Sacramento has contracts of over $1 million with leader accused of bribery in mayor’s race
In December, runner-up mayoral candidate Flojaune Cofer introduced intrigue at a City Council meeting, commenting publicly to oppose extending City Manager Howard Chan’s contract a year.
“In late September, I was told that I would be given a campaign contribution in exchange for agreeing to extend the city manager’s contract by one year,” she said. “And I was told that this had to happen because the city required stability.”
The alleged bribe involved two people: Jay King, the president of the California Black Chamber of Commerce and developer Paul Petrovich, who King stated would make a substantial campaign contribution to Cofer if she agreed. Only King was on the call.
Both King and Petrovich have denied the allegation. They did lobby to extend Chan’s role as city manager, which, according to state data, paid him $593,240 in total wages annually. King commented in support at multiple City Council meetings. And King, according to documents obtained through a Public Records Act request, has had a longstanding relationship with the city and Chan — with his organization having received 19 contracts, the majority issued under city manager discretion without City Council approval. The city has paid King $1.2 million since 2020.
King and Chan were presented awards by the CBCC in October, with the city chipping in thousands of dollars to sponsor the event. Months earlier, in June, Chan and Petrovich offered testimonials at an award ceremony for King. The City Manager’s Office also paid to sponsor the event, this time without a contract, using Measure U funds dedicated to youth services and public safety.
Assistant City Manager Michael Jasso said that the city’s contracting relationship with King and the chamber stems from good intentions and an initiative that began in 2018 to connect with communities.
“We’re going to work with partners in our communities to serve residents and businesses,” he said. To do that, Jasso said, the city created an engagement team.
Many of the contracts that King obtained came through the community engagement team.
In a letter to the City Council and Mayor Kevin McCarty on Dec. 17, Petrovich called Cofer’s claims “beyond absurd and utterly ridiculous. I want to make it abundantly clear that I have never met, spoken to, or communicated with Flo Cofer in any form whether it be in person, via phone, text, email, social media, or written correspondence of any kind.”
Petrovich did not say whether he had any discussions with King about campaign donations and Chan’s contract.
King said in public comments to the City Council prior to the Dec. 17 vote that Chan’s “proven track record and ability to address the unique needs of Sacramentans has earned him the trust and respect of not just the city, but the business community as well.”
In an interview with The Sacramento Bee at his office, King acknowledged he had made a call to Cofer on Sept. 24, and pressed her on committing to extend Chan’s contract. He said that the alleged bribe was a misunderstanding over comments he made about helping her with fundraising.
King said that he felt that scrutinizing his organization was unfair.
“Did you look at ... at the Asian chamber? Did you look at that $6.9 million?” referring to contracts the city has had with another group.
“I do something that no other chamber out here does,” he said. “I work with micro and many micro businesses that don’t have a chance.“
Contracts, awards and conflicts
The award King bestowed on Chan on Oct. 5, 2024, was the chamber’s President’s Award. A leading government ethics expert said for Chan to accept the award under the circumstances it was given was inappropriate, and a former city councilmember has called for the city to suspend its working relationship with Chan pending an investigation.
“There are virtues like transparency and objectivity that are very important in the operation of governance. And if you’re not being transparent about the fact that an award has been given to a city official from an organization that benefits from their relationship with the city financially, well, that’s a problem,” said John Pelissero, director of government ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.
A post on the Sacramento City Express, the city’s news publication, did not say that it had sponsored the event by issuing a $10,000 contract two days before Chan received the award.
In the fall, as Chan was about to face the crucial City Council vote, the City Manager’s Office made two payments to King’s organization of $10,000, plus another $1,750 payment, totaling $11,750, according to records.
On Oct. 15, the city promoted the award on its website, quoting both Chan and King.
“City Manager Chan has been a consistent leader and partner in his almost eight years as City Manager of Sacramento,” King is quoted as saying. King publicly spoke in favor of Chan at the Nov. 15 meeting, where a proposal to extend Chan’s contract was pushed until after the new mayor and council took office.
Chan did not respond to requests for an interview.
Petrovich also received an honor at the event, the inaugural Paul Petrovich humanitarian award, according to a post by the CBCC on Facebook.
Cofer said publicly she had no knowledge of any involvement by Chan in the alleged offer from King and Petrovich. In interviews with The Bee, she detailed extensive conversations she had with Chan, all organized by King prior to the alleged bribe. King said he tried to persuade Cofer to extend Chan’s contract, and that he tried to encourage a positive rapport between the candidate and city manager.
Former federal prosecutor Shan Wu, who served as counsel to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, raised questions about the allegations.
“What is disturbing about that account is the ask is so specific,” he said. “If you promise to do X, you will get Y in return. If true, that sounds like a bribe. If I were a local prosecutor I would definitely look into this.“
In 2023, the city settled a yearslong legal dispute with Petrovich for $26 million over a gas station Petrovich wanted to put in Crocker Village development, a significant portion of the city’s $70 million debt. The settlement included the purchase of a K Street building owned by Petrovich for far more than it was worth, according to multiple real estate experts.
