Irvine leaders are bringing back their longtime city manager who retired in 2018 to try and rightsize the city amid a budget crisis. 

When Sean Joyce retired in February 2018, he was leaving a city with around 800 staff and one of the strongest budgets in the county after over a decade at the helm of one of the county’s largest cities. 

He’s returning to a city with over 1,100 employees that was rocked by revelations their budget will soon be facing multimillion dollar deficits every year without major shifts, joining the many other Orange County cities struggling with structural deficits. 

[Read: How Rocky Are Orange County’s Municipal Budgets?]

Now, there are big questions over whether the city can deliver on long promised projects like the Great Park, which he oversaw during his prior 13-year stint as city manager, a new library system and other major infrastructure investments. 

[Read: Irvine’s Budget Deficit Could Lead to Parking Fees and No New Libraries]

Since Joyce’s departure in 2018, the city has had three city managers along with interim managers during searches for replacements – no one lasted longer than four years. 

Joyce is only set to work a maximum of one year under his employment agreement while city leaders conduct a search for a long-term replacement. 

Since he left Irvine, Joyce has worked as an interim city manager for several cities including  Cypress, South Pasadena, Huntington Beach, San Clemente, and Laguna Beach, often serving as a stop-gap during an unexpected city manager departure. 

He’ll overlap for a couple days with outgoing city manager Sean Crumby, who announced his retirement after less than a year in the role after he told city leaders about Irvine’s structural budget problems. 

In a news release from the city, Joyce said he was excited to return to running the city he’s lived in for over 20 years. 

“I look forward to rejoining an organization renowned for providing an unparalleled level of municipal services to the residents, businesses, and visitors,” Joyce wrote. “I eagerly await the chance to work on behalf of the Mayor, City Council, and extraordinarily talented City staff in our collective pursuit to provide the best possible quality of life imaginable to those we all passionately serve.”

Correction: The headline of this article originally identified Sean Joyce as Irvine’s longest serving city manager when he is the second longest. We regret the error.  

Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.