Oliver Chi

City Manager

City Manager Oliver Chi joined the city of Santa Monica on July 14, 2025.

Prior to coming to Santa Monica, he served as city manager for the city of Irvine since 2021. He has also held leadership roles in the cities of Huntington Beach, Monrovia, Rosemead and Barstow.

A fervent believer in the notion that healthy, people-focused organizations can make inspired transformational change, Chi has dedicated his professional career to helping build better communities through improved municipal operations.

He has extensive experience across a range of disciplines and has helped lead the development of innovative local government programs, creative economic growth initiatives, operational process improvements, teambuilding efforts, and strategic planning activities.

As Santa Monica’s city manager, Chi oversees a total city budget of $789.9 million and a workforce of more than 2,000 employees. 

Chi holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is married to his college sweetheart, Bobbie Jo, and they are the proud parents of two children, Ian, 12, and Avery, 8.