Manhatttan Beach's new mayor, Mark Burton, is holding a free informal open house Sunday (July 12) from 1 to 3 p.m. at 1216 2nd Street.

Mayor Mark, as he likes to be called, took over as mayor on Tuesday, July 7 when City Council voted him in. Manhattan Beach mayors hold the position on a rotating basis; Each City Council member is slated to serve approximately nine months as mayor, however, their colleagues must vote and approve each mayor when their turn comes up.

Mayor Mark was elected to MB City Council in March of 2013, along with Tony D'Errico, who is now Mayor Pro Tem. Burton replaced Mayor Wayne Powell who now returns to his seat on city council.

Mayor Mark told DigMB he has three goals during his mayorship. They are

1. Make Manhattan Beach the safest beach city in California, 
2. Make Manhattan Beach fiscally sustainable today and tomorrow, and 
3. Make Manhattan Beach the best customer service city in California.  

Each goal has several initiatives, he said. "For instance, under the goal of MB being the safest beach city in California, the installation of security cameras at strategic points of ingress/egress, developing deployment strategies for foot beat patrols at the (Manhattan Village) mall, North MB and Downtown MB, and enchanting our Neighborhood Watch Program are three initiatives that support this goal."