The Political Landscape:

Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor and Councilwoman Katrina Foley exchanged barbs at Tuesday’s City Council meeting about her speaking to the media about city negotiations for the purchase of the Orange County Fairgrounds.

Mansoor admonished Foley from the council dais Tuesday, after she gave a TV interview to KOCE discussing the city’s negotiations with the state.

Mansoor, who appeared to be reading from a prepared statement, accused Foley of releasing sensitive information from a closed-session City Council meeting to the media.

“I’m losing confidence in this whole fairgrounds process,” Mansoor said. “These actions reduce and undermine the confidence of not only the rest of the council, but the public and anyone working with the city including the state and private parties.”

The mayor referred to Foley only as a “council member with a legal background,” during his remarks. Foley is an attorney who specializes in employment law.

The councilwoman responded by criticizing Mansoor for bringing the issue up in public, and not discussing it with her privately or in closed session.

“I would just appreciate it if you have a concern or if you have a disappointment, that you might want to pick up the telephone and express it to me directly instead of using the public forum as a way to air a grievance,” Foley said. “I don’t know how it hurt you, so I don’t even know why you would bring it up.”

Foley also added that she had spoken with City Manager Alan Roeder about what she could and could not discuss about the fairgrounds negotiations prior to her appearance on KOCE.

“Yeah, right,” Mansoor said after Foley finished her rebuttal.

TREASURER FILES APPEAL

Embattled Orange County Treasurer Chriss Street has appealed a $7-million court judgment that scuttled his reelection bid.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in March handed down a $7-million judgment against Street, a Newport Beach resident, for breaching his fiduciary duties while he was a trustee for a bankrupt trust from 1998 to 2005, before his election as county treasurer-tax collector.

In legal documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court last week, Street’s attorney James A. Hayes called into question whether his client got a fair trial and if the judge had applied the proper legal standards in the case.

The court ruled that Street breached his fiduciary duties to the End of the Road Trust and violated certain terms of the trust agreement. Judge Richard Neiter ordered Street to pay more than $7 million in damages.

The Orange County Board of Supervisor voted to strip Street of his investment powers after the ruling.