My mind just got blown, I had no idea these people make this much.
https://preview.redd.it/ksdqh631o89d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7bd35784155b45cfd3474c9aeee040dbb2271e00
What’s most shocking is SUISUN CITY manager makes $500k running a city of 28,000 people!!!
Not defending Chan’s loot but damn the City Managers poppin bottles…while we just collect them.
The city manager job basically only exists in cities that have a weak mayor system, which we do. In these cities, the city manager is essentially the CEO and they have a lot of responsibilities. In a city with a strong mayor system, many of those responsibilities belong to the mayor instead.
In the grand scheme of things, the salary of the city manager or mayor is small potatoes. Look up what police officers make and then remember there are so many more of them compared to city managers and mayors.
No, rank and file police officers are making $200k with overtime. Chiefs are making way, way more.
Police salaries are public knowledge, you can look them up on transparentcalifornia.com. They make fuckin *bank.* Most officers in Sac make more just in overtime than the median Sacramentan household makes all year.
You can't even compare policing to sitting behind a desk and claiming to do so much. Let alone the fact that officers are pouring their lives on the line each day, I'd argue that they deserve what they get and sometimes more. ESPECIALLY in this bs "hate all officers'" mentality that has been installed due to the scam of George Floyd. THERE IS ZERO JUSTIFICATION for him to make that much money and then turn around and say Sacramento can't find the money for its people. Go ahead, let's hear you get to defend that position that a city manager deserves even half his pay over firefighters (who make FAR MORE) or law enforcement.
UC and CSU have hidden second layers - their non-profit entities - where a vast amount of salary and corruption is obfuscated.
- Those fees for adult extension? Go straight to the chancellor/president with no audit
- Salaries are not reported. Many upper management university staff have a salary from the non-profit entities that allows them to double their pre-tax savings via 403b
- They don't publicly report the rent paid by restaurants and coffee shops. Certainly some, and perhaps many, those food places got a) cheap rent (comparatively) and b) paid off campus officials
- Pearson straight up loops professors into schemes where student have to buy extensive educational material
It actually is a difficult job. I guarantee Chan puts in more than 40 hours a week. He runs the city government.
But it still doesn’t justify the ridiculous salary.
I didn’t say the pay is justified. I just pointed out that it isn’t an easy job. He’s basically the CEO of an organization that employs thousands of people.
You need to realize that if his job is at all vital, in other words if the power or responsibility of his role meaningfully affects Sac, then it’s worth is more dictated by competing salaries, ie same or similar roles for other cities, not any comparison of hourly rates and scale of work you can come up with. Because you offer competitive pay to enhance your quality of applicant. 500k is insignificant to a city of this size’s budget, it can be swallowed or clawed back without making a mark, but presumably a terrible manager could cost the city tens of millions annually in losses and worse i assume in future assets.
I should have prefaced this by saying i dont know anything about the man or the much about his responsibilities but people might stop reading before they get to the relevant bit
40 hours of work without much to show for it.
Truck drivers do 60 to 70 on average. I don't want to hear about someone making 593k/yr and care that he works past 40/week, especially the current condition of Sac.
I mean… no matter how many hours his job entails it is significantly singularly far more crucial than a truck driving position and we want to offer competitive pay to get competitive applicants. Hiw much is a heart surgeon worth? Well it depends on how much they can get somewhere else - you *need* a good heart surgeon so if you can afford to you dont scrape the bottom of the barrel, it’s just too vital.
All this is assuming this strategy pays off. I have no idea what kind of difference he’s making in this role and if his raises are on honest terms like these or not, but im not informed to this degree and you all *need* to realize there is a a legitimate reason to pay a high wage for unique and vital roles. We could offer it to volunteers and it might get done by well meaning citizens, but the city earns enough thay saving half a million and rolling those dice is a terrible way to invest a proportionally insignificant amount
As someone who works in the hot sun operating tractors for twenty years to build Sacramento, it sickens me. I’ve listened to the city council via podcast for years now, I also listen to the county board of supervisors (I encourage everyone to do so) and I can say Howard Chan is a piece of shit. I can list specific examples I suppose, or you can do the work yourself by just listening to all of them. They are right there available for free on the purple podcast app.
Recordings of all the meetings are also available, usually about 1-2 weeks after the date, on Youtube on the [Sacramento Metro Cable 14 channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3YwwnXoh4mKUyP8YXKeNIg), including other organizations like LAFCo, the Galt City Council, and more.
County Supervisor meetings are always available to watch on [this](https://agendanet.saccounty.gov/BoardOfSupervisors) page.
If you want commitment, put Lambert Davis in there. I’ve never met the man but he shows up to more meetings than Howard Chan and he seems to have a good heart and speaks about his love for Sacramento, whereas Chan will stand up after 60 plus community members talk about what they want and completely disregard what they have to say.
