Costa Mesa Councilwoman-elect Foley ready to serve

For Katrina Foley, with the busy election season now behind her and her name solidly atop the list of eight Costa Mesa City Council candidates, it was a “perfect day for cheesy grits.”

On Wednesday morning, Foley and her husband headed over to Old Vine Café at The Camp. After campaigning for one of two open spots on the council for nearly a year, it was a small celebratory break from Election Day — and all the work done in advance of it.

The night before, Foley and around 200 of her supporters, who passed through her Mesa del Mar home, awaited election results and even did last-minute campaigning, calling people they knew hadn’t voted yet. In the end, it seems to have paid off for her team.

As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, Foley, an attorney, was easily the top vote-getter for a council seat, having captured more than a quarter of the votes, or 6,675. She was a solid 5 percentage points ahead of the two next-closest candidates, Mayor Jim Righeimer and former Councilman Jay Humphrey, who are now locked in a tight race for the second seat as all the ballots get counted.

“It feels good to know that there are so many residents, even in low-voter turnout, who sent a pretty clear message,” she said. “They sent a strong message of what’s important to them in the city.”

Foley and the second council winner will take the oath of office and get seated Dec. 2.

Foley, 47, is no stranger to Costa Mesa politics and the council dais. She last served from 2004 to 2010 before successfully running for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board.

Foley made public safety — particularly restoring the Police Department staffing and addressing the crime rates — a cornerstone of her campaign.

“It has nothing to do with pensions,” she said. “It has to do with safety.”

And now with her four-year term soon to begin, she said her first “symbolic” act will be trying to change the public commenting structure at council meetings that Righeimer created in November 2013. The new procedure permits up to 10 randomly chosen people to speak on non-agenda topics at the beginning of a session, with the remainder having to wait to address the council at the end of the meeting, which can often be hours later.

Righeimer has contended that this was created to speed up the decision-making process, though others felt the bifurcation was stifling their free-speech rights.

“People have a right to address their government,” Foley said.

She also wants to heavily promote Costa Mesa’s official motto, the City of the Arts. The city is home to the renowned Segerstrom Center for the Arts and South Coast Repertory, both of which host world-class theater, music and dance productions.

Costa Mesa should capitalize on its motto, Foley said, putting the city “on the map as the City of the Arts, not something negative that we’re always hearing about.”