Veteran municipal leader brings wildfire recovery experience and collaborative leadership style as city approaches a pivotal year
As Malibu approaches the first anniversary of the worst wildfire since cityhood, the City Council has appointed Joseph “Joe” Irvin as its new city manager. Readers, some with trepidations, others with optimism, and all with queries, will getto meet him when he assumes his duties on March 2.
When one first meets Irvin, he’s affable, easy to converse with, knowledgeable, and humble. He’s the type of guy who takes the time to reflect and ponder, to identify and weigh all the various factors affecting policy decisions, and — very important to many a Malibuite — to readily acknowledge that with regard to many issues that Malibu faces, he knows he doesn’t know everything and, even more importantly, he wants to meet with constituents, city staff and councilmembers to educate himself regarding those issues and concerns he needs to come up to speed on. Irvin wants to meet with — and learn from — the rebuilding homeowners and the professionals and paraprofessionals who will help them finally move back into their homes. He also intends to speak with representatives of Malibu’s small businesses so as to understand how deeply impacted they were by not only the wildfire and mudslides, but the consequent months-long closure of Pacific Coast Highway, which nearly paralyzed many Malibu businesses. Irvin also plans to introduce himself to Malibu’s faith community and its arts, school, and surfing communities.
Simply stated, Irvin makes a great first impression and, given his more than 20 years of executive municipal experience, seems capable of helping the council and its commissions solve their problems, and sometimes making the tough calls.
Hailing from South Lake Tahoe, where he has served as city manager, Irvin has led emergency management, wildfire response, and evacuation operations. He had held that post since May 2020, and prior to that, he served as the assistant city manager for the cities of Healdsburg, California, and Sequim, Washington. He began his career as city planner after he earned his Bachelor of Science degree from California State University, Channel Islands. Irvin also earned his Master of Public Administration from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, and he has also completed executive management coursework at the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper School of Public Service.
“The success of a city manager is to build a really strong team.” Irvin opined. “I know I have the skill set to know what questions to ask, who to meet with, and how to build strong relations with all the various sectors of Malibu’s community.” He noted that he will make it a priority to get out and meet those in the community and to meet with staff. “I plan on learning a lot from Yolanda Bundy, the community development director and Rob Duboux, director of public works for the city.”
At first blush, readers may wonder whether there are many symmetries between serving as city manager for South Lake Tahoe and assuming the position in Malibu, especially because Malibu is a coastal community. Irvin emphasis that he is going to perform his job in conformance with the mandates of Malibu’s mission statement and is committing himself to dedicate his actions in accordance with the Malibu mission statement, while also balancing the need to secure Malibu’s rural characteristics while balancing those with serving the community and visitors’ needs, taking into account the need to work with investors who want to meet the community’s needs. “I feel that such balancing is achievable as long as we respect locals’ decision-making, and we all encourage the City Council to look out for locals as they are who we in city government work for.
“In South Lake Tahoe, we were affected by the Caldor Fire in 2021 and I was involved in helping restoration and of the city focusing on the burn-out areas to ensure appropriate best practices to keep the watershed protected.”
The Caldor Fire was a 68-day-long megafire that left swaths of the southwestern Tahoe Basin and Sierran western slope scarred. “I helped to build partnerships with the fire chief and his staff and helped to implement the Chipping Program, which urges property owners to bring debris to the curbside and arrange for chippers to chip it,” he said.
Irvin noted that he has served on the Cal Fire Risk Modeling Advisory Workgroup, which provides a means to understand and model wildfire risks for a community and specified parcels through the input of mitigating factors.
“As the City of Malibu ramps up to issue permits as soon as possible and creates rebuilding incentives such as fee waivers for like-for-like-plus-10-percent rebuilds, I will familiarize myself with regard to the nuances of geotechnical concerns and sewer systems.” Irvin stated. “Cities have the potential to focus on community-wide defensible spaces and the ability to focus on individual lot defensible space rules — all of those factors are pivotal to demonstrating to insurance companies that everyone is working hard to mitigate potential hazards and that helps to show insurers that we are doing all we can to ensure a safe community.”
Sounds good — quite impressive, many readers may conclude. However, Irvin is quick to point out that although he has not dealt with the Coastal Commission, he has worked with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
“The agency is like the Coastal Commission, but it is a part of the U.S. Forest Service and is aided by the California Tahoe Conservancy, an office of the governor,” Irvin explained. Irvin said he plans on doing an organizational assessment of city government to see how aligned the city is with prioritizing rebuilds and serving residents.
“I will work to implement the city’s strategic plan as I want to make sure all of the city’s operations align with its best interests,” he said. “That could include modernization of technology at City Hall and what function software is used for permitting and the city’s financial platforms — I will work with Yolanda and her team to make sure the permitting and financial review takes rebuilding efforts into account and I will support them as they make any needed changes.”
Irvin noted he wants to interface with the Malibu business community to learn what’s working for businesses and what isn’t working, and he will also meet with members of the Malibu Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce.
Irvin happily noted that he has secured a residence in Malibu for he and his family. He also stated that when he attended Channel Islands, he lived in Ventura and he learned to surf — and to love it, as did his wife, Kate, also a surfer and an occupational therapist. The couple’s 17-year-old daughter, Michaela, is a senior in high school and in her college search process, Irvin shares, bearing a father’s expression of pride, mixed with an “I cannot believe how fast my daughter’s childhood has gone.”
When he is not working, Irvin also likes to hike, mountain bike, play hockey, go boating and of course, to spend time with his family.
“The residents are getting somebody who is here to really to help, and I hope that as a community, we can celebrate all the small successes as we rebuild and carry on because when we celebrate small successes it makes it easier for us to implement and achieve big initiatives,” he promised. “I want to tell the residents that they are getting a city manager who is an honest, transparent person who is energetic and excited about the future of Malibu and that I intend to rally around the community as we move forward.”