Sixteen years after being wrongfully fired by the city, Johnny Ford has been hired as the permanent City Manager of Stockton.
The Stockton City Council voted unanimously to appoint Ford as City Manager, filling the position on a permanent basis for the first time in 10 months.
The backstory: Ford was serving as the Deputy City Manager in 2009 when he was fired for allegedly receiving hundreds of free tickets to local events.
- An ensuing city council investigation later cleared Ford of all wrongdoing, leading to a $250,000 settlement.
Driving the news: Since his first stint with the city, Ford has worked for the City of Compton, where he was most recently the City Manager.
- He is the permanent replacement for Harry Black, who left as Stockton’s City Manager in January. Steve Colangelo took over in the interim for five months, followed by acting City Manager Will Crew.
State of play: Ford reenters Stockton’s city government during a tumultuous year, which culminated in a city council decision last week to forward misconduct allegations made against Colangelo the the Attorney General’s Office, the San Joaquin District Attorney’s Office and the San Joaquin County Civil Grand Jury.
- Last week, the council also created an ad hoc committee to investigate hostility claims made against Vice Mayor Jason Lee.
What they’re saying: “After a thorough search, we found that the right person for Stockton was one of our own,” said Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi in a statement.
- She said Ford kept his home in Stockton while he was working in Compton and has remained involved in the community.
- “Johnny has lived here for many years, raised his family here, worships here, and has dedicated much of his life to serving this community,” Fugazi said. “His heart is in Stockton, and I believe he is the person who can help bring this Council together so we can move our city forward.”
