Ousted city manager receives six-figure payout in agreement
Santa Clara's former city manager, who was fired by the City Council last month after a rocky five-year tenure, will continue to be paid her six-figure compensation for another year and has waived her right to sue the city over her dismissal, her lawyer said March 23.
Deanna Santana, who in 2020 was paid $765,152 in salary and benefits, was the second highest paid city manager in California.
Santana will receive the severance package outlined in her 2017 employment contract with the city, which states she will receive 12 months of total compensation and the equivalent of 12 months of benefits either paid out over a year or in one lump sum, according to her lawyer, Alison Berry Wilkinson. Santana has opted to have her severance paid out over the next 12 months, she said.
City officials did not provide the estimated severance Santana will receive, and city spokesperson Lon Peterson deferred to the council's lawyer, Gary Baum. Baum declined to comment until the agreement was signed by both parties.
However, in 2020, the former city manager made $765,152 in total compensation — the second highest in the state only behind the city manager of Fontana. Over the years, Santana has defended her salary by citing her management experience with the cities of Oakland, Sunnyvale and San Jose.
Santana's five-year tenure at the city was clouded with controversy over her large compensation package and public battles with the San Francisco 49ers over the management of Levi's Stadium.
And, on Feb. 24, the council voted 4-2 — with Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Council member Kathy Watanabe dissenting and Vice Mayor Suds Jain absent — to fire Santana, citing a “lack of confidence” in her ability to do her job.
Santana's dismissal has left Santa Clara without its top brass after the council fired the city attorney last fall. The city already is seeing the ripple effects of the decision as the council was forced to delay its priority session this month.
“I have been in public office for several decades,” Gillmor previously told the Mercury News. “No City Council has ever gutted City Hall and put our residents in jeopardy with no management at City Hall.”
The council has been unable to appoint an interim city manager or attorney in the last month.
Several weeks before the vote, some council members expressed a desire to renegotiate her salary. Council members Anthony Becker, Kevin Park and Jain met with members of the 49ers' front office in January to discuss topics including “Santana ethical concerns,” “Santana CEO title concerns,” “Santana email snooping concerns,” “Deanna's luxury home” and “Deanna's salary,” according to the council members' public calendars.
They've denied that the 49ers had any involvement in her termination. The three council members regularly meet with the team and were backed in the 2020 election by a political action committee that received a $3 million donation from 49ers CEO Jed York.
Following the vote to fire her, Santana had 15 to 30 days to respond in writing or request a public hearing about her termination, according to the city charter. Santana has previously not responded to requests for comment about her salary and throughout the termination process has spoken through her lawyer.
“She elected to the severance as opposed to a council hearing, so she signed the release agreement notifying them that she was invoking the severance,” Berry Wilkinson told this news organization.
The council authorized the severance agreement in a closed session March 22, Gillmor announced.
In December, Santana received a roughly $20,000 cost of living adjustment that raised her annual base pay to $468,674.97, making it likely her severance pay will exceed her 2020 salary and benefits.
Accepting the severance package also means Santana has waived her right to bring a claim against the city, her lawyer said — unlike her former colleague Brian Doyle.
Doyle was fired from his post as city attorney by the council last September and has since filed a claim with the city over wrongful termination, breach of contract and retaliatory discharge.
Before she was hired by Santa Clara, Santana served a little over three years as Sunnyvale's city manager and three years as Oakland's city administrator.