THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE:

Has Costa Mesa Mayor Eric Bever ever jaywalked? Does Councilwoman Katrina Foley recycle? Inquiring minds want to know.

A Costa Mesa blogger is offering cold hard cash in exchange for the goods on City Council members and candidates for office in the upcoming municipal election.

The blog CM Watchtower, penned by a quasi-anonymous local political junkie who goes by the name John Smith, claims the reward money is “no joke.”

“It’s a bona fide offer that would be paid, once the information is verified. It has to be real dirt, not something thin and/or bogus,” Smith wrote in a post at cmwatchtower.blogspot.com earlier this week.

While the $1,000 Smith is offering could hardly be called a king’s ransom, it could very well be worthy of a council member’s.

“The CM Watchtower wants to know anything and everything about the history of the candidates,” Smith wrote. “Take your time. Ask around. And get back to us.”

Unfortunately, Smith lists no contact information on his blog for would-be informants.

BILL WOULD PROTECT child-family VISITS

A new bill penned by Assemblyman Van Tran would protect the visitation rights of the extended family members of children in foster care. State law allows grandparents to visit grandchildren in foster care, but no law protects the visitation rights of siblings, stepparents and other extended family members.

“When situations arise between adults, children are often the ones that lose; they have no rights when visitation issues occur with their relatives,” Tran said in a written statement. “Children should be allowed to maintain loving relationships with their relatives through tough and trying times for emotional support and comfort.”

AB 2029 would allow any relative, defined as a child or adult who is related to the child by blood, adoption, or affinity with the fifth degree of kinship, the spouse of any of those persons, even if the marriage was terminated by death or divorce, to petition the court for visitation rights to a child that has been placed in foster care. A court would decide if visitation with the relative is in the best interest of the child.

The bill gained approval from the Assembly Human Services Committee by a vote of 6-0 earlier this week.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.