Cupertino City Manager Pamela Wu — who was placed on leave last month by the council for undisclosed reasons — is officially leaving her post.
The city and Wu signed a settlement agreement on June 6, public city records show. Wu is now Cupertino’s fourth city manager to be axed since 2018. She is set to receive eight months of severance, along with settlement and release payments, for a total of $311,089.
The city also agreed to discontinue any alleged investigations it started into Wu’s tenure, destroy any findings from the investigations and direct the independent investigator to do the same. Reports of the city hiring a private investigator to look into Wu’s performance were first circulated by local residents in April, although the city declined to confirm nor comment about the matter when asked by this news organization.
In a Monday statement to this news organization, Wu said the decision to leave was not an “easy choice,” but the “right time to start a new chapter.”
“Serving this community has been a great honor in my professional career and I am proud of the accomplishment, from strengthening city services to guiding the council through numerous challenges,” Wu said. “To everyone that I have worked with and served, thank you. Your trust and partnership were the cornerstone of my three-year tenure in Cupertino.
In the meantime, Deputy City Manager Tina Kapoor will serve as acting city manager.
Mayor Liang Chao said in a statement she is glad the city can “move forward” and renew the council’s full commitment to serving residents.
“Leadership transitions are never easy, but at times, they are necessary to ensure that city operations remain stable, transparent, and responsive to the needs of our community,” Chao said. “I have full confidence in acting City Manager Tina Kapoor and our dedicated staff as we continue working together to advance the city’s goals.”
On May 2, the city announced that Wu was placed on leave to “ensure the city can continue to operate smoothly and maintain organizational stability while allowing a fair internal review process to move forward in a constructive and focused manner.”
While the city did not address the reason for her leave, the decision followed multiple April closed session meetings with “public employee performance evaluation, city manager” as the topic.
Wu joined the city in 2022. Before coming to Cupertino, she worked as the community and economic development director in San Bruno and as a senior planner in Gilroy and Santa Clara County.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