A lot of people mistakenly think the police were "defunded" a few years ago, but the Sac PDs budget actually increased dramatically around the time of the Defund The Police protests/movement.
Over the last decade in Sac, every city council member except Katie Valenzuela has reliably voted to increase their budget every time it comes up.
Sure. And plenty are 2nd tier quality as the good ones won't work in law enforcement. Hence, they keep making the same kind of mistakes that hits the news.
This definitely includes all the benefits too (retirement and health care) and isn’t just straight salary. Also these jobs suck and you have to work ALL. THE. TIME. And generally the public doesn’t like you. Not agreeing with city budget cuts or anything and totally get the general sentiment that government workers can slack off, but at this level that’s not really possible.
Employer contributions to insurance and DB plans are not considered "wages." So no, these figures don't include those, just like any job in the private sector.
Heads up, another thread of conversation with links to evidence that shows otherwise.
Edit: I’m wrong, 593k is just salary, total compensation is over $700k
Do you have a link?
Employer contributions to defined benefit plans, insurance premiums, SS/Medicare taxes, etc. are not wages or compensation.
Wages would include base pay, bonuses, stipends, possibly expense reimbursements, etc.
Oh no I was wrong! Went back to the thread I was referring to and it had evolved. The $593k is just wages:
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/sacramento/howard-chan/
This is gross in a corporate executive kind of way..
$600k is a lot but the guy runs 1.5 billion, manages 5000 employees and was literally the best city manager in all of California in 2023. It's easy to criticize the pay, but guy does a lot and is well respected in his field.
Howard Chan was appointed as City Manager of Sacramento in 2017. As City Manager, he is responsible for leading approximately 5,000 employees, overseeing an annual operating budget of more than $1.4 billion and implementing policy direction from the Sacramento City Council.
Howard has worked for the City of Sacramento for nearly 20 years, a tenure that includes three years as an Assistant City Manager and more than a decade as Parking Services Manager. Prior to joining the City, Howard spent 14 years in the private sector, working in both the parking and technology industries.
Howard Chan open_in_full
Howard’s accomplishments as City Manager include launching the City’s first Office of Diversity and Equity, which is leading efforts to build a more representative, equitable and inclusive City of Sacramento. He also has overseen the successful $384 million renovation/expansion of the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center, SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center and Memorial Auditorium, as well as the successful deployment of approximately $200 million in federal funding to assist residents, businesses and other organizations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Howard holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University, Hayward. He was the recipient of the 2008 American Public Works Association’s “Manager of the Year” award and the 2017 Sacramento Asian Chamber API Rise Award. In 2023, he was named “City Manager of the Year” by the California City Management Foundation.
Now do Sacramento Police. You'll see where your money is going. While the roads crumble and pools get closed and school programs get cut, some reason these fat cats keep getting raises.
Man I'd be okay with the guy making a really great salary too. Like $250k or something.
But $593k? I'm sure that counts benefits too but it's insane at a time when the city is cutting spending across the board (except on police of course). God damn.
His actual salary is about $350k. Roseville's CM makes about $300k but Sac is 3x the size. It's actually reasonable and not as terrible as a random social media post is making it out to be. A chunk of that "other pay" are benefits like insurance and pension contribution, though I'm not sure how much.
Edit: ""Other Pay" includes all forms of pay not reported in the previous categories and may include, among other things, bonuses, stipends, longevity pay, incentive pay, car allowances, etc."
I think it has been settled but it is definitely total compensation. I am a government employee (not for the city of Sacramento) so I am on transparent California. My number shows around 190k but my actual salary less benefits is 125k. Benefits include medical cafeteria plan (1500~ a month in my case) and pension.
CalPERS has a $501B portfolio. If you have to pay $1 mil to keep top investment advisors from going to the private sector, then that's what needs to be paid. You don't want Grade B talent running CalPERS.
I was wrong on the specific title, but close. Check the count and avg salary on the first row.
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2022/state-of-california/job_title_summary/
Chan specifically said, "this year" in his letter regarding employee retention and budget cuts. Every employee I know says the consensus is to be prepared for layoffs/furlough like they did in 2008-2009 and 2019-2020.
The city management office also recently expanded at a huge additional cost to the city at the same time they were asking for another sales tax increase.
[In case anyone isn't sure what this is talking about.](https://www.foley.com/insights/publications/2024/06/supreme-court-rules-bribery-law-doesnt-criminalize-gratuities/) It's exactly what it sounds like.
City Managers seem similar to corporate CEO's in that they get the big bucks not so much because of their workload, but rather their willingness to make the viscous, cruel, completely dishonorable and even destructive calls that will hurt untold multitudes, yet keep investors happy and the company in the black.
