On Tuesday night, the Oakley City Council selected Josh McMurray as its interim City Manager in a 5-0 vote.
The Council directed the city to begin the search for a permanent city manager and will bring back an RFP to hire a firm for an executive search. The council also agreed to a salary range for McMurray at $230k – he currently makes $162k as community development director.
The move comes as City Manager Bryan Montgomery announced last week that he was taking the city manager position in the City of Indio and his last day will be May 7, 2021.
Several residents spoke out during the meeting urging the council not to make a decision on the interim city manager based on the process was quick and citizens could not weigh in on the appointment.
Neither the Mayor or City Council made any comments on the appointment during the meeting.
Montgomery has served as City Manager for the city of Oakley for over fifteen years. He assumed the position in Oakley in 2005 after having served as city manager of the City of Mesquite, Nevada for more than seven years. Mr. Montgomery has over 28 years of experience in local government management and has also served as an Adjunct Professor at San Francisco State University and Los Medanos College.
“Bryan has been a strong leader for Oakley and has helped Oakley move from a newly-incorporated city, to a financially sound and safe city that has a very bright future. We will always be grateful for the foundation and solid employee team that Bryan helped build and we know he will continue to be successful in his public service career,” said Oakley Mayor Sue Higgins.
Community projects accomplished during Montgomery’s tenure include:
- the annexation of over 2,600 acres into the City
- City Hall
- Police Department (In 2016, Oakley discontinued its contract for police services with the County and formed its own in-house police department. Oakley has become one of the safest cities in all of California)
- Civic Center Park and Amphitheater
- the Oakley Plaza and other Downtown revitalization
- the Recreation Center
- Senior Center
- Public Works Operations Building
- two fire stations
- over 30 parks,
- the widening and improvement of almost every major arterial road in Oakley
- the You, Me, We = Oakley program
- the Contra Costa Logistics Center
- the recruitment and development of a high-quality and professional City staff,
- and many other projects and programs that are planned and currently underway
The search for a new city manager could go into the fall.
3 comments
Anyone is better than Montgonery. Hes been corrupt and self serving since the day he got here.
“Several residents spoke out during the meeting urging the council not to make a decision on the interim city manager based on the process was quick and citizens could not weigh in on the appointment.”
This is another City Council that ignores what the citizens request. How hard would it be to delay this a few weeks. Oakley is ran by delusional buffoons.
I am glad he left. While I did appreciate the additions of the Amazon Fulfillment Center, the senior center, the Twin Oaks senior housing, and the Bistro, Oakley had very poor urban planning when Montgomery was city manager throughout the time he was city manager for the most part. Firstly, housing development has sprawled out of control. Everywhere I turn I see a new housing development when they could have built something else. For example, new houses have been built right near Gehringer Elementary School where new classrooms for the school could have been built. That alone could easily cause overcrowding at that school. In addition, houses are being built in large lots where new schools or attractions could have been built. Most of the houses built are large houses, which accommodate to the needs of decent-sized families. I think it is great they care about them. However, decent-sized families are not the only ones looking for affordable housing. Many singles, childless couples, empty nesters, retirees, and very small families are looking for affordable housing close enough to the SF Bay Area but do not need a large house. In my opinion, Oakley should not be merely a family-oriented community, but rather an affordable, charming town for everyone. Due to poor urban planning, there has also been a lack of historical preservation. Most of the vineyards, orchards, and historical buildings that gave Oakley charm have been bulldozed. I understand their intention of building Civic Center Park, but I would have strongly preferred Downtown Oakley being a historic district with a layout similar to Downtown Brentwood. I feel like Brentwood preserved their history and agriculture better than Oakley. Thirdly, there are way too many storage units, gas stations, and cigarette shops being built. Storage units can be useful, but two is all that is needed. If too many are built, then like housing development on large lots, that will mean less room for attractions, businesses, and schools. There was a gas station built across the street from a school and extremely close to a residential neighborhood. Gas stations add high levels of VOCs into the air and leak hundreds of toxic chemicals into the soil, which increase the risk of cancer and respiratory diseases among students attending the school and residents living in the nearby neighborhood. Cigarette shops sell tobacco products which also lead to an increase in cancer and respiratory diseases. Lastly, there are so many projects that I feel should have been completed but there weren’t. For instance, there were not any colleges, high schools, middle schools, adult education schools, private schools, or charter schools built with Montgomery as the city manager. Oakley’s weather gets very hot the vast majority of the year, but there haven’t really been any projects completed to help residents become more enthusiastic about the heat. There haven’t been any water parks, public pools, stadia consisting of water sports, festivals to celebrate the heat, or mini-forests for people seeking shade added. The parks and trails do not have items like drink machines and sunscreen stations. Not every house even has air conditioning. With the school year starting in late July, families do not have the time to travel to cooler places like the coast and the mountains like they would in places where summer break was longer. Although there have been over thirty parks added, there has not been enough attractions for all ages added. There were no entertainment centers (Dave & Buster’s, Gameworks, Golfland, Main Event Entertainment, etc.), amusement parks, museums, movie theaters, performing arts theaters, or any other such attractions all ages would most likely enjoy. I just hope the next city manager develops Oakley better.
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