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 development opportunities.
Duffey, poised to become Brentwood’s next city manager, said 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 community, high quality of life,” said Duffey in a community meet-and-greet session on Monday. “Those are things that I can help market to ensure that Brentwood becomes everything it wants to be.”
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Mayor Susannah Meyer said 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, said major goals for the City Council are to “mitigate growth 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 important for us to look for in researching candidates and looking into that process. It was very important for us to talk with people that were also interested in looking into how do we bring more jobs here,” said 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 government, Duffey has been a city manager in Grand Terrace, Compton, and Oroville.
As a city manager, Duffey said his role has always been to do three things: fix, plan, and build.
Unlike cities such as Compton and Oakland, where he had to step in immediately to address crises such as near-bankruptcy or a crippling ransomware attack, Duffey said Brentwood “is not broken,” as it has a strong financial model.
He said 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 currently enjoy … do nothing and you will not have that quality of life,” said Duffey.
Duffey also spoke about his experience navigating political pressures, adding that his job as a city manager is to provide unbiased, factual data and recommendations aligned with the City Council’s goals.
“I cannot recommend a bad decision based on political pressure,” said Duffey.
Duffey addressed his role during the investigation that resulted in a criminal indictment against Oakland’s former Mayor Sheng Thao, an investigation 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 asked me about Mayor Thao. I told them the truth, and that was it. Any law-abiding citizen would do exactly what I did,” said 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.”