Irvine holds closed-session review of city manager after Santa Monica job offer; no reportable action

Irvine City Council convened a special meeting May 26, 2025, to hold a closed-session performance evaluation of City Manager Oliver Chi after public comment noted an external job offer; the council returned from closed session at 1:55 p.m. and the city attorney reported there was no reportable action.

The closed session was called under California Government Code section 54957, the council was told, which allows public agencies to meet privately to evaluate a public employee’s performance. City Attorney (unnamed in the meeting transcript) described the closed-session item as a public employee performance evaluation and identified the position under review as the city manager.

Public comment before the closed session included both praise for Chi’s work and criticism of his transparency. Doug Elliott, identified in the transcript as a Community Services Commissioner speaking for himself, congratulated Chi on an offer he said came from the City of Santa Monica and described Chi’s decision as an…