The Sacramento City Council has delayed a vote on a proposed 5% raise, plus 10 weeks of vacation time, for City Manager Howard Chan. Chan – who is already the highest-paid administrator in California – requested the delay following a backlash.
The vote was originally scheduled for Aug. 29, less than a year after the city council agreed to bump Chan’s pay by 7.5%. The proposal would have brought his salary to $420,664.33.
Chan’s responsibilities are enormous. He oversees all city departments and has been tasked with addressing the city’s homeless crisis. Nevertheless, the proposed raise was not well received.
“I can't understand how they can possibly justify that given all of the crisis-level emergencies that we're still dealing with on top of a budget shortfall," community activist Keyan Bliss told ABC 10.
Sacramento Police Officers Association President Timothy Davis had also expressed frustration ahead of the vote.
“The council has only met twice in the last six months to discuss bargaining with all of its members,” said Davis. “We need to focus first on rank-and-file employees getting them under contract.”
The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board praised Chan’s request to delay the vote, but said it’s time for him to put the issue to rest entirely. The Bee also called on Mayor Darrell Steinberg to change course.
Steinberg is one of the region’s most accomplished politicians, but when it comes to Chan, he seems to routinely lose his compass. Raising Chan’s compensation to his desired level makes Steinberg look disconnected from political reality at a time when he is trying to make the most of his last year in office.
Meanwhile, there are unfinished labor negotiations at City Hall and a worsening homeless crisis to contend with in Sacramento. As a result of a previous council decision, it has fallen to Chan to turn the tide and identify “safe ground” encampment sites where homeless people can be relocated.
Steinberg said at the time of the vote that he wanted Chan to act within 30 to 60 days. That would be a tough deadline to meet if Chan were to take all that proposed vacation time.
There is real work to be done. And there is no room for extravagant compensation perks funded by taxpayers. Hopefully, Steinberg and Chan finally got the memo.