Former Sonoma County administrator calls it quits in Stockton

<p>Bob Deis is no stranger to the strife and struggle that can bring a swift end to any government manager's tenure.</p><p>In 2009, he resigned as Sonoma County's top administrator after butting heads with a fractured Board of Supervisors five years into his tenure.</p><p>But there is little typical about the range of travails leading to Deis's decision to quit his latest job in the beleaguered city of Stockton.</p><p>On Wednesday, Deis announced he would be stepping down as Stockton's city manager in March after a star-crossed tenure marked by acrimony with public unions, bruising budget battles, a pit bull attack, and claims of an intimidation campaign against his family.</p><p>Deis didn't specify why he was leaving, but indicated his choice was best for him and his family.</p><p>“This is ultimately a personal and family decision,” Deis said in a written statement. He didn't return calls Thursday.</p><p>His decision dismayed Stockton's Mayor Ann Johnston, who said Deis had done an excellent job in awful circumstances.</p><p>Stockton remains a poster child for the troubled state of California's economy, she said. The city continues to struggle with one of the country's highest foreclosure rates, made worse by unemployment around 20 percent.</p><p>Yet in little more than a year, Deis steered the city away from municipal bankruptcy, closing a $34 million budget hole in the process, she said.</p><p>“I wish he were staying because he has done everything we wanted him to do,” she said.</p><p>But Deis's tactics outraged many city employees and retirees, much as his response to tough times in Sonoma County aggrieved workers here.</p><p>Stockton employees bore the brunt of forced concessions that included pay cuts, increased medical premiums, and contributions to retirement, previously paid by the city.</p><p>Tensions were especially fraught with police. In June, the Stockton Police Officers' Association purchased a house in foreclosure, a house right next to Deis's home, a gesture Deis' supporters decried as an attempt to intimidate the city manager.</p><p>Critics said the police then embarked on noisy renovations scheduled to inflict maximum inconvenience on Deis's family.</p><p>“It is shocking,” Johnston said. “We have never heard of this kind of harassment before. It goes to a new level.”</p><p>But Officer Steve Leonesio, president of the Police Officers' Association said the union had been looking at investing in the home before Deis ever moved in.</p><p>“We were thinking like in the real world, who wouldn't want a cop living next to you?” Leonesio said. “It's just him whining.”</p><p>He said the union had nothing to do with other complaints from Deis, that people were coming up to Deis's wife as she gardened as a result of the attention, and certainly nothing to do with a pit bull attack the city manager suffered last fall.</p><p>Last September, Deis was walking his puppy when both were attacked by two pit bulls whose owner lived nearby. The city manager suffered six bites, according to the Stockton Record.</p><p>Leonesio said he thought Deis was leaving because people were seeing past his aura of authority and his resistance to questions.</p><p>“More and more people were asking questions of him and I think he didn't like that,” he said.</p><p>Deis said he was resigning eight days after the City Council voted against his recommendation to raise the police chief's pay, a rare break by the council from the city manager's wishes. The police chief also resigned following the vote, saying it would cost him money to stay on the job.</p><p>But Susan Eggman, one of the council members who cast a no vote, said the move was not a reflection of dissatisfaction with Deis. She merely couldn't stomach raising a leaders pay on the same day they were set to force concessions on the entire fire department.</p><p>Ultimately, she said Deis's departure may not be such a bad thing. He has done an excellent job, but getting Stockton back to full health isn't a sprint or even a marathon. It's a long relay race and many people will be required, she said.</p>