Greed is Good.

Not too long ago, former Newport Beach Mayor Tod Ridgeway told my friend, who was running for City Council, not to bother walking the Balboa Peninsula. Why? Tod said because no one there cares and the City Council thus ignores them. By evidenced on this map of rehab facilities/sober living homes from publicvoice.us, you can see what I'm talking about. Residents there have been literally exploded upon by the very lucrative Rehab home business. A manager from Sober Living By the Sea himself said that they charge $10,000 per bed, per month, times 5 or 6 beds per home. Not a bad business model huh?

So due to this, and the many Conflicts of Interest burrowed into the City Government, the Peninsula is a Rehab Home/Sober living home mecca, with various other homes sprinkled along the City.

But, as Gordon Gekko said, "Greed is Good," and the greedy nature of these home operators are trying to force their spread into different areas of the City. And in today's Daily Pilot, they made have finally made their biggest mistake.

They are trying to fill up Corona Del Mar.

As I mentioned before, Corona Del Mar is a political hotbed, with their Residents Association, their Business Improvement District and their own Chamber of Commerce each able to attract City Council members, State Legislator's Representatives and Congressional Aides at EVERY GOD-FORSAKEN 7:30AM MEETING! I challenge any other Business Improvement District in the City to do that.

While the City ignores the Peninsula, they simply cannot ignore Corona Del Mar, and now with Lido Isle residents getting upset and involved (at last night's Lido Isle Town Hall Meeting, there were probably easily over 100 angry residents who sat through long, drawn out legal explanations and definitions), some real movement and real results might finally happen.

And once the other areas of the City (Eastbluff, Newport Heights, Balboa Island, Big Canyon for example) take notice that the problem is REAL, they will also get involved.

All these Rehab Homes had to do was collect their up to $4 million a year times 100+ homes on the Peninsula and buy their fancy cars and their fancy homes (on Lido).

But greed has taken over and they want to expand...into Corona Del Mar. And that will be the end of them.