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King said he played a role as a go-between Chan and Petrovich in negotiating that settlement. He said he considers Chan and Petrovich to be friends.
“I was involved with that deal because Paul Petrovich was ready to go scorched earth on our city,” he said. “Paul could have got as much as $150 million.”
Petrovich named a street Jay King Way in Crocker Village. In 2022, according to King and a grant deed signed by Petrovich, the developer gifted the California Black Chamber two parcels of land in Sutter Creek in Amador County. King said he thought the parcels were worth around $200,000.
Petrovich advocated for the city to extend Chan’s contract in a Dec. 17 letter.
“Had I pursued my claims fully, as I was well prepared to do, the resulting financial liability could have bankrupted the city,” he wrote, advocating to extend Chan’s contract. “It was Mr. Chan’s leadership that shifted the course of these events. He assured me that as soon as certain individuals departed from office, the targeted retribution would cease and allow for a fair and equal process.”
Details of contract
According to the contract with the CBCC, the city received for its sponsorship for the Oct. 5 event, “ten VIP registrations” and the right to have a city official address a welcome ceremony. The city made an additional $1,750 payment to the chamber a day before the conference began, which it acknowledged was not tied to any contract: “No Contract/Direct Charge — Sponsorship Lunch/Dinner,” the city listed in a table of CBCC payments.
Jennifer Singer, the spokeswoman for the City Manager’s Office, said that the $10,000 contract to sponsor the economic summit was a result of then-City Councilmember Shoun Thao’s desire to sponsor the event from a COVID-19 relief fund, in which the city had $5 million remaining from $100 million plus federal dollars.
However, Thao’s name does not appear in the contract. In a phone interview, Thao said that he had no involvement in the details of the agreement or when it was executed. He said King had asked him to sponsor the summit because it was occurring in his district at the DoubleTree Hotel, and that he conveyed the request to Chan at a monthly one-on-meeting in August or September.
“Howard said, ‘OK,’” he said.
King said he had told Chan months earlier about the award, because he wanted to make sure he would be available to receive it.
Emails provided by the city show the communications about the event with Thao. On Sept. 17, Ginger Weagraff, a project manager for the city’s Office of Innovation and Engagement, a department under the City Manager’s Office, wrote about available federal funds.
“Thank you for meeting with us today,” the email said. “Per our discussion, attached please find a summary table of the ARPA funding that remains unspent/unprogrammed.”
On Sept. 19, Weagraff wrote the councilmember: “Please find a sponsorship information package for CBCC’s Economic Business Summit in October,” it said. “If still interested, please let us know at what level and we can facilitate payment.”
The various levels of sponsorship sent to Thao, a document created by the CBCC, topped at $40,000. The higher the level of support, the bigger the opportunity to be featured at the summit. Thao responded that he wanted the “Bronze sponsorship,” which required a $10,000 payment.
The King and chamber connection
King, 63, is a homegrown Sacramento musician and producer who scored hits in the 1980s, such as “Jealousy” and a remake of Bill Withers “Lean on Me,” with his group Club Nouveau.
Sacramento Observer publisher Larry Lee said that King is a unique figure in Sacramento.
“Few people have done more in the music industry. He is a connector of people. He’s always been the kind of guy who, if you are with him, and if he’s with you, he’s going to be extremely loyal, supportive and generous. He has relationships with people that last, you know, four and five decades.”
King is also a DJ with a loyal following on the station KDEE-FM (97.5), a subsidiary of the California Black Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
After Aubrey Stone, the founder of the CBCC, died in 2018, King became engaged in a three-year legal dispute over who would control the CBCC, which was eventually settled.
The city’s 19 contracts with the CBCC range from sponsorship of a monthly mixer at bar and restaurant to multiple contracts related to COVID relief.
A review of the contracts, responses from the city and CBCC actions reveal:
▪ The city was unable to provide information as to how thousands of taxpayer dollars were spent by the chamber. For example, citing staffing turnover, Singer said the city has no records of how $10,000 was allocated to the CBCC for gift cards. The CBCC said they were to encourage participation in an anti-violence program and were not purchased.
▪ When asked, the city did not name the 32 small businesses that received training as part of a $500,000 COVID relief contract the CBCC had with the city, or who was paid more than $100,000 in salary billed to the same contract.
▪ One organization paid through a CBCC contract received over $100,000 in COVID relief. The same contractor is under investigation by Sacramento County for misuse of funds for another COVID relief contract, in which local restaurants and the NAACP are accused of embezzlement. The NAACP said its name was used without permission.
▪ King used KDEE and a Facebook Live presentation to attack the NAACP leadership for blowing the whistle on the alleged contracting scheme, saying they were “acting like the gestapo.”
