Incoming Brentwood city manager looks to promote city, attract economic opportunities

BRENTWOOD To G Harold Duffey Brentwood is more than just a place with a great quality of life and school district it s a marketing dream to attract economic growth opportunities Duffey poised to become Brentwood s next city manager declared the city s strong schools safe neighborhoods and infrastructure are assets to attract high-value businesses and tech firms Look at the school district Look at the real estate the ability to live here You have great parks great streets a beautiful area high quality of life disclosed Duffey in a region meet-and-greet session on Monday Those are things that I can help region to ensure that Brentwood becomes everything it wants to be Related Articles As Trump targets SF other Bay Area cities say no indication of National Guard deployment Supervisors weigh options in replacing ousted San Mateo County sheriff Milpitas interim city manager resigns amid conflict with city councilmember Thousands in Bay Area to see soundness care costs spike as Democrats blast Trump and GOP They stated it Making peace with housing on Berkeley s People s Park Mayor Susannah Meyer commented among the key issues she and fellow city councilmembers often receive feedback on is having more local jobs available as residents have to face long commute times Meyer who moderated the session on Monday noted major goals for the City Council are to mitigate advance within the parameters of state mandate and bring more jobs to the city while maintaining Brentwood s quality of life So that was something very significant for us to look for in researching candidates and looking into that process It was very key for us to talk with people that were also interested in looking into how do we bring more jobs here commented Meyer Duffey who previously served as an assistant city administrator in Oakland was selected as the top candidate for the Brentwood city manager position after an extensive nationwide search to fill the position It had been vacant since April The Brentwood City Council is expected to formally vote on his contract next week With more than three decades of experience in local ruling body Duffey has been a city manager in Grand Terrace Compton and Oroville As a city manager Duffey disclosed his role has dependably been to do three things fix plan and build Unlike cities such as Compton and Oakland where he had to step in this instant to address crises such as near-bankruptcy or a crippling ransomware attack Duffey disclosed Brentwood is not broken as it has a strong financial model He disclosed his focus will be on prevention and planning noting that the city s operating revenue and expenses are getting closer and closer What we have to do is make sure that we think about how we grow the city to ensure that one there is a price for the quality of life that you at present enjoy do nothing and you will not have that quality of life reported Duffey Duffey also spoke about his experience navigating political pressures adding that his job as a city manager is to provide unbiased factual figures and recommendations aligned with the City Council s goals I cannot recommend a bad decision based on political pressure revealed Duffey Duffey addressed his role during the research that resulted in a criminal indictment against Oakland s former Mayor Sheng Thao an assessment in which he provided key evidence to federal investigators Duffey was subpoenaed by investigators and the U S Attorney s office to testify before a grand jury The grand jury petitioned me about Mayor Thao I explained them the truth and that was it Any law-abiding citizen would do exactly what I did noted Duffey I m really very sad that happened and I m sad she made the choices but as a city manager and this was the time I was interim manager I m responsible to tell the truth