Opinion: City Council Will Attempt To Hire Sean Crumby as Permanent City Manager Without an Open Search Process
Council agenda item 5.1 for the October 28, 2025 meeting asks the council to approve the employment agreement for the current Interim City Manager, Sean Crumby, as a permanent city manager with a salary of $434,242 per year, which was the same salary as the previous city manager, Oliver Chi received. Chi came to the City of Irvine after being the city manager of Huntington Beach, previously. By contrast, Crumby has never held the position of city manager at any of the municipalities where he has been employed.
Typically, a city manager position is subject to an open search process, and cities often retain search firms to help recruit a pool of qualified candidates. It is not uncommon for a city the size of Irvine to have a national search. The process usually involves developing a candidate profile, advertising the position in relevant publications and job websites, identifying and reaching out to qualified prospective candidates, and conducting a preliminary screening and reference checks. Third-party search firms are often used to reduce favoritism and help develop a robust candidate pool.
Hiring a city manager is an investment in the city. The council should be able to review a list of finalists in an open solicitation process for what is likely the highest-salaried position within city government to ensure that it has an opportunity to hire the best candidate for the job. In addition, an open search process gives candidates from everywhere an opportunity to compete and demonstrate that they are qualified and prepared to do the job. By not having Crumby go through this process with a pool of his peers, the council is taking a shortcut cut reducing transparency and signaling that it will not follow an open, competitive process for one of the most important salaried positions in the city.
The city follows the California Government Code for City Manager reviews and contracts. While there is no requirement that the city utilize an open search process, it has used search firms and has conducted a more thorough search previously. In 2021, the city even asked for public feedback about what it wanted to see in a new city manager. To our knowledge, public input has not been sought to help fill the vacancy that was left when former city manager Oliver Chi resigned his position.
