served as an assistant city administrator in Oakland<\/a>, will begin his duties on Nov. 3. On Tuesday, he said he looks forward to working with city staff and councilmembers.<\/p>\nHe stated that integrity and transparency are principles he follows in his role as city manager.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I lose the trust of the council, I\u2019ve lost the council,\u201d Duffey, who has three decades of local government experience, said.<\/p>\n
As city manager, part of his role is to ensure that he and city staff fulfill their obligations and responsibilities by providing councilmembers with relevant information that enables them to make informed decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve, of course, have had great projects, the best projects of all available. And the council tweaks it, changes it,\u201d said Duffey. \u201cI say to my staff, OK, the train is leaving. Get on the train. Let\u2019s make sure we get this thing done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Public concerns related to Duffey\u2019s appointment have centered on his background and qualifications, prompting councilmembers to address the matter on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
Mayor Susannah Meyer said the City Council is not a \u201crubber stamp\u201d and \u201cdoes not blindly\u201d approve matters, adding that they spend a lot of time researching issues before every meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not stupid; we are not blind. People are sending us things that we\u2019ve already seen,\u201d said Meyer, in reference to social media posts about Duffey. \u201cIn fact, Mr. Duffey shared these things with us before anyone did. He was transparent with us before anyone told us or showed us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vice Mayor Pa\u2019tanisha Pierson said residents may question a city manager\u2019s qualifications, but must ensure their information is accurate and not based on assumptions or stereotypes.<\/p>\n
The concerns over Duffey\u2019s appointment revealed \u201cbias,\u201d said Pierson.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a Black woman from Oakland, I\u2019ve spent my life navigating spaces where excellence is simply because it doesn\u2019t fit a certain mode,\u201d said Pierson. \u201cI know what it feels like to have questions and qualifications scrutinized more harshly and contributions minimized way too quickly, and I also recognize a pattern in our city.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said previously, residents have also spoken against \u201chighly qualified Black professionals\u201d in leadership roles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen excellence continues to be met with skepticism only when it comes in Black skin, it\u2019s not a coincidence; it is a bias,\u201d said Pierson. \u201cSo, when I hear statements that amount to, \u2018I don\u2019t want him because he\u2019s Black,\u2019 I feel a responsibility to call that mess out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilmember Faye Maloney said Duffey\u2019s hiring was \u201cthe most intricate process\u201d she\u2019s been part of, as it took a lot of time, collaboration, and discussions.<\/p>\n
She also had high praise for Duffey, adding she was impressed with him during the interview process. Maloney apologized to Duffey on behalf of the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people\u2019s comments were very derogatory. I am sorry that you have to go through and experience that,\u201d said Maloney, adding she was appalled by them.<\/p>\n
She hoped residents would give Duffey a chance to prove his skills and help further build Brentwood.<\/p>\n
According to a staff report, the City Council worked with the recruitment firm Peckham & McKenney to search for a city manager following the departure of Tim Ogden in April<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe recruitment firm screened over four dozen applications, and only six candidates made it to the first round of interviews.<\/p>\n
The City Council then identified Duffey as their pick.<\/p>\n
Duffey\u2019s annual base salary will be $304,515.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BRENTWOOD \u2013 After a nationwide search and careful review of candidates, the Brentwood City Council unanimously approved the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[2647,184,21921,21922,3642,21923,7,8,392,21924,332,393,21925,181,23,100,143,145,144,21926,7912],"class_list":["post-29619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-antioch","tag-bay-area","tag-bay-point","tag-bethel-island","tag-brentwood","tag-byron","tag-california","tag-california-news","tag-contra-costa-county","tag-discovery-bay","tag-east-bay","tag-east-contra-costa","tag-knightsen","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-oakley","tag-pittsburg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}