The Stockton City Council this month urged the city manager to consider offering the city’s police chief a formal employment contract, a move that would mark a departure from long-standing practice.
The discussion item was placed on the agenda at the Tuesday, Feb. 17, council meeting by Mayor Christina Fugazi following requests from community members who said they want Police Chief Stanley McFadden to have greater job stability. No vote was taken.
McFadden was appointed the 50th police chief of the Stockton Police Department on April 27, 2022, and began his tenure on June 1, 2022. He was the department’s first external and first Black police chief. His career in law enforcement spans three decades, including service as a deputy chief with the San Jose Police Department.
Fugazi said declining crime trends and a homicide clearance rate of 66.7% — above the national average — reflected strong performance under the chief’s leadership.
“Despite what people say, crime is down,” Fugazi said. She also cited what she described as increased officer productivity and morale and said the department’s proactivity rate had risen 54.6%.
“We want everyone to love being employees for the city of Stockton,” Fugazi said. “But I definitely don’t want to lose our chief because he is trending our crime in the downward direction.”
The mayor cited a section of the city charter stating that neither the council nor the mayor may interfere with the city manager’s appointment powers or dictate the hiring or removal of city officers or employees, though they may express views and discuss such matters with the manager.
She acknowledged the charter language was “very, very clear,” but said the council could ask the city manager to explore the possibility of a contract. The mayor noted that other cities, including Anaheim, have structured agreements with their police chiefs.
“If in the future we want to discuss this for another city employee potentially, we can do that,” Fugazi said. “But I think this is a good start.”
Under Stockton’s city charter, the police chief is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the city manager, meaning the position is traditionally at-will. Past chiefs have not had employment contracts. The charter also requires that a demoted chief be restored to the last civil service position held with the city prior to being appointed chief, if applicable.
District 3 Councilmember Michael Blower said he was open to exploring the idea despite it representing a departure from local practice.
“I know it’s something we haven’t done in the past and I do know some other cities have done it, so I’m very open to looking at it,” Blower said. “We’re blessed to have a really good police chief, but we’re also equally blessed to have a very good chief of our fire department, Chief Bryan Carr.”
Blower suggested that if contracts are considered for leadership positions, the discussion could reasonably extend beyond the police chief.
“If we’re going to do it for one, it’s worth having the discussion,” Blower said, adding that he wanted to hear the “pluses and minuses” of employment agreements for department heads.
The mayor responded that the item before the council focused on the police chief.
“Chief’s been here since 2022,” Fugazi said. “I was here when he was hired. Chief Carr has done an exemplary job. His tenure is less and like I said, we can talk about that after we work on this one.”
Vice Mayor Jason Lee said he respected how McFadden has developed strong leadership but cautioned against making the decision an emotional one rather than one based on policy and precedent.
“This conversation cannot be an emotional conversation,” Lee said. “It has to be one of practicality. When you talk about giving contracts to the staff to ensure that they have added protections or confirmation or validation of support, whatever the word you want to use, I don’t want that to be an emotional one based on the person we like now because we’re setting a precedent for how we’re going to move forward in providing contracts to our public safety leadership.”
He added: “If we had had a police chief that we didn’t like, would we be having this conversation? No. So this is not about whether we like an individual or not, it’s about the practicality.”
District 1 Councilmember Michele Padilla, District 2 Councilmember Mariela Ponce and District 5 Councilmember Brando Villapudua expressed support for the chief receiving a contract.
City Manager Johnny Ford did not signal resistance to the idea and said he had gotten enough direction from the council. Acting City Attorney Taryn Jones did not weigh in during the discussion.
The discussion came as the Stockton Police Officers Association, which represents most of the city’s nonmanagement sworn officers and sergeants, has been without a contract since July 2025. Negotiations remain ongoing.
Gene Tibon, a Stockton business owner, said police officers put themselves in danger to protect the community. He urged the council to ensure McFadden receives a contract and that the union does as well, “so that they can take care of their families and be confident and comfortable, as well as we are.”
The agenda report said any fiscal impacts associated with a potential employment agreement would be evaluated during negotiations and presented to the council for approval. No timeline was provided.
Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Stockton council urges contract for police chief despite constraints
Reporting by Hannah Workman, The Stockton Record / The Record
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