Malibu City Council Disagrees A Little On Qualities For A New City Manager, But One Thing Is Certain: It Won’t Be A Local

Malibu city council members say they would love to hire a local resident to be the next city manager.

Problem is … no one who lives in Malibu wants the job.

And the city may have to pay the next city manager a very generous housing bonus … if it wants to persuade the candidate to move here.

That’s the upshot of last night’s city council meeting … held to hear residents opinions on what the city should do to hire a permanent replacement for Reva Feldman.

The acrimonious battle over Feldman left deep scars and grudges … on the city council and in the community.

Last night was much less contentious.

Only a handful of residents spoke.

Longtime Malibu resident Ryan Embry said City Hall needs to be led by someone new … someone from outside Malibu government.

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“If you hire from within that doesn’t happen it’s the same old same old political same old thing and we need someone who knows how to build consensus and how to lead and not just to fall into place.”

Another longtime Malibu resident … Lloyd Ahearn … wants someone promoted from withiong City Hall.

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“I heard what do you know they say we’re gonna find somebody inside Malibu well we’re not gonna find somebody inside Malibu. We’re going to find somebody inside City Hall. We need somebody with inside right side to take over and keep us cool because if you bring somebody in from the outside and try to figure out the tribalism of this town we are going to be really lost.”

One city employee spoke.

Marianne Riggins is one of the few city employees who live in malibu.

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“In addition to excellent communication skills … we really need to look for somebody who has a positive a history of positive employee engagement and somebody who’s going to create a culture that’s going to make employees want to work in Malibu.”

Not many people spoke last night.

Given that state open meetings laws prevent city council members from discussing this behind closed door … last night was the first opportunity for the five council members to hear from each other about what qualities should be the next city manager …

This being Malibu … there was some mild disagreement.

Council member Karen Farrer said having someone with great financial experience was important to her.

Also … someone with experience dealing with the Coastal Commission and its laws.

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“We do need somebody with experience as a city manager and by all means in a coastal city.”

Council member Bruce Silverstein said he disagreed … and thinks the next city manager’s appreciation of the Malibu environment is a higher priority than financial expertise.

And he said that he is a relative newcomer to Malibu and learned coastal laws quickly …

The new city manager can learn that on the job … he inferred.

One attribute for a new city manager that many residents want is someone who lives in Malibu.

Problem is … no one who lives in Malibu has applied for the job.

Councilman Bruce Silverstein:

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“The issue of a local person you know I hear everybody on that we hear it all the time. I wish there were someone local with all of the qualities that everyone is looking for that wants the job … that’s asked for the job. But there isn’t somebody who’s applied.”

The perfect candidate may not exist.

Mayor Paul Grisanti.

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“While I would love to find somebody who is able to demonstrate everything in the world that anybody has ever asked for unfortunately I live in the real world where we take people as they come and look for someone who’s going to be able to do the job well and work with them because that’s what we do in every part of our life .”

So what’s next?

It’ goes behind closed doors.
A city council committee … Pierson and Silverstein … will go through the three dozen plus applications and interview those they consider to be the top candidates.

All five council members will see the resumes and applications of all the candidates.

Because its a personnel matter … the entire process will be secret.