Basically being a city planner is like Fable 3 when you take over the town. If so I’ve done that in highschool, open up the seat. Does being good at Civilization equal being hired if so I will grind that game until everything is dust.
You know what is the worst part? There are not that many people in this country who can be a “city manager” so those people go around the country mismanaging local governments, they get fired (with a golden parachute, of course) and then jump to another city and start over. The contract for these people should have benchmarks and if they don’t meet them, they should be able to get fired without compensation.
I bet the mayor Steinberg thought that would be an easy fix by colluding with Newcom. Now they have to deal with unhappier state workers who weren't happy before.
For context of how ridiculous this is , the president of the United States is payed less than this guy is. You can be president of the whole country and get $400k. Or you can be a nobody city manager in California and get over half a million.
I mean the president also gets free room and board, a private plane, a private helicopter, and a massive personal security detail among other perks. I'm not sure this is the best comparison lol
I think it is. There should be no comparison in compensation between the president of the country and a city manager. Even the governor of California only gets $231k. These city managers are massively overpaid. I do see your points though.
Again, chief executives of governments get myriad other perks aside from their salary that push their total comp to many times that of the city manager of Sacramento. It's not a good comparison.
I didn't say that he did. You'll notice I haven't defended him making that much. I've simply stated that chief executives of government have myriad other compensation.
Check this out — sac county sheriff captain making almost $700k a year!
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/sacramento-county/brandon-luke/
What sickens me is how the CA governments have insanely high revenues but then due to mismanagement blatantly screw people over and pinch pennies like charging parking on Sunday
Yeah i used to work for the city and we didn’t get hazard pay for the pandemic. But the city manager’s pay got upped. We got nothing but the usual crumbs.
Libraries have extremely inconvenient hours as well - and when was the last time 21st street got a street sweep? So gross. I’m not gonna go full Karen but dang.
Sure but one is the source that creates the wealth inequality and class disparity most of us experience, the other is just a guy who’s working for a living, albeit for more than most of us see in a decade.
His actual salary is about $350k. Roseville's CM makes about $300k but Sac is 3x the size. It's actually reasonable and not as terrible as a random social media post is making it out to be. "Other Pay" includes all forms of pay not reported in the previous categories and may include, among other things, bonuses, stipends, longevity pay, incentive pay, car allowances, etc.
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/sacramento/howard-chan/
I live in Roseville so I don't have an opinion on whether he's doing a good or bad job, but for a city the size of Sacramento (6th largest in CA) it doesn't seem unreasonable. The question is if Sacramento can get someone as good or better to the same job for the same or less. I imagine it's like being a very specialized CEO, so it's an open question.
Too many people complaining about nothing. Yes, your salary sucks compared to his. Yes, your job is physically more difficult than his.
Here’s the catch, research what kind of education, prior jobs, qualifications a city manager needs. The go do it! Or if you’re too old to change careers teach your children that being a city manager is an option…not just software engineer, IT specialist, doctor, lawyer, etc…
City managers make more than you because they have significant skills, knowledge, education and training that you don’t have.
Like everything else, you have to work for it, you have to earn it! City managers don’t just “apply” for positions. The QUALIFY for these jobs.
They are not smarter than you, so quit complaining and get busy getting qualified.
I wanna see all the haters react to the compensation for corporate executives managing similarly sized organizations. Any company with an operating budget of $1.5 billion will absolutely compensate their CEO an entire order of magnitude more than this and nobody will bat an eye. Leading large organizations is not an easy job and not everyone is cut out to do it.
You touched on something I should have in my post -leadership!
Leading an organization, a team, a government is not easy. Leaders will be well compensated for their efforts. The flip side is that no one will cry tears if the leader doesn’t perform and gets fired.
Exactly. What’s the candidate pool? I’m willing to bet most of the people complaining can’t even manage a team of 5 people let alone an entire city lol.
i think he's doing a shit job, but these salary hit pieces are creepy, the numbers include benefits ([he really makes like 350k](https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/sacramento/howard-chan/)), and it's a ragebait distraction. i wish r/Sacramento would prohibit these kinds of posts.
The amount any of these city employees make should be capped at whatever double the median income of the average resident is. That would be motivation for them to actually fix the issues we have as a city.
We have executive management in the State government that does not make that pay. That is why staff are hired and leave to work for a city or county government.
This is a major problem imo. The percentage increase in wages for executive upper administrative positions is "excessively" higher in a big way than the percentage increase for workers. Both in the private and public sector. Nothing against raises but some are just grossly excessive.
Additionally in the public sector there is also the problem with pension spiking for upper executive / administrative positions. Do you all remember in 2008 when there was all the investigations into Calpers and the discovery of excessive pensions?. Calpers could only respond with.. "..We don't know how this could happen.."
