3 Candidates Officially Enter Manhattan Beach City Council Race

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — Three Manhattan Beach residents have been officially verified to run in the Manhattan Beach City Council race. Los Angeles County verified Grettel Fournell, Mark Burton and Steve Napolitano last week. Incumbent City Treasurer Tim Lilligren was also officially verified. He has no competitors to date.

"How does it feel being officially in the race?" mirrored incumbent candidate Steve Napolitano. "As someone who had to run as a write-in candidate 30 years ago because one of my minimum number of signatures wasn't good, having them verified ever since is always a big relief for me. So I'm happy and ready to get out there and campaign!"

Said Fournell, "I am happy that my candidacy for Manhattan Beach City Council has been verified by the County. We will be launching my website shortly after the filing deadline of August 7; the web address will be grettelfournell.com."

For his part, Burton, who has served on the Manhattan Beach City Council before for a 4-year term, said, "It's exciting to be officially qualified to run for Council of our great City. I am gratified to have the support of so many residents who have told me that 'we need you back on Council'. This election is about trust. We need council members who are worthy of the public trust, who will be honest and forthright in conducting city business and who will make decisions in the best interests of our residents."

Three city council seats are up for grabs in the Nov. 3rd election. Two current council members, Napolitano and Richard Montgomery, are running to secure a second 4-year term. Current council member Nancy Hersman is not seeking re-election, opting instead to enjoy retirement with her husband.

Verification by LA County is the final step to having an official spot on the ballot. More verifications are sure to be coming in soon. Montgomery is among potential candidates who have pulled papers to run but not yet submitted them to the City Clerk, who then sends them to LA County for verification. Others include Joe Franklin, Phoebe Lyons and Zach Stiffel. Chaz Flemmings has submitted his papers.

In an age of COVID-19, candidates will have an interesting time to run for city council. "The COVID pandemic presents challenges for candidates and voters," Burton told Manhattan Beach Patch. "The tradition of door knocking, coffee 'meet and greet' events and the several candidate forums are no longer an option. Hopefully, one of our community organizations will sponsor a Zoom candidates forum. Of course, we can rely upon our new MB Patch to cover this election!"

For her part, Fournell said, "Yes, COVID-19 calls for new ways to campaign and connect with residents. We’ll be keeping our website updated with the virtual campaign events that will be occurring over the next couple of months."

Napolitano agreed that COVID-19 will affect the candidates' campaigns. "Yes, this will be an entirely different campaign," he said. "Nobody wants us to do what I always do—go door to door, so we're going to have to rely on other methods to really get the word out. Obviously, we won't be the only race going on either, and there will be lots of noise and attention given to all the federal, state and proposition races. So it will be the candidate's job to show folks how important local elections are and if anyone wants to host an online meet and greet, I'll be happy to talk to everyone."

• Napolitano can be reached at steve@stevenapolitano.com or his website at stevenapolitano.com.
• Burton says residents can text or call him at (310) 562-7897 or email him at markfburton@gmail.com.
• Fournell can be reached at grettelfournell@gmail.com.