Oakland Council Member Proposes a $409,000 Severance for Former City Administrator
Months after Oakland’s top administrator resigned over his text messages that disparaged female colleagues, a city council member is asking to pay him over $400,000 in severance.
Former city administrator Jestin Johnson stepped down in May after his messages from 2024 emerged. Johnson described a female subordinate as his “kryptonite” and wrote: “My goodness, [she] has a helluva walk.” In another text to a former assistant city administrator, Johnson said a female department head “had me a little giddy,” adding, “I have to force myself to only look into her eyes.”
Councilmember Ken Houston on Thursday proposed granting Johnson the payment in exchange for a general release and waiver of any potential legal claims against the city. Later that morning, however, Houston pulled the item before the council’s Rules and Legislation Committee was able to discuss it in a meeting. But he promised that his proposal would return.
Under his original employment agreement, Johnson was entitled to six months of severance pay in the event of being terminated without cause.
But because he resigned, that severance provision was never triggered, so Houston’s resolution would require council authorization to create a new, alternative payout.
The mayor’s office, the city administrator and the city attorney, officials who normally negotiate such agreements, were not behind the severance item, according to city sources. Houston brought it forward on his own.
“I planned to pull it this morning because I want to wait till after recess to bring it forward,” Houston told KQED ahead of the Rules and Legislation Committee meeting. “I’m definitely bringing it back.”
Accepting Johnson’s resignation in May, Mayor Barbara Lee called his communications “degrading and unprofessional” and stated that they were “wholly incompatible with the values of this administration and those of the people of Oakland.
“Under my watch, I will not tolerate transgressions of this nature,” Lee said.
Houston said that he did not partake in the discussions that led to Johnson’s departure and that he had not discussed the proposal with Johnson.
But he said he’s pushing the severance because he believes Johnson was effectively “forced to resign” rather than leaving entirely on his own — and because he worries the city could face an expensive lawsuit if it pays Johnson nothing.
“I’m a business person, I’m proactive,” Houston said. “If he sues, which I would do if I was in his position, it will cost the city.” Houston likened his proposed severance to “killing two birds with one stone.
“It’s helping someone that helped the city, and is being proactive for a lawsuit that may be possibly coming down the pipeline,” he said.
He asked, “Is it better to give up $400,000 than $3 million with all the expenses?”
Lee’s office declined to comment on Houston’s item or his claims that Johnson was essentially forced to resign.
Johnson did not respond to requests for comment.