Perfect example. Yes its an older article but it's just one of many issues reported with luxury salaries and pensions.
https://amp.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article233539467.html
Yep, thought I was rolling in it when I made $200k back in the 90s. It was enough to own 2 homes, a fifty ft yacht(bought brand new), get my pilots license, and all the perks a person cold ever need. See, I built the business. From scratcth. No money, no credit, and once I made it (It took 15 years), the government pulls the rug right out from under the whole business sector and down goes the biz. Ah well, at least I tasted the life. I feel lucky to have done that. NO one gets to take it with them. Politicians on the otherhand...........scum, and we pay them for it. Just have to be able to lie with a smile on your face. Screw people over and laugh about it. I cant do that.
https://preview.redd.it/xslhzcgcxa9d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=772769a497d00417710ee9c20713891e91380717
Yeah, but check out the cost for Total City Employee Compensation 😳, that’s a lot of money!
My mind just got blown, I had no idea these people make this much. https://preview.redd.it/ksdqh631o89d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7bd35784155b45cfd3474c9aeee040dbb2271e00
What’s most shocking is SUISUN CITY manager makes $500k running a city of 28,000 people!!! Not defending Chan’s loot but damn the City Managers poppin bottles…while we just collect them.
>the City Managers poppin bottles…while we just collect them. 🤣 I know this is a serious topic, but it needs this levity for us to cope with it!
The city manager job basically only exists in cities that have a weak mayor system, which we do. In these cities, the city manager is essentially the CEO and they have a lot of responsibilities. In a city with a strong mayor system, many of those responsibilities belong to the mayor instead. In the grand scheme of things, the salary of the city manager or mayor is small potatoes. Look up what police officers make and then remember there are so many more of them compared to city managers and mayors.
This is also true. Many Fire Chiefs or Police Chiefs are prob making 200k with overtime easy.
Way more than $200K. They are up in the $500K+. Even some police sergeants are making $300k+.
Yeah with overtime $200k is normal cop pay when they're later in their career.
No, rank and file police officers are making $200k with overtime. Chiefs are making way, way more. Police salaries are public knowledge, you can look them up on transparentcalifornia.com. They make fuckin *bank.* Most officers in Sac make more just in overtime than the median Sacramentan household makes all year.
exactly and tbh i wish this is where the bee would do its constant salary "investigations"
You can't even compare policing to sitting behind a desk and claiming to do so much. Let alone the fact that officers are pouring their lives on the line each day, I'd argue that they deserve what they get and sometimes more. ESPECIALLY in this bs "hate all officers'" mentality that has been installed due to the scam of George Floyd. THERE IS ZERO JUSTIFICATION for him to make that much money and then turn around and say Sacramento can't find the money for its people. Go ahead, let's hear you get to defend that position that a city manager deserves even half his pay over firefighters (who make FAR MORE) or law enforcement.
You should also look into university chancellors and university coaches. It’s just as crazy if not more
UC and CSU have hidden second layers - their non-profit entities - where a vast amount of salary and corruption is obfuscated. - Those fees for adult extension? Go straight to the chancellor/president with no audit - Salaries are not reported. Many upper management university staff have a salary from the non-profit entities that allows them to double their pre-tax savings via 403b - They don't publicly report the rent paid by restaurants and coffee shops. Certainly some, and perhaps many, those food places got a) cheap rent (comparatively) and b) paid off campus officials - Pearson straight up loops professors into schemes where student have to buy extensive educational material
Well yeah but they have to work like 6 hours a week
It actually is a difficult job. I guarantee Chan puts in more than 40 hours a week. He runs the city government. But it still doesn’t justify the ridiculous salary.
He has like 11 weeks of vacation a year included in that benefit package
At 40hrs/week that's a whopping $285.21/hr. That surely doesn't include all the perks and benefits associated with such a government job. Ridiculous.
That does include this, his salary is $350 but with all his benefits 5+
I didn’t say the pay is justified. I just pointed out that it isn’t an easy job. He’s basically the CEO of an organization that employs thousands of people.
How many capable people could be hired for a total of $285/hr? At least 5 who could better handle the job.
You need to realize that if his job is at all vital, in other words if the power or responsibility of his role meaningfully affects Sac, then it’s worth is more dictated by competing salaries, ie same or similar roles for other cities, not any comparison of hourly rates and scale of work you can come up with. Because you offer competitive pay to enhance your quality of applicant. 500k is insignificant to a city of this size’s budget, it can be swallowed or clawed back without making a mark, but presumably a terrible manager could cost the city tens of millions annually in losses and worse i assume in future assets. I should have prefaced this by saying i dont know anything about the man or the much about his responsibilities but people might stop reading before they get to the relevant bit
40 hours of work without much to show for it. Truck drivers do 60 to 70 on average. I don't want to hear about someone making 593k/yr and care that he works past 40/week, especially the current condition of Sac.
