Skip to main content

Manhattan Beach City Council

This is a sample · See your full ballot

✕

City of Manhattan Beach

Manhattan Beach City Council

This person holds one of Manhattan Beach's five at-large City Council seats. They vote on the city budget, zoning and development rules, and city ordinances. The term is four years. The council does not elect its mayor directly. Members rotate through the mayor and mayor pro tem titles. That person leads meetings but casts only one vote, like every other member.

Four candidates are running for Manhattan Beach's two open City Council seats. Incumbent Amy Howorth faces two past councilmembers, Richard Montgomery and Mark Burton. Joseph Ungoco, a Planning Commissioner, is also running. This is their third bid for the council.

Manhattan Beach's council is five members, all elected citywide rather than by district, on staggered 4-year terms; the other three seats aren't up this cycle. The council chooses one of its own to rotate through the mayor and mayor pro tem titles, so voters elect a councilmember, not a mayor directly. Whoever wins holds the seat for four years, setting the budget, zoning, and city ordinances for a small, affluent beach city of roughly 35,000 people in the South Bay. The seat Howorth holds is up, and so is the seat of Councilmember David Lesser, who announced this summer that he would not seek re-election.

This is a plurality race decided in one round: the two highest vote-getters among the four win the seats outright, with no runoff. Fiscal questions dominate the campaign trail — the city budget swung from balanced two years ago to a multi-million-dollar projected deficit this year, and every candidate has staked out a position on spending, city-employee compensation, or both. A second axis is development: several candidates are campaigning against high-rise construction on Sepulveda Boulevard, a state-driven housing pressure point for small coastal cities. Weigh continuity from the sitting incumbent against two different flavors of "experienced outsider" comeback, or a genuine newcomer with no council voting record at all.

Amy Howorth

Amy Howorth is the only true incumbent in the race. She was first elected in 2011. She was mayor most recently in 2024. She is running on continuity. That includes fiscal stewardship and opposing high rises on Sepulveda Boulevard.

Richard P. Montgomery

Richard P. Montgomery is a former police officer. He also worked as a real estate and government affairs manager. He served four prior council terms and was twice mayor. He stepped down most recently in 2023. He is campaigning on a warning that city finances have deteriorated sharply.

Mark Burton

Mark Burton is a construction litigation attorney. He is a former Senior Assistant City Attorney for the City of Los Angeles. He served one council term. He has since lost four bids to reclaim a seat. He is running on fiscal accountability, opposing high rises, and strict two-term limits.

Joseph Ungoco

Joseph Ungoco is a two-term member of the city's Planning Commission. They have never held elected office. They ran for council in 2017 and 2019 without winning. This is their third bid for the council.

Your picks · choose up to 2

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

This is one race on your ballot. Vote or Else shows every contest you will vote on — Congress, the Legislature, your county, city, and school board — each broken down the same way. Enter your address to see your full ballot.