The Abridged version:
- The Sacramento City Council removed City Manager Howard Chan from the job in late 2024, but he stayed on the city’s payroll for an extra year, per a provision in his contract.
- Chan received a salary of $340,812, plus at least $24,612 in medical benefits during that time.
- Emails sought by Abridged for that year show Chan communicated minimally with city staff during his year as a special advisor.
What did Howard Chan do during his one-year stint as a special advisor to the city of Sacramento?
Not much, apparently.
After the Sacramento City Council declined to renew Chan’s contract in late 2024, the former city manager stayed on the city’s payroll for an extra year, per a provision in his original contract. Over the course of 2025, Chan received a salary of $340,812, plus at least $24,612 in medical benefits.
During his seven-year tenure as City Manager, Chan wielded significant power as the city’s top executive. He helped negotiate a term sheet for the Sacramento Republic FC’s new soccer stadium and oversaw the city’s emergency response during the Covid-19 pandemic. Amid the city’s escalating homelessness crisis, the council granted him stronger authority to decide where new shelters for homeless individuals should go.
He also made headlines as one of the highest paid city employees in California. In 2024 he earned $905,000 in total compensation, according to public pay database Transparent California. That included his $367,000 base salary plus hundreds of thousands in supplemental benefits.
Emails acquired by Abridged under the California Public Records Act show Chan communicated minimally with city staff during his year as a special advisor. The city provided 47 pages of records, which predominately document Chan forwarding emails he received from residents to staffers in the city manager’s office.
Chan, city staff mum on emails
Chan declined to comment on his work during his time as special advisor. When asked if any advising or projects are missing from the public records, Chan referred Abridged to the interim city manager at the time, Leyne Milstein.
“I’m going leave it at that. I’m no longer working with the city,” Chan said.
Milstein declined to comment on Chan’s final year with the city. Representatives for the city of Sacramento declined to detail any work performed by Chan during 2025.
“The city does not comment on personnel matters involving former employees, but the terms of his contract have been fulfilled,” said spokesperson Jennifer Singer, in an email.
Most emails forwarded to other staff without discussion
Chan sent 19 emails between January and August 2025, public records show. The city’s public records steward did not return any records sent between August and the end of the year.
Chan sent most of the emails from an iPhone. Ten emails showed Chan forwarding messages sent to his inbox to other staff members in the city manager’s office.
The records detailed no discussions of city policies or exchanges with members of the Sacramento City Council. The email chains don’t show any deliberation with elected leaders or staffers, nor do they show any substantial conversations about city policies or pending work.
The records also reflect travel and professional meetings. Chan attended a panel for city managers in Winters. The University of Southern California covered his travel to Burbank to deliver a “lunch and learn” talk to USC public policy students. He had lunch with the CEO of the League of California Cities at Brasserie du Monde in Downtown Sacramento.
Residents sought help for abandoned vehicles, encampments
Multiple times, Chan received emails from residents urging action on homeless encampments near their businesses or broken down vehicles abandoned near their homes.
“Hello Honorable Howard Chan … Below you will see that the neighbor is in violation and has for the past year been blocking my driveway,” wrote one resident, in March 2025.
Chan forwarded the message to assistant city manager Ryan Moore, public works director Matt Eierman and Milstein.
“Honorable??…he has definitely mistaken for someone else! Hope all is well,” Chan wrote to the staff members.
A big contract with big benefits
Chan became city manager in 2017, following a long career with the city of Sacramento. He started in 2002 as a parking manager and worked his way up to an assistant city manager.
His original contract as city manager — approved unanimously at the time — included a provision that allowed him to take a position as an assistant city manager for up to 12 months, if the council terminated his employment.
“If this Agreement is terminated … Employee may, in his discretion, assume a position with City as an Assistant City Manager for a term of at least one year,” the contract states.
Chan’s time as city manager ended on Dec. 31, 2024 after the council voted 6-3 to reject an extension. Members cited criticism over his compensation and calls for change in leadership to help the city move forward.
The next morning, Chan sent an email to all employees with the city. He announced the council’s vote and described it as “a bittersweet moment.”
“Serving in this position has been a career highlight, but what I will miss most about this job is working with all of you,” Chan wrote to his staff.
“Please be assured that I will continue to work nonstop for both you and our residents until my final day,” Chan wrote.
Severance pay, incentives ‘inflated’ contract
Chan also made headlines as one of the highest compensated city managers in California.
A consulting firm found that while Chan was not the highest paid city manager in California, supplemental leave benefits and severance pay “significantly inflated the total compensation” for the city manager’s contract.
Those incentives pushed Chan’s contract to be 47% above the market average, for city manager pay in comparably-sized cities, according to CPR HR Consulting. When looking at salary alone, the firm found that Chan’s pay was 3% behind the market average. The city hired CPR HR Consulting to lead the recruitment efforts for Chan’s replacement and to provide input on the next city’s manager’s compensation package.
No similar provision for new city manager
“I would anticipate that is something that you would not be negotiating with the next city manager, it’s not the norm,” said Pam Derby, executive recruiter with CPR HR Consulting, at a council meeting in March 2025.
The city council hired Maraskeshia Smith as city manager late last year at a salary of $399,000, a comparable amount to Chan’s baseline salary. Smith’s contract does not include the same provisions for severance pay and benefits.
Felicia Alvarez is a reporter at Abridged covering accountability. She’s called Sacramento home since 2015 and has reported on government, health care and breaking news topics for both local and national news outlets.
This story was updated at 8:07 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2026 to clarify that the University of Southern California paid for Chan’s travel to Burbank.