Stockton's new city manager is a story of resilience and political resurrection. The city council approved Johnny Ford's hire on Tuesday in a unanimous vote of 7-0.

It comes 16 years after Ford was fired in 2009 as the deputy Stockton city manager in a botched termination for which he was later fully exonerated.

Stockton's NAACP President Bobby Bivens supports Johnny Ford as Stockton's new city manager.

"He shouldn't have been fired in the first place," Bivens said. "So I'll start out with that."

Bishop Dwight Williams of New Genesis Outreach Ministries is also a Ford friend and supporter.

"For me personally, it's a sense of vindication for him," Williams said.

Ford was wrongly terminated as deputy city manager in Stockton in 2009. The city had to pay him a settlement after an invest

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