The city of Stockton announced more changes in its executive leadership this week, confirming the departure of two deputy city managers and the arrival of a new one.
Chad Reed and Christy Courtney “are not currently employed” with the city of Stockton, city spokesperson Tony Mannor told Stocktonia, though he did not specify when their employment concluded or the circumstances.
Reed had been promoted to deputy city manager last year.
On Wednesday, the city also announced the appointment of Christine Tien as deputy city manager, a role she held in Stockton in the 2000s.
The city did not respond to questions about the circumstances surrounding why Reed and Courtney are no longer employed by the city or when they departed. Their photos have been removed from the city website.
The departures and the new appointment fall under the authority of the city manager, as deputy city managers are not classified as charter officers — a designation reserved for the city manager, city attorney, city auditor and city clerk, whose appointments and dismissals require City Council approval.
In the last year, the city has seen an exodus of employees, including top management. City Attorney Lori Asuncion announced her departure last week after several city councilmembers put her possible firing on the agenda. City Manager Johnny Ford took up his post in November after the job had changed hands three times since last January.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Reed had served in various roles with the city in the last decade, including as director of public works from February 2024 until June of last year, when he was promoted to deputy city manager. Before that, he spent three years as deputy director of public works and four years as fleet operations manager, totaling nine years with the city.
In 2025, Reed also held multiple high-level assignments during a period when several executive positions at City Hall were vacant or filled on an interim basis. Just a few months prior, Reed had been simultaneously serving as a deputy city manager, public works director and acting chief financial officer for Stockton while the city continued recruitment for permanent department heads.
Courtney’s publicly available employment history shows she joined the city in 2017 as a program specialist before advancing through administrative and management roles over the years, including a promotion to deputy city manager in 2021.
Last year, Reed and Courtney had found themselves involved in one of the many controversies that occurred at City Hall in 2025.
Stockton’s city leaders engaged in public discussions starting in May about the city’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts after it was reported that funds earmarked for DEI were used for a consultant contract by the former interim city manager, a move that drew scrutiny from Vice Mayor Jason Lee and other councilmembers.
Lee, who chairs the City Council’s audit committee, pressed city staff during meetings about how DEI funds were spent and asked for greater transparency surrounding the allocations and management of equity resources. That inquiry later developed into a council investigation of the city’s use and oversight of DEI funding.
The investigation included issuing subpoenas to current and former city officials, among them Reed and Courtney, to provide information related to the matter. They both took the stand to testify.
Stockton welcomes back former deputy Christine Tien
On Wednesday, officials announced Tien’s return to Stockton. She had previously served in multiple leadership roles with the city between 2001 and 2009, including deputy city manager, working with Ford during his previous tenure with the city. Tien most recently worked at The California Endowment, a private, statewide foundation dedicated to improving health and racial equity across California.
Tien’s “experience and leadership will help advance the city’s priorities and serve our community,” Ford said in an announcement about her hiring, noting her extensive record in public administration and local government.
Stockton’s newest deputy city manager holds a law degree from the University of Arizona, a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from UC Berkeley.
“I am honored to return to the city of Stockton and to serve the community once again,” Tien said in the announcement. “Stockton is a city with tremendous resilience and potential, and I look forward to working alongside the city manager.”
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