The city’s eighth planning manager is leaving this week. Stacey Rice is taking C.J. Amstrup’s place as the interim head of the Planning Division. A process begins this month to select a permanent replacement.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
After a little more than two years on the job, C.J. Amstrup has chosen to step down as Malibu’s planning manager. He announced his resignation to the city staff last week, and the news was released to the public by the City Council at Monday’s meeting. Amstrup’s last day is this Thursday.
An Irvine resident, Amstrup drives a more than one-hour commute each way every day. He has taken a position as the planning services manager for the city of Anaheim.
“It’s primarily because it’s closer to home,” Amstrup said in a Tuesday interview. “A couple times I came close to moving to the Westside. Every time I got really close, I decided I liked it here [Orange County]. This is where all my friends live. It was primarily a quality of life issue.”
Amstrup came to Malibu in July 2005 following a three-month search by the city that began when Mike Teruya left due to illness. Amstrup had been encouraged to apply for the job by City Attorney Christi Hogin, whose law firm also represents the city of West Hollywood, where Amstrup worked for three years. Except for a one-month stint as a senior planner with the city of Santa Monica, he had no previous experience working in a coastal city and dealing with the California Coastal Commission.
Amstrup said he believed his noncoastal experience was not a disadvantage during his tenure, which included working closely with the Coastal Commission staff. This included communicating about coastal development permit applications and the city’s slow process to amend the Coastal Commission-written Malibu Local Coastal Program.
“The interesting part for me was working with the Coastal Commission, and strengthening the relationship with the staff in the Ventura office,” Amstrup said. “And we’ve gone a long way making a productive relationship.”
The outgoing planning head received praise from his direct superior, Environmental and Community Development Director Vic Peterson, who said the Planning Division morale is at an all-time high.
“We’re going to miss him,” Peterson said. “And I think, among a long list of positives he is leaving us, at the top of that list is the legacy of leadership. He has people in place that are ready and willing, and can pick up the ball.”
Mayor Jeff Jennings said on Tuesday, “For the time he was here, I think he did a fine job. He understood the problems and worked hard to solve them. That’s about all you can ask.”
Amstrup’s stint for the city was relatively long compared to some of his most recent predecessors. Teruya was with the city for 19 months. He was preceded by an interim manager who was at Malibu for less than a year, and prior to that Drew Purvis was the head of planning for 13 months. Amstrup was the eighth full-time planning manager/director for a city that was incorporated just 16 years ago.
Peterson said Stacey Rice, a senior planner who has the longest tenure on the staff, has been named interim manager. A search for Amstrup’s permanent replacement begins this month. Rice and others who work for the city are eligible to apply. Rice said on Tuesday that she plans to apply. An advertisement for the job will be placed in several trade journals. Peterson said a person with coastal city experience would be thought of highly.
“It’s certainly something that we ask for in our job advertiser… something that we’ll give a lot of value to,” Peterson said, but stopping short of saying coastal experience would be a requirement.
A panel of people outside the city will interview initial candidates, and then finalists will be interviewed by city staff members. City Manager Jim Thorsen has the final say on the hiring. Peterson said no timeline has been established yet for the procedure.
Councilmember Ken Kearsley said this week he looks forward to a thorough search being done to find a new planning manager, but said he would be pleased with a selection from within. “We have qualified people in this city,” Kearsley said. “We’re getting to the point where we’re developing middle management.”