Antioch city manager placed on leave after calling out sick

The city manager of Antioch was placed on leave Tuesday night during a closed door city council meeting.

Cornelius "Con" Johnson had called out sick Tuesday, and was shocked to hear the decision made by his colleagues, the East Bay Times reported.

Johnson, a former San Francisco Police Commander, was given a two-year contract last October.

He said he wasn't included in the closed session meeting and that normally state law requires an agenda item for personnel issues but he was never notified.

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Last week a city’s spokesperson allegedly blamed Johnson for falsely attributing a quote to police Chief Steven Ford. It's unclear whether the decision to put him on leave was a result of that statement.

Councilmember Tamisha Torres-Walker was not present at the Tuesday night meeting but supposedly called for a national search for his replacement to begin immediately.