The highest-paid Sacramento city worker in 2025 earned over $500k. Here’s why
The highest paid city of Sacramento employee in 2025 was not the city manager or the mayor.
It was a fire captain who earned $365,754 in overtime — more than tripling his base salary.
That amount, combined with a $170,362 base salary and $910 in other pay, led to total earnings of $537,026 for Capt. Greggory Quick, according to documents the city sent The Sacramento Bee in response to a California Public Records Act request.
Quick, who works in fire suppression, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He is a member of Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522 and is still employed, said Jennifer Singer, a city spokesperson. The union’s contract expired Dec. 31, 2024, but the terms remain in effect as it negotiates a new contract.
Aside from Quick, there were nine other fire department employees on the list of the city’s top 20 highest earners. They included captains, battalion chiefs and a fire engineer. The top 20 list also contained six police employees.
Police officials have said the department is understaffed, with fewer filled positions than before the Great Recession despite a higher city population. Meanwhile, some council members have raised concerns about the high police overtime costs, which have exceeded $15 million annually in recent years.
Second on the list of the top 20 highest-paid city employees was LaTesha Watson, former director of public safety accountability. On top of her $179,779 base salary, the city paid her a $270,000 settlement to leave her job. Emails obtained by The Bee last year showed Watson had raised concerns that she and another Black female city leader were excluded from an upcoming council workshop meeting that other officials at her level were invited to.
Although the City Council voted in December 2024 not to renew his contract, former city manager Howard Chan earned $375,753 in 2025, the document said. That’s because his contract contained a clause that allowed him to remain on the city payroll for a year. In 2024, Chan was the second highest paid city employee statewide, according to data from the California State Controller’s office, earning $789,147 in total wages, including nearly $400,000 from cashing out hours for sick, vacation and other leave time.
New city manager Maraskeshia Smith’s contract began Jan. 1, earning a base salary of $399,000. Her contract does not appear to contain the extra year on payroll or the vacation and sick day cash-outs that Chan’s had.
The Bee’s Daniel Lempres contributed to this report