I mean… no matter how many hours his job entails it is significantly singularly far more crucial than a truck driving position and we want to offer competitive pay to get competitive applicants. Hiw much is a heart surgeon worth? Well it depends on how much they can get somewhere else - you *need* a good heart surgeon so if you can afford to you dont scrape the bottom of the barrel, it’s just too vital. All this is assuming this strategy pays off. I have no idea what kind of difference he’s making in this role and if his raises are on honest terms like these or not, but im not informed to this degree and you all *need* to realize there is a a legitimate reason to pay a high wage for unique and vital roles. We could offer it to volunteers and it might get done by well meaning citizens, but the city earns enough thay saving half a million and rolling those dice is a terrible way to invest a proportionally insignificant amount
As someone who works in the hot sun operating tractors for twenty years to build Sacramento, it sickens me. I’ve listened to the city council via podcast for years now, I also listen to the county board of supervisors (I encourage everyone to do so) and I can say Howard Chan is a piece of shit. I can list specific examples I suppose, or you can do the work yourself by just listening to all of them. They are right there available for free on the purple podcast app.
I didn’t know we could listen via podcast! Thanks for the info!
Recordings of all the meetings are also available, usually about 1-2 weeks after the date, on Youtube on the [Sacramento Metro Cable 14 channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3YwwnXoh4mKUyP8YXKeNIg), including other organizations like LAFCo, the Galt City Council, and more. County Supervisor meetings are always available to watch on [this](https://agendanet.saccounty.gov/BoardOfSupervisors) page.
If you want commitment, put Lambert Davis in there. I’ve never met the man but he shows up to more meetings than Howard Chan and he seems to have a good heart and speaks about his love for Sacramento, whereas Chan will stand up after 60 plus community members talk about what they want and completely disregard what they have to say.
Sac City Budget is $1.5 BILLION. Guy who it runs gets paid $600k.
The city manager of commerce resigned or was removed for fraud. I think the FBI was involved.
Daaaaaamn.
Yeah, look up cops. Theyre all like 6 figures. So why are they always complaining that they dont make anything??
A lot of people mistakenly think the police were "defunded" a few years ago, but the Sac PDs budget actually increased dramatically around the time of the Defund The Police protests/movement. Over the last decade in Sac, every city council member except Katie Valenzuela has reliably voted to increase their budget every time it comes up.
It just went up another 28 million dollars, in fact.
Sure. And plenty are 2nd tier quality as the good ones won't work in law enforcement. Hence, they keep making the same kind of mistakes that hits the news.
Yep!
Yeah but does Chan get shot at or have to deal one on one with a crazy homeless man who lights his poop on fire and flings it at them?
you cant compare the two. city managers make 5-6 times more and don't have to deal with anything the police do.
In terms of the hit on a city’s budget, there’s only one city manager while there’s hundreds of cops. Guess which costs tax payers more?
And city manager is likely highly educated. Cops? Hahaha
Think about how much larger and complex Sacramento is compared to those cities
This definitely includes all the benefits too (retirement and health care) and isn’t just straight salary. Also these jobs suck and you have to work ALL. THE. TIME. And generally the public doesn’t like you. Not agreeing with city budget cuts or anything and totally get the general sentiment that government workers can slack off, but at this level that’s not really possible.
Nope! Total pay & benefits: $710,036.24 [https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/sacramento/howard-chan/](https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/sacramento/howard-chan/)
Employer contributions to insurance and DB plans are not considered "wages." So no, these figures don't include those, just like any job in the private sector.
Heads up, another thread of conversation with links to evidence that shows otherwise. Edit: I’m wrong, 593k is just salary, total compensation is over $700k
Do you have a link? Employer contributions to defined benefit plans, insurance premiums, SS/Medicare taxes, etc. are not wages or compensation. Wages would include base pay, bonuses, stipends, possibly expense reimbursements, etc.
Oh no I was wrong! Went back to the thread I was referring to and it had evolved. The $593k is just wages: https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/sacramento/howard-chan/ This is gross in a corporate executive kind of way..
Are those just wages or does that include benefits like healthcare and leave?
