The Political Landscape:

At the end of each year, Newport Beach City Council members reshuffle their seats on the dais according to rank and seniority.

The process is always good for a few chuckles in Council Chambers.

Councilman Mike Henn, who has been relegated to the far right end of the dais for the past year, offered his seat to Councilwoman Nancy Gardner on Tuesday — he’s tired of having to turn the lights on and off during the endless parade of PowerPoint presentations the council has to endure, he said.

Gardner proved to be the joker in the pack Tuesday night.

“That’s too much responsibility,” the councilwoman quipped.

Councilman Keith Curry, who was elected Tuesday as the new mayor pro tem, took the seat to the right of Mayor Ed Selich, uprooting Councilwoman Lesile Daigle, the former mayor pro tem, from her former perch.

Curry also now sits to the left of Councilman Steve Rosansky. The two were at odds last year over the City Hall in the Park issue, trading barbs at meetings and exchanging heated letters in the pages of the Daily Pilot.

The icy relations between Curry and Rosansky seemed to have thawed a bit Tuesday night — Rosansky floated Curry’s nomination to be mayor pro tem.

Running for reelection together last month may have helped smooth over any rough edges.

“Being in a foxhole together is truly a bonding experience,” Curry said.

FOLEY HELPS PICK OBAMA EMPLOYEES

Costa Mesa Councilwoman Katrina Foley is part of a committee formed late last month that is responsible for picking people to serve in various positions in the Obama administration.

The committee is made up of prominent local Democratic politicians and officials including Chairman of the Democratic Party of Orange County Frank Barbaro, Fullerton Councilwoman Sharon Quirk and many others.

So far they’ve had a few meetings. The recommendations they make are forwarded to the president-elect’s transition team, which presumably scrutinizes them in the meticulous, leave-no-stone-unturned way that has been sometimes parodied in the media.

The local picks are confidential so far, but the positions the candidates are vying for range in importance from management level, policy-making jobs like undersecretary of energy, to administrative positions.

Foley said she submitted eight names herself, but cannot reveal them.

The committee will continue to work until there is no more need for local people to fill positions.

HARMAN HOSTS MEET AND GREET