The Political Landscape:

New Year’s resolutions are a lot like campaign promises — hard to keep. But like many people, local lawmakers are looking ahead to 2010 and what the coming year will bring.

In 2010, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher vows to keep a close eye on his pocketbook.

Rohrabacher said his New Year’s resolution this year is “to be as frugal with my own money as I am with the taxpayers’.”

Rep. John Campbell never makes New Year’s resolutions, he said, because nobody ever keeps them, including himself.

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore will have a lot on his plate in the coming year. The lawmaker will face off with former Hewlett-Packard executive Carly Fiorina in the June Republican primary in hopes of taking on Sen. Barbara Boxer in the mid-term election.

In 2010, DeVore said he vows to “work hard to balance California’s $21-billion budget deficit without new taxes while campaigning diligently to unseat Sen. Barbara Boxer — and be a good husband and father at the same time.”

Assemblyman Van Tran said he views the new year as more of a time for reflection. He’s hoping to unseat Rep. Loretta Sanchez in 2010.

“Around the holidays, I count my blessings and think about what has happened over the past year,” Tran said. “Once I get into the new year is when I make a New Year’s resolution.”

Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach is hoping to manage his time better and also get with the times in 2010.

The supervisor will start using an electronic calendar instead of his day-timer.

“I’m just making some minor adjustments, and we’ll see how they work in 2010, nothing dramatic,” he said.

Costa Mesa Councilwoman Katrina Foley intends to help stop the sale of the Orange County Fairgrounds in 2010. But that’s not it for her. She plans on laughing and dancing more with her family, and launching an action sports management business.

Foley’s goal is also to “create as many job opportunities as possible to help families in our community to have a more prosperous 2010.”

Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor and Foley don’t often see eye-to-eye, but they are united on the fairgrounds’ issue.

Mansoor said he doesn’t usually make new year’s resolutions, but he has goals.

Another one of his goals is to be as effective as possible with his remaining time on the City Council, he said.

Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Wendy Leece said she’ll apply this year’s lessons to 2010.

“This last year has been a really hard year for the city, and we learned a lot of lessons and my resolution would be to apply those lessons to the new year and continue to work hard, even though our challenges sometimes seem insurmountable,” she said.