The city manager will resign after barely a year-and-a-half on the job, marking the fourth time in two years that the position has been vacated.

Milpitas once again finds itself at odds with its city manager, whose litigious posturing has triggered a probe into suspected corruption.

In a 3-2 vote last week, Milpitas City Council ousted longtime City Attorney Mike Ogaz and his entire staff in a move to outsource his replacement.

Milpitas City Hall, for the life of it, can’t seem to hang on to its top-tier employees. Human Resources Director Carmen Valdez became the latest in a long line of department heads to abruptly leave.

A dozen current and former city of Milpitas employees say that City Manager Tom Williams has created a hostile work environment that's led to unprecedented turnover of department heads. The long-simmering tension could now lead to the removal of the city attorney.