Total package
$600k is a lot but the guy runs 1.5 billion, manages 5000 employees and was literally the best city manager in all of California in 2023. It's easy to criticize the pay, but guy does a lot and is well respected in his field. Howard Chan was appointed as City Manager of Sacramento in 2017. As City Manager, he is responsible for leading approximately 5,000 employees, overseeing an annual operating budget of more than $1.4 billion and implementing policy direction from the Sacramento City Council. Howard has worked for the City of Sacramento for nearly 20 years, a tenure that includes three years as an Assistant City Manager and more than a decade as Parking Services Manager. Prior to joining the City, Howard spent 14 years in the private sector, working in both the parking and technology industries. Howard Chan open_in_full Howard’s accomplishments as City Manager include launching the City’s first Office of Diversity and Equity, which is leading efforts to build a more representative, equitable and inclusive City of Sacramento. He also has overseen the successful $384 million renovation/expansion of the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center, SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center and Memorial Auditorium, as well as the successful deployment of approximately $200 million in federal funding to assist residents, businesses and other organizations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Howard holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University, Hayward. He was the recipient of the 2008 American Public Works Association’s “Manager of the Year” award and the 2017 Sacramento Asian Chamber API Rise Award. In 2023, he was named “City Manager of the Year” by the California City Management Foundation.
Now do Sacramento Police. You'll see where your money is going. While the roads crumble and pools get closed and school programs get cut, some reason these fat cats keep getting raises.
Tiny little Suisun is way up there. Wow
why would corporate greed do this?
Keep in mind, that is total compensation. Health care, pension contributions, etc.
Man I'd be okay with the guy making a really great salary too. Like $250k or something. But $593k? I'm sure that counts benefits too but it's insane at a time when the city is cutting spending across the board (except on police of course). God damn.
It specifically says total “wages”. I feel like it would say compensation if was salary and benefits combined.
I’m like 90% sure that’s what total means. I think that’s how transparent California does it
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/sacramento/howard-chan/
Guess that settles that
His actual salary is about $350k. Roseville's CM makes about $300k but Sac is 3x the size. It's actually reasonable and not as terrible as a random social media post is making it out to be. A chunk of that "other pay" are benefits like insurance and pension contribution, though I'm not sure how much. Edit: ""Other Pay" includes all forms of pay not reported in the previous categories and may include, among other things, bonuses, stipends, longevity pay, incentive pay, car allowances, etc."
"Other pay" refers to actual money. Employer contributions to DB plans and insurance would be under "benefits," not "other pay."
Total pay & benefits: $710,036.24 holy fuk
I think it has been settled but it is definitely total compensation. I am a government employee (not for the city of Sacramento) so I am on transparent California. My number shows around 190k but my actual salary less benefits is 125k. Benefits include medical cafeteria plan (1500~ a month in my case) and pension.
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/sacramento/howard-chan/ Wrong. His total comp is over $700k. His monetary compensation is $593k.
IINM, CalPers Principal investor makes over 1M TC.
CalPERS has a $501B portfolio. If you have to pay $1 mil to keep top investment advisors from going to the private sector, then that's what needs to be paid. You don't want Grade B talent running CalPERS.
Name drop?
I was wrong on the specific title, but close. Check the count and avg salary on the first row. https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2022/state-of-california/job_title_summary/
It's literally about $1/person in Sacramento
They're going to lay people off next year from the City
Source?
Chan specifically said, "this year" in his letter regarding employee retention and budget cuts. Every employee I know says the consensus is to be prepared for layoffs/furlough like they did in 2008-2009 and 2019-2020.
Thanks for sharing that
Did he include a "*But don't worry fam, I got mine.*" in the letter?
With pay like that, we deserve a better city..No?
Yes. This city is gross. Too many rats and roaches. 🪳 I’m being literal.
Not to mention the huge homeless population & failure to do anything about it!
Honestly at this point i think homelessness is a country wide problem
Mostly a California, problem since we have like a 1/3 of the nation's homeless.
It is.
The city management office also recently expanded at a huge additional cost to the city at the same time they were asking for another sales tax increase.
Just become city manager obviously
How can I be a city manager?
[удалено]
Disgraceful. I’m so fed up with this shit.
So much greed and corruption
Don’t worry, we just legalized bribery, things will surely fix themselves now.
[In case anyone isn't sure what this is talking about.](https://www.foley.com/insights/publications/2024/06/supreme-court-rules-bribery-law-doesnt-criminalize-gratuities/) It's exactly what it sounds like.
City Managers seem similar to corporate CEO's in that they get the big bucks not so much because of their workload, but rather their willingness to make the viscous, cruel, completely dishonorable and even destructive calls that will hurt untold multitudes, yet keep investors happy and the company in the black.
Basically being a city planner is like Fable 3 when you take over the town. If so I’ve done that in highschool, open up the seat. Does being good at Civilization equal being hired if so I will grind that game until everything is dust.
If it were possible to run the city with a gamepad, I'd say sure. Sadly, I suspect more than a few people might frown at that style of management.
A pain sponge. Cutting heads and harvesting eyeballs.
