Katrina Foley: Promoting responsible government

Lolita Harper

Katrina Foley believes city leadership can be summed up with three

Rs: rational, reasonable and responsible.

Foley, who is the chairwoman of the city’s Planning Commission,

said she embodies those traits and will incorporate them to bring

innovative direction and compromise to city government.

“I think that I am the proactive, committed, innovative type of

leader who can bring the consensus that this city needs,” Foley said.

While leading the Planning Commission, Foley has been able to

obtain an overwhelming majority of unanimous votes on a wide variety

of developments, programs and recommendations to the council. That

she is able to find common ground with her fellow commissioners, who

may hold vastly different views in terms of property rights, speaks

highly of her willingness to see all sides of an issue, Foley said.

“We really work hard together,” Foley said of the Planning

Commission. “[A vote of] 5 to 0 sends a strong message that this is a

good development, a good program or not a good idea.”

Foley’s commitment to taking all sides of an issue into account is

invaluable in a city as diverse as Costa Mesa, she said. The city has

an eclectic mix of homeowners, renters, longtime residents, new

families and various ethnicities who, while seemingly different on

the surface, all want the same thing for the city: high quality of

life.

“Everyone wants a city with good education, safe, clean streets

and nice neighborhoods,” Foley said. “We have got to find a way where

we can all talk to each other and figure out ways to find a

compromise to reach those goals.”

Foley said it is incumbent upon city leaders to manage public

resources, such as streets and public safety, in a way that does not

increase divisiveness in the city. Deteriorating streets, lack of

lighting, landscaping and police presence in one area creates an

environment that pits residents against one another, Foley said.

The council’s current trend of promoting improvements in spot

areas, while ignoring other portions of the city, has contributed to

a fragmented community. Costa Mesa is currently suffering from a

failure to establish a comprehensive road map for the entire city,

Foley said.

Costa Mesa is an intricate tapestry, made up of several key

components that are all necessary for its success, she added. It is

impossible to focus on only one piece of the puzzle without figuring

out where it fits in the entire picture.

Foley wants to design and implement a diagram that encompasses

operational and economic development and capital improvements for the

city’s long-term success.

“We have to have a road map, or an outline -- some way for us to

set goals and have a measure of success,” Foley said. “It is time to

stop just planning for today and start thinking about where our city

is headed 20 and 50 years from now.”