years has agreed to pay a $75,000 settlement and limit its control over residents in its sober-living homes. Until Tuesday, Morningside Recovery had been battling the state in court over allegations that it was running unlicensed residential addiction treatment centers in Orange County. The California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs argued that Morningside essentially combined its seven sober-living homes in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa with three licensed rehab homes and an outpatient treatment center in Costa Mesa to skirt licensing requirements.
NEWS
By Bradley Zint | March 7, 2014
Mayor Jim Righeimer announced appointments this week for a group that will address the "negative impacts" some rehabilitation homes have on Costa Mesa neighborhoods. The Preserve Our Neighborhoods Task Force will meet for the first time in a few weeks and establish a regular meeting schedule, city spokesman Bill Lobdell said. Its members are Planning Commissioner Tim Sesler, an attorney who also serves on the city's Pension Oversight Committee; Charter Committee member Kerry McCarthy, an account manager for a national food provider company; Larry Weichman, a local real estate agent; Jeremy Broderick, founder of the Costa Mesa-based Windward Way group home; Scott McClane; Joe McGreevy; and Lisa Morlan.
NEWS
By Bradley Zint | November 26, 2013
Costa Mesa is forming a special task force with the goal of examining the negative effects of sober-living homes on city neighborhoods. The group of 10 to 12 members, dubbed the Preserve Our Neighborhoods Task Force, would hold public meetings on the topic, said Mayor Jim Righeimer on Tuesday. The mayor said he will choose its membership, based on input from fellow council members and the public. "We're asking concerned residents to help us form this task force to study the issue and come up with lawful and nondiscriminatory solutions to preserve our neighborhoods as family-friendly communities," Righeimer said in a prepared statement.
NEWS
By Bradley Zint | November 8, 2013
The Costa Mesa City Council introduced an ordinance this week that could help the city's enforcement efforts against problematic rehabilitation homes. The council gave an initial 4-0 vote on the ordinance's first reading Tuesday night. Councilwoman Wendy Leece was absent, having left the meeting early. The ordinance faces a second council approval Dec. 3 before it is adopted. The vote comes after the Planning Commission recommended last month that the council adopt language that would change city zoning code with a more robust definition of what's officially dubbed a "single housekeeping unit.
NEWS
By Emily Foxhall | October 28, 2013
Newport Beach and an advocacy group have reached a settlement agreement in a lawsuit related to rehabilitation home operator Morningside Recovery, the two entities announced Monday. Under the agreement, which comes after years of discussion and litigation, the city must pay Maintain Our Residential Neighborhoods, or MORN, $60,000. MORN entered into legal action against the city in February 2011, arguing that a 2010 zoning agreement allowing rehabilitation home operator Morningside Recovery to operate in residential areas was invalid.
NEWS
By Hannah Fry and Bradley Zint | August 30, 2013
A nurse who worked at rehabilitation facilities in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach is being accused by state authorities of professional misconduct. The California attorney general's office filed the formal accusation against Jill Suzanne Shelton, a registered nurse since 1992, through the state Board of Registered Nursing. Shelton, 43, is accused of illegally obtaining, prescribing and dispensing medications used to treat narcotic dependence, allowing unauthorized staff to provide healthcare services to patients and improperly disposing of controlled substances, according to the complaint filed July 9. She could not be reached for comment through Sure Haven, the Costa Mesa drug and alcohol rehabilitation center for women where she now works as a registered nurse.
NEWS
By Beau Nicolette and Bradley Zint | August 28, 2013
Costa Mesa Mayor Jim Righeimer said the city has been working for months on an ordinance that would address rehabilitation homes. Righeimer did not provide specifics, though he said city staff, in conjunction with the city attorney's office, may have a draft ready for the council's consideration by next month. The announcement comes after Morningside Recovery's rehabilitation homes in Newport Beach were forced to shut down after Orange County Superior Court Judge Sheila Fell's Aug. 19 ruling.
NEWS
By Bradley Zint | August 2, 2013
Carrie Renfro says she is negatively affected by three rehabilitation homes in and around her small block in Eastside Costa Mesa. She and her neighbors feel that the homes have been the source of robberies, syringes left in their yards and passed-out people on their porches. It's why she volunteered to host a "meet the mayor" session on her front lawn Thursday evening that brought more than 50 people onto her grass and both sides of her Buoy Street home's white picket fence. For more than an hour, Mayor Jim Righeimer and city officials answered questions and talked about the intricate problems and legalities surrounding the homes where people pay to be in a sober-living situation, often to receive treatment for substance abuse.
NEWS
July 30, 2013
A special "meet the mayor" session in Costa Mesa will take place Thursday and focus on sober treatment homes, city officials announced Tuesday. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at 198 Buoy St. in Costa Mesa's Eastside, near the corner of East Bay Street and Orange Avenue. Mayor Jim Righeimer will lead the discussion and talk about the city's strategy "in dealing with these properties," according to a city news release. Costa Mesa police and city code enforcement officers will attend the meeting as well.