Following a nationwide, nine-month search, the Sacramento City council has chosen Maraskeshia Smith to take on the role of its new permanent city manager.
Her appointment is effective January 5 of next year and she is the first Black woman to hold the top position in Sacramento City government.
Smith, whose position functions like a chief executive, will be in charge of nearly 6,000 employees and will oversee a budget of more than $1.65 billion.
Smith had served as Santa Rosa’s city manager from January 2022 through this month and in her career worked in local government for the cities of Stockton, Oakland and Cincinnati.
At her appointment, Smith said she's looking forward to creating a sense of unity among city departments to meet Sacramento’s most difficult problems, such as homelessness and economic development.
“I promise to break down silos, build bridges between departments, across neighborhoods, and with neighboring jurisdictions,” Smith said. “Only through true partnership can we unlock the full potential of the Sacramento region.”
Why a new city manager now?
Smith’s appointment follows a tumultuous few years of Sacramento city management. The city council last December voted not to renew the contract of longtime city manager Howard Chan, who stayed on in 2025 as an assistant city manager.
That decision was made after members of the public and some council members repeatedly accused Chan of a lack of accountability and criticized his high salary.
Chan’s base pay in 2024 was $367,000, among the highest for city managers in California. Last year, Chan also cashed out the significant leave balances he had accrued over two decades working for the city.
This took his total wage earnings to $789,147 in 2024, among the highest of any municipal employee statewide, according to the state controller’s website. Since that December vote, Chan has remained with Sacramento in a role as an assistant city manager.
According to CapRadio’s previous reporting, Chan is currently making $340,812.60 before benefits in his assistant city manager position. Salary.com shows the average salary for a Sacramento city employee is $88,000.
Sacramento is in line to also pay its newly appointed executive among the highest salaries for the position in the state. The council is expected to vote on a three-year contract for Smith at its Oct. 14 meeting. Terms of the proposed deal include a $399,000 annual salary, according to a city news release.
If approved, that would be a pay increase for the new city executive, who made $355,000 in total wages last year in Santa Rosa, including $320,000 in base pay, according to the state controller’s office.
Prior to Smith’s appointment, Assistant City Manager Leyne Milstein was promoted to the city manager role temporarily in January of this year. Her interim contract listed her annual salary as $352,000, plus additional benefits.
Milstein will stay on until Smith assumes the role in January, and will then return to her role as support to the city manager.
How important is the city’s top job?
The city manager of Sacramento plays a major role in how council decisions are implemented.
According to Sacramento State Policy Professor Robert Wassmer, one can think of the city manager as a chief executive officer that runs a major company.
“You can think about the voters as shareholders and the city council as the board of directors,” Wassmer said. “The day-to-day operations of the city are run by the city manager, the bureaucracy, and the implementation of what the mayor and the city council have decided to do.”
Wassmer explained that in the case of Sacramento, the city council serves at the will of their constituents and the city manager serves at the will of the council.
This is because Sacramento has what is called a “weak mayor” system, which means the city manager — and not the mayor — serves as the CEO, deciding how things get done, according to Ballotpedia.
Outside of that, Wassmer confirmed the city manager has power to decide what goes on the city council agenda and to hire and fire city department heads.
Wassmer noted that Smith will have to dive headfirst into the city’s most pressing issues: homelessness, housing affordability, police reform, downtown business activity and employment.
“There’s a lot to do,” he said. “Honestly, I wouldn’t want that job.”
Sacramento Area Black Caucus member Faye Wilson Kennedy said she is elated at the appointment, though she said she feels it is long overdue.
“I think it's exciting for us as the Sacramento community to have her leadership,” Kennedy said.
“She comes to the table with lots of experience [and] has been a city manager.”
Kennedy echoed Wassmer’s sentiment, noting that Smith will need to make some hard decisions right away as the city is facing a 15% operating budget cut.
The city recently had to close a $62.2 million budget deficit. Like other municipalities across the state, it is facing cuts to homelessness funds which will require more city investment.
“It's important that we understand that she has a tough road ahead,” Kennedy said. “I hope before she starts making those critical decisions she opens her heart and her ears to community members, particularly the unhoused, impacted folks.”
