Foley lets go of council seat

Katrina Foley, who has sat on the Costa Mesa City Council and the Newport-Mesa school board for almost three weeks, officially resigned her council seat Thursday.

The resignation, which Foley e-mailed to City Manager Allan Roeder and City Atty. Kimberly Hall Barlow, will take effect Friday.

“I had some unfinished council business to attend to, including weighing in on the appointment of Tom Hatch as the new city manager,” she wrote in an e-mail to the Daily Pilot. “I’m ready to move on in my new role as school board trustee.”

Foley, 43, served on the council for six years before running for the seven-member Board of Education.

On Nov. 2, she defeated incumbent Michael Collier for the Trustee Area 2 seat, garnering nearly 55% of the vote.

In the days leading up to the election, some questioned if she could hold both seats. She contended she could, although ultimately she decided she would not and made that clear to the voters, although she didn’t make her resignation official until Thursday morning.

“In theory she could have served both seats unless a court of an attorney general ruled that the offices were incompatible,” Barlow said. “There would have had to have been a particular kind of legal action taken against her.”

Barlow said it was a pleasure working with Foley, the only liberal on the council.

“She really cares about the community,” Barlow said.

As a school board member, Foley said she plans to forge partnerships between the district and the school.

“I have appreciated the opportunity to serve my Costa Mesa community during the last 12 years,” she wrote in her resignation. “I look forward to serving Newport Beach and Costa Mesa as a school board member, and building a better partnership with the school district and the city during the next few years.”

She also wants to improve the state of athletic fields in the district and at a recent board meeting vowed to try and bring a musical band to every elementary school in the district.