It's official: The passage of Manhattan Beach's Measure MB has officially been certified by the state. Measure MB garnered 67.74% of the vote, just past the 2/3 vote it needed to prevail.

The final official vote count for the March 5 election was 67.74% yes (8,459 votes) to 32.26% no (4,028 votes).

The original Measure MB, a locally controlled funding source for Manhattan Beach schools, was passed in 2018 with 68.32 percent of the vote. The funding generated by Measure MB has yielded approximately $2.5 million per year, sustaining more than 20 teaching and staff positions, as well as essential programs. The parcel tax will automatically expire in June 2024.

"The passage of Measure MB brings much-needed relief to our budget in these challenging times," wrote Manhattan Beach Unified School District Superintendent John Bowes in an email to parents on Friday. "The renewal of Measure MB will provide critical funding, helping us restore some of the teaching positions that were at risk of being laid off. This funding, approximately $2.4 million yearly for each of the next six years, will be secure and cannot be taken away by the state."

Voter turnout in Manhattan Beach hit an impressive high for the March 5 election, according to  data collected after the election. The election yielded a 50% voter turnout in Manhattan Beach (13,155 ballots returned out of 26,381 ballots mailed), according to PDI's California voter data. That compares with 29% voter turnout for L.A. County and 34% turnout for California as a whole. 

Measure MB came at the heels of an earlier attempt to renew the parcel tax that would have raised $1,095 per year, per parcel over 12 years. That effort, known as Measure A, was soundly defeated in June 2022. However, many Measure A opponents had said that they would support a renewal of the property tax at the current rate. This year's Measure MB had garnered endorsements across a wide swath of the community, from both supporters and opponents of Measure A.

Meanwhile, in other elections of note, Manhattan Beach City Councilmember Steve Napolitano is headed into a run-off in November for a Superior Court judgeship (Office No. 39). Napolitano and attorney George A. Turner Jr. were the top two vote-getters in that race, with 369,247 votes and 423,813 votes, respectively.

In the L.A. County Board of Supervisors' 2nd District, Holly J. Mitchell avoided a runoff by receiving a commanding 68.45% of the vote.

In another closely watched election, statewide Proposition 1 claimed an extremely narrow victory, garnering just 50.2% of the vote (3,636,678 votes) to 49.8% (3,610,436 votes).

This statewide measure, championed by Gov. Newsom, authorizes a nearly $6.4 billion bond for mental health and substance abuse treatment facilities, and shifts about $140 million in existing tax revenue used by counties for mental health services to a state agency. Locally, the widely respected Manhattan Beach-based homelessness nonprofit MB SAFE, which normally does not take positions on political issues, had taken a stand against the measure. MB SAFE contended that existing local programs, including outreach services, homeless drop-in centers, and wellness programs run by peer-support groups would be impacted; and that local oversight and accountability would be watered down, instead giving more authority to the governor and the state.