Lee, who had kept Johnson on staff after taking office last year, said Sunday she accepted his resignation before the weekend after learning of \u201ccertain degrading and unprofessional communications\u201d involving the administrator, characterizing them as \u201cwholly incompatible with the values of this administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder my watch, I will not tolerate transgressions of this nature,\u201d Lee said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The city administrator, who is appointed by the mayor<\/a> with the confirmation of the Oakland City Council, oversees thousands of city workers and has the final say in how policies are implemented, services are carried out, and most other officials are hired.<\/p>\n Johnson, hired by former Mayor Sheng Thao, was a rare top staffer who remained on the job after Lee took office a year ago, having proved himself as a collegial presence at Oakland City Hall amid an era of turmoil.<\/p>\n But the city administrator\u2019s casual demeanor was cast in a new light by communications released this week that were first reported by The Oaklandside<\/a>.<\/p>\n In text messages in 2024 between Johnson and then-Assistant City Administrator G. Harold Duffey, the two men use suggestive language while discussing women colleagues.<\/p>\n During one exchange, in March of that year, Duffey tells his boss that a woman official \u201cgot the old player mesmerized,\u201d referring to himself. Johnson responds that \u201cyou have to sit next to her \u2026 I have to force myself to look into her eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe had me a little giddy yesterday,\u201d Johnson writes.<\/p>\n In June 2024, the two described different women staff members as \u201ckryptonite,\u201d apparently referencing their appeal.<\/p>\n \u201cMy goodness, she has a helluva walk,\u201d Johnson writes about an official.<\/p>\n Neither Johnson nor Duffey responded Sunday to requests for comment about the messages or Johnson\u2019s resignation over the weekend. Johnson\u2019s communications had been published by the city in response to an extensive records request filed last summer by an unknown party.<\/p>\n Elizabeth \u201cBetsy\u201d Lake, a longtime assistant city administrator in Oakland, will serve temporarily in Johnson\u2019s role, officials said.<\/p>\n A native of Atlanta who previously served in a deputy role in the city government there, Johnson had carved out a role as an approachable diplomat in an otherwise contentious Thao administration.<\/p>\n He had previously worked for the Clarke County government in Georgia, and before arriving in Oakland, he served as a \u201ccorporate social responsibility\u201d manager at IBM.<\/p>\n Duffey, who left the city earlier this year, was hired in April as the city manager for Brentwood<\/a>. Before his departure from Oakland, he gave a key interview to federal agents in an investigation<\/a> that led to criminal charges against Thao, the ex-mayor.<\/p>\n Brentwood city officials said Monday they expected to release a statement addressing Duffey\u2019s conduct at his past job, but did not provide a time frame.<\/p>\n Johnson\u2019s sudden exit, meanwhile, leaves the city without a top official just months before voters in the November election may decide on a new governance structure that could reduce the city administrator\u2019s day-to-day authority<\/a> by elevating the mayor\u2019s administrative power.<\/p>\n Under the city\u2019s current spread of power, the mayor does not sit on the council but can fire without cause the city administrator, who otherwise oversees most of City Hall\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n In recent weeks, Lee has been recruiting council votes behind the scenes to place a measure on the November ballot that would give the mayor veto power over council decisions, though the council could also override a veto with a subsequent two-thirds vote.<\/p>\n By approving the measure, voters would also allow the mayor to absorb much of the administrator\u2019s responsibilities, leaving the latter in charge of only the Human Resources and Finance directors, instead of all the city\u2019s department heads.<\/p>\n![\"City](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779260543_360_EBT-L-OAKBOND-1210-10.jpg\")
City Administrator Jestin Johnson announces the sale of a key infrastructure bond during a press conference at City Hall in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n