Patterson City Manager Cleve Morris will keep his position as city manager, following a special closed-door meeting of the City Council.

“We did his performance evaluation, and he left with some direction” Councilwoman Annette Smith said, according to The Modesto Bee.

City leaders will revisit Morris’ performance in a month or two, after reviewing him a few times in past weeks, according to the article.

Smith told the newspaper there was a large amount of public support behind Morris outside the closed-door meeting.

Quoted in The Bee, she said expressed it was “quite a crowd. … The rumor mill was spinning. It was interesting because he has a lot of support from his church members, citizens and staff who were concerned about him being dismissed, but that wasn’t the case. It’s nice to see how well he is thought of in the community.”

Morris has been city manager for six years and was Newman’s City Manager previously.