Hornbuckle Elected Mayor of Costa Mesa : City government: She faces her first challenge as the council takes up the issue of whether to censure a fellow member.

The City Council on Monday elected Councilwoman Mary Hornbuckle to serve a two-year term as mayor. Councilwoman Sandra L. Genis was elected vice mayor.

Hornbuckle, a schoolteacher who is serving her second council term, was lauded by outgoing Mayor Peter F. Buffa as “caring, compassionate and prepared.” Other council members noted her consensus-building skills.

Those skills will come into play almost immediately as the council considers what to do about Councilman Ed Glasgow, who has admitted that he participated in the monitoring of private computer messages between Police Chief David L. Snowden and City Manager Allan L. Roeder.

The council was scheduled to discuss possible censure of Glasgow in a closed session after Monday’s council meeting.

According to an investigation by the Orange County district attorney’s office, the computer printouts were allegedly made by Costa Mesa Police Lt. John A. Regan, who is now retired.

Regan told investigators that he monitored the messages as part of his own “investigation” into alleged improprieties by Snowden. Glasgow saw copies of the messages over a period of several months and asked the city attorney to investigate Snowden. However, neither the city attorney nor the district attorney found any evidence of wrongdoing by Snowden.

Snowden asked the district attorney to investigate Regan for the alleged illegal interception of his messages, but a four-month inquiry yielded insufficient evidence to warrant prosecution, according to investigators.

Glasgow has stated publicly that he will not resign over the incident.

The council on Monday also seated its newest member, Jay Humphrey.

Humphrey, a pharmaceuticals salesman, won the council seat on his second try. He is a fiscal conservative and an advocate of slow growth.

The election of Humphrey, combined with the defeat of staunchly pro-development councilman Orville Amburgey, may move the council to take a more critical view of development projects.