BY KRISTINA HACKER AND JOE CORTEZ

The Turlock Journal

The Turlock City Council is set to consider the appointment of John J. Murphy as the next city manager on Tuesday at its regularly scheduled meeting.

The recommendation follows a recruitment process conducted over the past several months. Following multiple stages of evaluation and interviews, Murphy emerged as the leading candidate, the city said in a press release issued Friday.

“This is one of the most important leadership positions in our organization, and the city council approached this recruitment with the goal of identifying the highest-quality candidate to lead Turlock into the future,” Mayor Amy Bublak said in the press release. “After a thorough and competitive selection process, we are confident in Dr. Murphy’s experience, leadership, and ability to serve our community. We look forward to considering his appointment at the upcoming city council meeting.”

Murphy would become the 13th person to hold Turlock’s city manager position on a full-time or interim basis since 2009. Former Turlock Police Chief Gary Hampton, one of 12 to serve as city manager over the past 17 years, held the post on five different occasions.

The city touted Murphy’s more than two decades of executive leadership experience in municipal and county government, but his career has not been without controversy.

The Palmdale City Council voted unanimously to fire Murphy as city manager after allegations of harassment, discrimination, and whistleblower retaliation were levied by city employees in 2022, according to the Antelope Valley Press. Murphy filed a wrongful termination lawsuit that was settled a year later for $2.2 million.

In 2024, the city of Palmdale paid $5.2 million to settle a lawsuit by three high-level employees who alleged they felt threatened and uncomfortable because Murphy regularly brought a gun to work.

In the lawsuit, the three plaintiffs opposed the “corruption, self-dealing, and unethical conduct in which Murphy was allegedly engaging,” and claimed they faced retaliation for “reporting within the city, city council, or law enforcement,” the Antelope Valley Press reported.

Currently, the 55-year-old Murphy is the manager for Roxbury, N.J. Township, a post he has held since last November. He was also city manager in Hobbs, N.M. from 2012 to 2018 before moving on to Palmdale in 2018; he was city administrator from 2004 to 2010 in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

According to his LinkedIn bio, Murphy served as parttime CEO of Civico Innovation Group from May 2022 to November 2025. During that same time, he was the Pasco (Fla.) County assistant administrator for public safety, overseeing the county jail.

From March 2022 through February 2023, he served as CEO of Goals Consulting. And from 1996 until 2017, he served in the U.S. Air Force and USAF reserves.

According to a résumé Murphy submitted to Paco County, he has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, and a master’s in public administration with a concentration in criminal justice from Marywood University in Scranton, Pa.

The city manager is responsible for overseeing the city’s day-to-day operations, implementing city Council policy, leading municipal departments, and advancing initiatives on behalf of the community.