Mayor Larry Stranske announced Friday evening that the city has terminated its contract with City Manager Brian Bender. The announcement followed a closed session of the City Council held to discuss Bender’s performance evaluation.
After the closed session, Stranske made a brief announcement during the public portion of the meeting.
Shortly afterward, Bender set his city email to auto-reply with a message stating:
“As of March 28 at 7 p.m., I will no longer be serving as the city manager for Willits. For items requiring attention, please contact Cathy Moorhead, assistant city manager, at cmoorhead@cityofwillits.org or 707-799-6761.”
No information was immediately available regarding the terms of Bender’s departure. Reached by phone, Vice Mayor Matthew Alaniz said a press release would be forthcoming. He said the council and city manager had reached a "mutual" and "amicable" agreement.
At a city council meeting on January 8, former Willits Mayor Madge Strong made reference to rumors that had been circulating about the city manager. "I've heard is that there's some dissatisfaction with our city manager and having served on Council for 12 years under quite a few different city managers I want to say that I have utmost respect for Brian Bender's term of off office here." She said. "He's accomplished a tremendous amount."
Strong notes that "city managers do not grow on trees." And she described Bender as "probably the best city manager I have worked with."
Reached by phone, former Willits Mayor and Councilmember Saprina Rodriguez said that Bender had received a favorable evaluation in his last performance evaluation, which was a year ago. Rodriguez said during her time on the council, she had been through two previous searches for a city manager and that finding qualified candidates was difficult. She said retaining a search firm alone would cost the city at least $25,000.
Rodriguez said she was aware of public criticism of the city manager in two areas: his management of the police department and his management of city-owned Frontier Day facilities.
In August 2023, the Willits Police Department’s union took an emergency vote of no confidence in Bender following a decision to terminate a probationary employee and request the resignation of then Chief of Police Fabian Lizarraga.
Natalie Higley, a former Willits police officer, sued the City of Willits and the Willits Police Department, after she said she suffered sexual harassment at the hands of former Lieutenant Derek Hendry. Higley claimed Willits Police Chief Fabian Lizaraga asked her to turn over her badge and gun–essentially stripping her of police powers after she reported her experiences. In February 2024, the City of Willits agreed to pay Higley a settlement of $2.25 million.
In April 2023, repairs for Frontier Day facilities became a source of contention after the city maintained it was required to open bidding to all contractors versus hiring a local contractor who could get the job done faster.
On Saturday, Rodriguez shared a copy of an email sent by Councilmember Alaniz's wife Tamara to Bender with a link to a job posting for a "Reno City Manager." Rodriguez said Bender had shared the email with her and asked her what she thought it meant. Rodriguez said the email appeared to be a threat given the context that Tamara Alaniz's husband Matthew Alaniz was running for city council. Tamara Alaniz is general manager of the Brooktrails Township.
In a phone interview, Councilmember Alaniz said he had "no idea" the email had been sent at the time. While he agreed to answer questions and said his wife frequently sends such “headhunting” emails due to her consulting work, he also pushed back on the idea that he should be accountable for her actions, calling that assumption "sexist."
Regarding the email, he said, "it's only relevant if you make a series of assumptions that I had always been trying to get rid of the city manager. And that nothing could be further from the truth."
Rodriguez expressed concern, both in a phone interview and on Facebook, that the council had terminated Bender’s contract without cause, which she said could result in significant costs for Willits residents.
Under California labor law, employees must be given at least five business days to review a severance offer. Under the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA), employees aged 40 and over must be given at least 21 days to consider such agreements. Even if an employee signs a severance agreement, they have seven days to revoke their decision.