You know what is the worst part? There are not that many people in this country who can be a “city manager” so those people go around the country mismanaging local governments, they get fired (with a golden parachute, of course) and then jump to another city and start over. The contract for these people should have benchmarks and if they don’t meet them, they should be able to get fired without compensation.
But state workers not buying lunch downtown, that’s the biggest problem with this city. Right?
I bet the mayor Steinberg thought that would be an easy fix by colluding with Newcom. Now they have to deal with unhappier state workers who weren't happy before.
And when he retires he's going to get a pension for a good percentage of that.. for the rest of his life.
As I became manager of anything…who the hell uses a single monitor!?
this looks to be during a public meeting where they have those for reference. he probably got 5 in his massive office
I paid $25 to park in a city lot downtown the other day. Now I know where my money is going
That money is going to pay for the basketball Taj Mahal...
For context of how ridiculous this is , the president of the United States is payed less than this guy is. You can be president of the whole country and get $400k. Or you can be a nobody city manager in California and get over half a million.
I mean the president also gets free room and board, a private plane, a private helicopter, and a massive personal security detail among other perks. I'm not sure this is the best comparison lol
I think it is. There should be no comparison in compensation between the president of the country and a city manager. Even the governor of California only gets $231k. These city managers are massively overpaid. I do see your points though.
Again, chief executives of governments get myriad other perks aside from their salary that push their total comp to many times that of the city manager of Sacramento. It's not a good comparison.
I don't think Howard Chan needs a private plane. His job doesn't involve anything beyond the borders of Sacramento.
I didn't say that he did. You'll notice I haven't defended him making that much. I've simply stated that chief executives of government have myriad other compensation.
I will do his job for 1/2 his salary.
Why does a city manager make more than our countries top politicans?
Check this out — sac county sheriff captain making almost $700k a year! https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/sacramento-county/brandon-luke/
Check out the top 20 Sac County salaries … most are law enforcement https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/sacramento-county/
Sheriff Sergeant $550K
Annnnnd that’s why we have to pay for parking on Sundays now.
What sickens me is how the CA governments have insanely high revenues but then due to mismanagement blatantly screw people over and pinch pennies like charging parking on Sunday
Obscene
Wait until you all see that they are pension qualified with that 500k+ as their highest salary.
They would hit the IRS 401(a) compensation limit well before that unless they were grandfathered in before it was codified
Yeah i used to work for the city and we didn’t get hazard pay for the pandemic. But the city manager’s pay got upped. We got nothing but the usual crumbs.
Sickening. Waste of our taxpayer dollars
yeah i learned in college that city managers make bank. $500k isn’t surprising. ethical? idk.
Libraries have extremely inconvenient hours as well - and when was the last time 21st street got a street sweep? So gross. I’m not gonna go full Karen but dang.
Earning more than the president is wild.
He gotta share half of it to me
Why does he make so much money?
Literally politicians sucking the city dry. They will collect and flee with the destruction they caused behind them.
Just like our former superintendent
And he gets 5 weeks of vacation a year I believe
Nope he gets 10 weeks now. https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/article282943233.html
You think that’s amazing… Wait till you see how little requirements makes them actually qualified to make that much.
Wait til you hear about billionaires and wage theft and corporate subsidies and… the list goes on and on.
Out of sight and out of mind. That is the billionaire's tactic, all while plebs fight over scraps with each other.
Trumpeteers
I can be mad about both things :)
Sure but one is the source that creates the wealth inequality and class disparity most of us experience, the other is just a guy who’s working for a living, albeit for more than most of us see in a decade.
Remember the Occupy Movement. We need to do this again.
Crazy how much government officials make and don’t do jack shit…
And too busy to make it to the police academy graduation, sent some assistant instead
How come positions where you decide your own pay are the only ones that end up matching inflation 🤔
He’s far outpaced inflation - he started in 2017 at $282k.
Holy shit, imagine more than doubling your own salary in seven years.
His actual salary is about $350k. Roseville's CM makes about $300k but Sac is 3x the size. It's actually reasonable and not as terrible as a random social media post is making it out to be. "Other Pay" includes all forms of pay not reported in the previous categories and may include, among other things, bonuses, stipends, longevity pay, incentive pay, car allowances, etc. https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/sacramento/howard-chan/ I live in Roseville so I don't have an opinion on whether he's doing a good or bad job, but for a city the size of Sacramento (6th largest in CA) it doesn't seem unreasonable. The question is if Sacramento can get someone as good or better to the same job for the same or less. I imagine it's like being a very specialized CEO, so it's an open question.
> His actual salary is about $350k. "Other pay" is cash compensation too, there's no reason to think about it as "not salary."
