The Mayor is the city's Chief Executive Officer and is responsible for the efficient and orderly administration of city affairs. He presides over all meetings of the City Council but votes only in the case of a tie and has veto power. The Mayor also executes contracts, deeds and other official documents as authorized by the City Council.

Current Mayor Mark Mathews, grew up in the Kennesaw, Georgia community. He attended Due West Elementary, Awtrey Middle, and North Cobb High Schools.  

He began his community involvement in 1987 when he became the president of the Kennesaw Springs Homeowners Association, where he served until 1996. Concurrently, in 1993, he served on the initial boards of the Kennesaw Downtown Development Authority as well as the Kennesaw Development Authority.  

In 1996, he was elected to the Kennesaw City Council and served on the Council for 12 years until he was elected Mayor in 2007. In November 2011, he won his re-election bid and is now serving his second term as Mayor of Kennesaw.  

Mark actively pursues continuing education in municipal management and leadership as well as additional community service. He earned a Certificate of Excellence from the Harold F. Holtz Municipal Training Institute and completed training through the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Regional Leadership Institute. He is involved with the Kennesaw Business Association and Cobb Chamber of Commerce Chairman’s Club, Honorary Commanders Class of 2009 and the class of 2010 for Leadership Cobb.  He serves on the Kennesaw State University Citizen Advisory Board and in 2012, was elected to his second term as a board member of the Atlanta Regional Commission.  In January of 2011 Mark was awarded the Mack Henderson Public Service award from the Cobb Chamber of Commerce for his work on the Transportation Investment Act Roundtable Board.  

In addition to his civic responsibilities, Mark is an experienced businessman. From 1989-2000, he was the Vice President of Mathews Carpet Company, Inc., a long time family-owned flooring business located in Marietta. In 2001, he became President of Mathews Abbey Flooring after purchasing the business from his father, a position he held until March of 2009. He is currently employed as the Manager of Government Relations for MetroAtlanta Ambulance Service in Marietta, where his responsibilities include building relationships with elected and non-elected officials while keeping the management team informed on EMS related issues.  

Mark and Betsy, his wife of 25 years, have a son, Nick who attends Georgia Tech, and a daughter, Emily who currently attends North Cobb High School.  He is an active member of Kennesaw United Methodist Church and resides in Kennesaw’s Legacy Park subdivision. He is a member of Pinetree Country Club where he enjoys socializing and the occasional round of golf.