NEWS UPDATE

Costa Mesa City Councilwoman Linda Dixon will switch seats with Councilwoman Wendy Leece, the council decided Tuesday in a first-ever vote on seating arrangements on the dais.

The change, made in a 3-1 vote with Councilwoman Katrina Foley abstaining, will take effect at the first April council meeting.

Leece, who joined the council in November, said she requested the switch so she can sit next to City Manager Allan Roeder to get information during meetings. When the issue came up March 6, Dixon refused to change, saying she didn’t think it was appropriate for her and Foley to be off to the side as if they’re irrelevant.

On Tuesday she criticized Mayor Allan Mansoor for pushing the change without contacting her.

“It was a very poor show of leadership and very discourteous to me,” she said.

Some residents have ridiculed the council for this latest illustration of their inability to get along — on his website blogger Byron De Arakal referred to council members as “grade schoolers” and “booger munchers.”

Foley abstained from voting on the seat switch because “I don’t think this is a matter of city business.”