▪ The city had three contracts totaling $70,000 which paid King and KDEE to interview city officials.
▪ In June, without a contract, the city paid $1,500 to sponsor a Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award Ceremony for King. Chan and Petrovich attended, and offered testimonials to King. This was administered by the Points of Light Foundation and is essentially a mail-order award that organizations certify themselves. The foundation estimated it issues about 120,000 similar awards annually.
▪ Social media postings show that on stage with King as he received the award at the B Street Theatre was a cabinet-level secretary from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration, Petrovich and Sacramento’s Police Chief Kathy Lester. Weeks earlier, the police department signed off on a $128,100 contract to the chamber to provide “reporting and financial practices” training to nonprofit organizations that have contracts with the Police Department.
▪ A Police Department spokesperson said in December that the city had not yet paid on this contract and “is in the process of reworking it with the CBCC. CBCC hasn’t begun work yet.”
▪ The CBCC has not filed a required nonprofit tax return since 2022 and received a letter from the California Attorney General’s Office in 2022 warning it risked “suspension or revocation of registered status.” King said his organization had not filed 2023 taxes because he hired a new accountant, and adapting to the new accounting system caused a delay.
Paying for interviews
The first contract, in 2018 under Chan with the CBCC paid for “regular interviews with city officials.” The contract also stipulated that the city recognize the city manager’s office as a sponsor of the “Traffic Jam with Jay King.” Clauses requiring KDEE to interview city officials appeared in subsequent contracts, including a current one.
A $24,000 contract executed last June calls for bi-weekly interviews with city officials through June 2025. According to Singer, the interviews are primarily with Lynette Hall, community engagement manager for the city.
“The interviews are not recorded, and Lynette can coordinate an interview anytime between Tuesday-Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m. for 30 minutes depending on staff’s schedules,” she said. “That time slot is always open, and they are flexible. The interviews are either between Jay and Lynette or city staff depending on what we are promoting.”
According to a former official in the City Manager’s Office who asked not to be identified because they still work with city, the 2018 contract coincided with Petrovich’s dispute with the city over his desire to place a gas station in Crocker Village. The fate of a proposed Safeway was said to been in the balance and King argued that would cost Black union jobs.
“Howard did not say this directly, but he personally directed that the contract get done, it was important to him,” the former city manager employee said. “And the sense I had was that he wanted Jay King off his back.”
Ethics expert Pelissero said that was an unusual arrangement.
“I’ve never heard of something like that, to be honest with you, where a city would be paying any media organization to interview their city officials,” he said. “It doesn’t sound like it’s going to be an objective interview. If the city is paying a media organization to do an interview, one might expect some pretty softball questions. It’s also unfair to anyone else that wants an interview and doesn’t have the means to go about paying for it. And in this case, the city is paying for it with taxpayer dollars.”
Chan’s current role
Former City Councilmember Katie Valenzuela said that she was “beyond troubled” to learn that the contract to sponsor the chamber’s summit had not been disclosed when the city promoted Chan’s award.
“You have to put this in context, there were a lot of African American employees of the city that had filed complaints against the City Manager’s Office, I fielded complaints from other African American organizations that a select group of people were getting too many contracts while others were out in the cold,” she said.
“And then this award appears out of nowhere when there was intense debate about Chan’s contract.”
After the council voted not to extend his contract on Dec. 17, Chan announced on LinkedIn that he had started a position as “Special Advisor to the City Manager.” The position pays $340,812.
Valenzuela said that she feels there are too many questions “swirling around Chan” for him to continue working actively for the city, at least until there is an investigation.
She said that Cofer’s bribe allegations should be investigated by law enforcement and some type of independent body should look into the award bestowed on Chan and the city’s contracting practices with the chamber.
“As public officials, we’re held to a higher standard, we’re given public dollars and public safety and public lives to protect so if there’s even an inference that there might have been a connection, I think if for no other reason than assuring the public that it didn’t happen, we should be investigating it,” she said.
Wu said he would examine the connections between the three — Chan, King and Petrovich. “From an investigative point of view, the linkage between these three people it’s interesting,” he said. “In an investigation you would want to talk to all three individuals to understand the extent of their relationship, how often they talk, etc.”
Cofer said in an interview that she has spoken multiple times to Chan during the election and found him “gracious.”
“My question in all of this, is, what did Howard know? I have no reason to believe he did. Because it’s about him, but it may not have involved him. But I also wonder if he was concerned at all about that, because in the conversations he and I had, he was just like, ‘Look, I don’t want all this, you know, all these people kind of going to bat for me.’”
This story was originally published January 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
CORRECTION: This story was updated to clarify Howard Chan’s salary and the source of that information, the information regarding the names of the 32 small business who received COVID funds and the nature of the email to Shoun Thao related to the CBCC event.