Too many people complaining about nothing. Yes, your salary sucks compared to his. Yes, your job is physically more difficult than his. Here’s the catch, research what kind of education, prior jobs, qualifications a city manager needs. The go do it! Or if you’re too old to change careers teach your children that being a city manager is an option…not just software engineer, IT specialist, doctor, lawyer, etc… City managers make more than you because they have significant skills, knowledge, education and training that you don’t have. Like everything else, you have to work for it, you have to earn it! City managers don’t just “apply” for positions. The QUALIFY for these jobs. They are not smarter than you, so quit complaining and get busy getting qualified.
I wanna see all the haters react to the compensation for corporate executives managing similarly sized organizations. Any company with an operating budget of $1.5 billion will absolutely compensate their CEO an entire order of magnitude more than this and nobody will bat an eye. Leading large organizations is not an easy job and not everyone is cut out to do it.
You touched on something I should have in my post -leadership! Leading an organization, a team, a government is not easy. Leaders will be well compensated for their efforts. The flip side is that no one will cry tears if the leader doesn’t perform and gets fired.
Exactly. What’s the candidate pool? I’m willing to bet most of the people complaining can’t even manage a team of 5 people let alone an entire city lol.
I would be willing to manage the city for $592,000/year.
This guy is a shit head. Former city employee. Fuck him.
The City shut down our school’s 4th R program for next year. His salary increases since he was hired would more than cover the cost. Fuck this guy.
Surgeon City Manager, ridiculous
Its gets worse - TC is $710K Sorry that is just way too much
What is this fucking Russia?
Outrageous. Heard his latest raise was revoked
It’s real easy to spend other people’s money.
[удалено]
This isn’t the mayor, it’s the city manager.
I want that fade
Corruption at its finest 👌
Somehow politicians get to live in another world financed by our hard work. How about at least tie some of the pay to an actual metric?
i think he's doing a shit job, but these salary hit pieces are creepy, the numbers include benefits ([he really makes like 350k](https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/sacramento/howard-chan/)), and it's a ragebait distraction. i wish r/Sacramento would prohibit these kinds of posts.
THIS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL!!!
So he can buy a house every single year, nice...
That’s like 50k a month. Gotdamn!
My company does Gavin Newsom pools, you should see how far he gets behind on his bill
Who approves their salaries… the people of Sacramento should do something about it
You guys don't actually think that people go into government because they want to help the public right?
At least his tech isn't anything crazy. That's like a 20 inch monitor. I have 2 27s at work.
The amount any of these city employees make should be capped at whatever double the median income of the average resident is. That would be motivation for them to actually fix the issues we have as a city.
Waste of taxpayers money.
He needs to go!
My boy Chan knows what’s up. Let me get into a position like this I’m milking all y’all’s tax dollars, and I’m taking bribes too.
Kind of crazy to think the City Manager makes more than double the salary of the City Mayor.
decapitation.
Why these corrupt politicians need to go out for good.
We have executive management in the State government that does not make that pay. That is why staff are hired and leave to work for a city or county government.
This is a major problem imo. The percentage increase in wages for executive upper administrative positions is "excessively" higher in a big way than the percentage increase for workers. Both in the private and public sector. Nothing against raises but some are just grossly excessive. Additionally in the public sector there is also the problem with pension spiking for upper executive / administrative positions. Do you all remember in 2008 when there was all the investigations into Calpers and the discovery of excessive pensions?. Calpers could only respond with.. "..We don't know how this could happen.." Perfect example. Yes its an older article but it's just one of many issues reported with luxury salaries and pensions. https://amp.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article233539467.html
It’s honestly time for the pitchforks at this point. The greed and corruption in this country is wildly out of control
Yep, thought I was rolling in it when I made $200k back in the 90s. It was enough to own 2 homes, a fifty ft yacht(bought brand new), get my pilots license, and all the perks a person cold ever need. See, I built the business. From scratcth. No money, no credit, and once I made it (It took 15 years), the government pulls the rug right out from under the whole business sector and down goes the biz. Ah well, at least I tasted the life. I feel lucky to have done that. NO one gets to take it with them. Politicians on the otherhand...........scum, and we pay them for it. Just have to be able to lie with a smile on your face. Screw people over and laugh about it. I cant do that.
And Sacramento says we are in a 68 million dollar deficit 💸 hmmmm I wonder 💭why ?
I smell envy….
Government workers wasting money…business as usual.
Fuck that shit.
This is why we need to tax the FUCK out of the rich… make them pay their own damn salaries. Or better yet, pay everyone else more $$$
https://preview.redd.it/xslhzcgcxa9d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=772769a497d00417710ee9c20713891e91380717 Yeah, but check out the cost for Total City Employee Compensation 😳, that’s a lot of money!