Brentwood city manager to remain on paid leave after session

BRENTWOOD — City Manager G. Harold Duffey will remain on paid administrative leave after a special meeting held to potentially part ways or reprimand him had no formal decision.

On Monday, the Brentwood City Council convened for a closed session with two items on the agenda.

While the agenda did not name Duffey, it merely stated to consider “discipline, dismissal, or release of a public employee.”

The other item on the agenda referred to hearing of “specific complaints or charges against a public employee” in open session.

However, after about an hour, Mayor Susannah Meyer returned and stated there was “nothing to report out.”

The council subsequently adjourned. Vice Mayor Pa’tanisha Pierson was absent.

Duffey has been on paid leave since June after weeks of scrutiny over sexually suggestive text messages he exchanged while working in Oakland and new allegations about his treatment of women in Brentwood City Hall.

The City Council in June did not specify whether either controversy prompted the decision and said the city could not discuss details because of legal, privacy and due process limits.

Before the closed session Monday, Duffey, who appeared in person during the public comment period, told councilmembers he loved Brentwood and enjoyed working in the city.

“Remember how I came in, and remember over the last nine months what you’ve been able to accomplish, the energy and how you move the city forward,” Duffey said.

He also pointed to the clauses in his employment contract, which would require the City Council to declare the dismissal for good cause or for no cause.

“If you find this thing that I’ve done requires good cause dismissal, there’s a cure for that, and that cure is a 30-day notice for correction. If correction doesn’t occur, then you can terminate,” Duffey said.

“Also, you have no cause, and that is an easier method. But I do ask you to remember the record that you have established. I wish the city of Brentwood no harm.”

In August, Duffey received a 3 percent pay hike because of a “compaction clause” in his contract that requires his base salary be 5 percent higher than that of the highest-paid employee who reports to him.

Because of that clause, the City Council unanimously approved a raise, bringing Duffey’s annual base salary from $304,515 to around $313,650, effective July 16.

A termination without cause would entitle Duffey to six months of severance pay and up to six months of city-paid health benefits for him and his dependents, according to the contract.

Termination for good cause would require referring to one of the five criteria, including conviction of a crime that would have an “adverse impact” on the city or the employee’s reputation, proven failure to perform his duties, or fraud or misappropriation of funds during his tenure as city manager.

Duffey, appointed Brentwood’s city manager in October 2025, previously served as an assistant city administrator in Oakland.

Before leaving Oakland, Duffey provided key evidence to federal agents that led to criminal indictments against ex-Mayor Sheng Thao.

On May 15, Oakland city administrator Jestin Johnson abruptly resigned after reports of text messages he sent about women who worked at City Hall came to light.

Messages between Johnson and Duffey in 2024 revealed that the two men used suggestive language.

During one exchange, Duffey told Johnson that a female official “got the old player mesmerized,” referring to himself. Johnson responded that “you have to sit next to her … I have to force myself to look into her eyes.”

“She had me a little giddy yesterday,” Johnson wrote.

In June 2024, Johnson and Duffey described different female staff members as “kryptonite,” apparently in reference to their appeal.

On May 26, less than two weeks after Johnson’s resignation, several Brentwood employee associations came forward with complaints of gender-based discrimination during Duffey’s time in Brentwood.