When Sacramento council reconsiders city manager raise, one detail will be different

When the Sacramento City Council reconsiders a vote for City Manager Howard Chan Tuesday, one significant detail will be different, which could change the outcome.

Chan’s base salary would still increase from $400,000 to $420,000, with 240 hours leave time, according to a city staff report. However Chan would no longer be able to cash out the leave time at his discretion.

That’s a change from the December meeting when the council voted to grant Chan the pay bump, including the ability to cash out the leave time. If he had cashed it all out, it would have added roughly $50,000 to his salary.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg at the time raised concerns with the leave time, leading for him to abstain from the vote. Councilwomen Mai Vang and Katie Valenzuela did the same. With six members voting in favor, one more than the required five, Chan was still set to receive the raise.

But later that week The Sacramento Bee asked questions to the city about why it held the vote during a so-called special meeting, in violation of The Brown Act. Special meetings are less transparent because they require a shorter public notice period and no public comments. Following the questions, city officials decided to redo the vote, which is scheduled for Tuesday.

The leave time change could mean Steinberg will vote in favor of the raise this time, strengthening Chan’s likelihood of keeping it.

But one other thing is also different from the last time around — Sean Loloee, facing federal charges regarding his grocery store business, resigned from the council Thursday.

Steinberg has said he will leave Loloee’s seat vacant until at least the March 5 primary.

Loloee had voted in favor of Chan’s raise. Loloee’s absence means that if just one council member who voted “yes” last month changed their vote to “no,” the raise would not pass. Prior to Loloee’s departure, blocking the raise would have required two council members to flip their votes. Council members who approved the raise in December include Eric Guerra, Lisa Kaplan, Karina Talamantes, Caity Maple and Rick Jennings.

Chan was the highest paid city manger in the state last year, partly due to cashing out his vacation and leave time. If approved Tuesday, Chan’s new raise would still be retroactive to February 2023.

Friday Chan announced he is opening a large homeless shelter in Loloee’s former North Sacramento district on Roseville Road — the first shelter he’s opening since the council assigned him the task five months ago.

The meeting will be held at 5 p.m. Tuesday.