Sacramento officials announce city manager’s last day. ‘I have done my very best’
Sacramento City Manager Howard Chan’s last day in that job will be Dec. 31 after the City Council on Tuesday voted to reject his contract extension following months of criticism by residents over his high salary and decision-making.
While Chan could continue to work without a contract, city officials on Wednesday formally announced his departure and his final day as city manager.
He’s held that job since 2016, managing the city’s 6,000 full-time, part-time and seasonal employees while overseeing an annual operating budget of more than $1.6 billion and implementing policy directed by the City Council.
“For the past eight years, I have done my very best to serve the City Council and our residents and to be a good steward to taxpayer dollars,” Chan said in the news release. “This city and the people who work to keep it running will always remain in my heart. Sacramento is a place of limitless potential, and I know our brightest days remain ahead of us.”
City officials said the City Council will likely appoint an interim city manager next month as it begins a nationwide search to replace Chan.
22 years working for Sacramento
Chan has worked for the city for a total of 22 years. In 2002, he was hired as Sacramento’s parking manager. He was promoted to assistant city manager in 2013. Three years later, Chan replaced City Manager John Shirey.
He initially was named interim city manager in 2016, before he was hired permanently later that year following a nationwide search to fill the job. Chan was the first Asian American city manager in Sacramento’s history. He hired Daniel Hahn, the first Black person to be named Sacramento police chief and later Police Chief Kathy Lester, the city’s first woman to hold that job.
Chan was born in San Francisco, the middle son of parents who immigrated from Hong Kong and China. City officials said his father worked as a bartender and his mother cleaned hotel rooms at the local Holiday Inn for nearly 30 years, instilling a strong work ethic in their son. Chan graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University, Hayward.
“I love this city,” Chan said in the news release. “Sacramento is my adopted hometown, the place where my wife and I raised our children, where we made life-long friends, where I made my career.”
At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, some council members and business leaders expressed their support for Chan. They cited the need for stability, particularly as the city faces a $77 million budget deficit next year.
Criticism over high salary
Most of the 31 residents who spoke ahead of the council’s vote argued that Chan represented the status quo, was overpaid and had failed at his job.
Last year, Chan made roughly $593,240 in total wages — the second highest for a city manager in the state.
“We’re a working-class city,” said Sacramento resident Mo Kashmiri. “The last thing we need in a budget deficit is overpaid civil servants. They serve us. We don’t serve them, and we do not need that much money going to the city manager right now.”
The City Council voted 6-3 against his requested one-year contract extension; council members Rick Jennings, Lisa Kaplan and Phil Pluckebaum voted to extend Chan’s contract.
Near the end of the meeting, Kaplan said she was disappointed with how “politics got in the way” of Tuesday’s vote.
“We could have done better,” Kaplan told Chan. ”This is not the graceful landing you deserve.”
Highlights as city manager
In Wednesday’s news release, city officials noted highlights of Chan’s tenure, including a $384 million renovation and expansion of the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center, SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center and Memorial Auditorium. They also noted the completion of the $32 million McKinley Water Vault, which helps to protect Sacramento from flooding, and the $40 million North Natomas Community Center and Aquatics Complex.
During the pandemic, Chan oversaw dozens of new projects and programs and spending of about $200 million in federal funding to help residents, businesses and other organizations impacted by COVID-19. All regular city services were uninterrupted during the pandemic while ensuring safe and proper working conditions for city employees.
City officials said the city made 1,375 emergency shelter beds available for people experiencing homelessness during Chan’s time as city manager, along with the creation of the Incident Management Team responding to homelessness. The team provides outreach and connection to services as well as compliance with city laws and ordinances.
Chan and his team, along with then-Mayor Darrell Steinberg, more recently successfully negotiated a preliminary term sheet for an estimated $321 million in private investments to build a soccer stadium for Sacramento Republic FC and a live entertainment venue in the Railyards downtown. The City Council unanimously approved the deal.
“I take great pride in being a Sacramentan, and it has been an honor and a privilege to serve as city manager,” Chan said in the news release. “I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to work with such a talented group of dedicated employees and to lead our team through times of growth as well as times of challenge.”
This story was originally published December 19, 2024 at 11:20 AM.
CORRECTION: This story was updated to correct the spelling of former City Manager John Shirey’s name.
