Less than five months ago, Toby Wells became Manteca’s sixth city manager in six years. As the Manteca Bulletin reports, he’s already out.
The council met during a closed meeting Friday to discuss possible “evaluation/discipline/dismissal release” of the city manager. Wells resigned Tuesday. That’s the briefest tenure yet for a Manteca administrator.
In a Nextdoor post, Mayor Ben Cantu referenced alleged “personnel violations.” He has since apologized for those comments.
“Yesterday (Monday), I posted some comments online about Toby Wells,” Cantu said in a City of Manteca news release. “Those comments were not accurate and I wish to withdraw them. I believe everyone has a right to due process of law, so I want make it clear that Mr. Wells has never been investigated by the City of Manteca. The City of Manteca thanks Toby for his service and we wish him well in his future endeavors.”
Cantu is part of a council majority that ousted Tim Ogden as city manager in 2019. Ogden’s successor Miranda Lutzow resigned after 17 months and filed a lawsuit against the city alleging a hostile work environment.