'Degrading' Text Messages Doom Administrator | 5/19/2026

Before we jump into today’s newsletter, I have a Thursday court date for my criminal case in Florida. There has been quite a few developments and I am going to update you in tomorrow’s edition.

Today, we have a city administrator who was forced to resign after some crude, unprofessional text messages about a female employee were sent to a subordinate. A resigning city manager says he wasn’t able to give 100% to the job and simply needs a break.

And in North Carolina, a newly appointed city manager scores a huge bump in salary over his predecessor and also lands a generous car and cell phone allowance.

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Text messages gathered as part of an FBI investigation into former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao have undone City Administrator Jestin Johnson who was asked to resign by current mayor, Barbara Lee.

Johnson’s banter with former Director of Public Works Harold Duffey, who recently left and became the city manager for Brentwood, has been deemed “degrading” and “unprofessional” towards women in the workplace.

In one text, Johnson said that a woman was his “kryptonite” and that she has a "hellava walk." It will be interesting to see if the fallout reaches Duffey in Brentwood.

“You just have to be 100% all the time. And having done this for so long, I could just sense in myself that I wasn't living up to the standard that I wanted to, so I needed a break.”

The former reporter who stumbled into city management has been attacked quite a bit of late during public comment periods with much of it regarding a controversial data center project.

He was also attacked for not living in the community.

“We are hired as city managers to implement the policies of the city council,” he said. “We do to the very best of our ability, to the highest standard that we can, and where I sleep at night is not relevant to that discussion.”

Since becoming Petaluma’s city manager, Peggy Flynn has led the city through a series of challenges, including the pandemic, a fiscal crisis and consequential policy decisions. With a leadership style that emphasizes problem-solving and community engagement — and the passage of several high-profile initiatives — Flynn and the city have drawn national attention.

“Instead of defaulting to limitations,” Flynn said, “we’ve built a culture that looks for solutions, partnerships and creative approaches that make things possible for the people we serve.”

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