As a father to Ian and Avery, and a husband to Bobby Jo, Oliver Chi, Irvine’s newest city manager, enjoys the simple things in life – family, golf, black coffee and the satisfaction of helping others.  

While Chi says his professional life and fatherhood have increased his caffeine intake and decreased his golfing activity, being the resourceful person he is, he has a solution – an in-office putting green.

“I take my coffee black, and I drink a lot of it every single day. For me, my family, my home, my profession – those are the things that are most important to me,” Chi said during a phone interview with Irvine Weekly. “I don’t get to play golf very often anymore, but I’ve got a putting green in my office. I’ll hit a couple of putts when I’m thinking about different things.”

It is not all fun and games for Chi. From his perspective, the health of the team is the most important aspect of any organization.   

With previous local government experience as the city manager of Huntington Beach, this will be Chi’s second local government position in Orange County. Prior to his arrival, Chi spent time working for the cities of Arcadia and Monrovia. 

Yet, while his trajectory within the ranks of local policymakers may seem calculated, Chi did not originally intend to work for the public sector in this capacity. A graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, and later University of Southern California, Chi originally had aspirations to study law. 

“I actually fell into the local government profession totally by accident. I had gone to UCLA for my undergraduate degree, and I was thinking I wanted to go to law school,” he said. “Initially I had very little perspective of what a city actually did, but the chance to work for the city of Arcadia opened my eyes to this public sector agency that was focused to help shape and create a community – in the way the community wants their city to look, feel and operate.”

Less than a week later, Chi said he knew local government would be a perfect fit.    

Hired by the city of Irvine on December 2, Chi is approaching his first 100 days on the job. Over the course of the last first three months, Chi said he has spent the majority of his time team building, adding that there is a deep sense of responsibility with the position he is now entrusted with.  

For Chi, organizational functionality is the key to success. He says he’s always looking for creative ways to help institute that mindset for his colleagues. For Chi, quotes have become an easy anecdotal way of showcasing that message, and help “articulate what’s happening in the moment.”   

“What I’ve seen in organizations is, as much as projects are important, what’s most important is how an operation functions internally. From an operational perspective, an intense focus on people and values, those two things will drive an organization’s culture – but it has to be deliberately designed and developed. We’ve spent a lot of time exploring our mission, values – what’s most important culturally here in Irvine,” he said. “There are certainly things that folks want to see some progress made on – what are we going to do at the Great Park, how are we going to address issues related to All American Asphalt, what are some of the trends that will happen with the new housing elements that were recently approved? All those tangible project-based things we need to do, I found that you’re more effective in executing if you start with internally what’s most important.”

As Chi’s work begins in Irvine, he recalled using a quote during a recent meeting with the Irvine executive team that he overheard while his son was watching the show Troll Hunters:

“Destiny is a gift. Some go their entire lives living existences of quiet desperation, never learning the truth that what feels as though a burden pushing down upon our shoulders is actually a sense of purpose, lifting us to greater heights.” 

Chi said that quote made him think about the significance of his current opportunity, and how while he feels the weight of responsibility, he is grateful to be in a position to help others.    

“I think that perspective is important and hopefully folks have a sense that the work we do is meaningful – and as hard as it can be at times – we should be looking at it from a lens that we are privileged to have the chance to do this,” he said. “I’ve spent a lot of time, the last couple of weeks, since I’ve started, taking every meeting that I can, asking questions, listening – I think over and over, what I continue to see is this incredible desire in Irvine to maintain our ability to serve as this organization in this city that is serving the community, and helping to shape the city into a place where a premiere quality of life is possible.”

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