Former Vallejo City Manager Andrew Murray receives $128,352 in severance pay

by John Glidden | glid24@protonmail.com | April 30, 2026

VALLEJO – Former City Manager Andrew Murray will walk away from Vallejo with $128,352 in severance pay, according to a resignation and separation agreement, obtained by JohnGlidden.com through a public records act request.

The payout is equivalent to three months of Murray’s regular pay, $104,882, and $23,470 from 161 hours of unused annual leave.

Murray’s brief two-year term as Vallejo’s CEO came to end earlier this month, when the city announced on April 8 that Murray was resigning. That announcement came a day after the city council met in closed session for more than four hours as they evaluated the city manager and city attorney positions, respectively. Murray signed the resignation and separation agreement on April 7 the same night of the closed session.

In his resignation letter to city leadership on April 8, entitled “transition,” Murray said serving as Vallejo city manager “has been one of the highlights of my career.”

“I am proud of the progress that we have collectively made on public safety, affordable housing, infrastructure, customer service, organizational performance, and other issues,” he added.

Murray’s departure comes during a perilous time for the city as it grapples with a projected $29 million budget deficit. It’s not immediately known if the council placed the budget shortfall on Murray; however, there were signs of strain between the council and Murray. In February, at least one councilmember, Tonia Lediju (District 3) ask Murray for solutions on how to close the budget deficit.

“We need to make some choices about these positions, and as the city manager I would expect you to tell me, what are the service impacts if we don’t do x, y and z?” Lediju said during the February 24 council meeting, as reported by the Vallejo Sun. She said she has asked multiple times for a report on which staff positions are needed to help determine the health of future fiscal years, saying, “That has not ever been done.”

Vallejo names interim city manager

Nearly two weeks after Murray’s departure, the city council hired Harry Black as interim city manager on April 28. Black is expected to begin on May 16.

Black is no stranger to the CEO seat as he served as Stockton’s city manager for five years before resigning in lieu of termination without cause in January 2025. Prior to his time in Stockton, Black served as Cincinnati’s city manager from September 2014 to April 2018 and as chief financial officer for the cities of Baltimore (2012 to 2014), and Richmond, Virginia (2005 to 2008), according to his LinkedIn profile.

According to the employment terms, Black will earn a base annual salary of $340,432. He will also earn a $500/month auto allowance, and a $3,000/month housing allowance. The staff report states that there is no set of term length for the contract. “However, it is assumed by both Parties that Black’s employment as Interim City Manager shall end once a regular City Manager assumes that office, or unless terminated earlier by either Party in accordance with the provisions of this agreement,” according to information in the staff report.

Black’s hiring comes after the city announced an unusual approach to filling the city manager seat. On Murray’s last day with Vallejo, April 16, the city announced that both assistant city managers, Gillian Haen and Nalungo Conley, would rotate every two weeks as “acting” city manager until the council eventually named an interim chief executive. In that same announcement, officials said the council “expressed its intent to defer the selection of a permanent City Manager until after the November election.” However, not a week later, the city issued a rare correction walking back the statement about when a permanent city manager would be hired.

Black will earn about $37,000 more than Murray’s $303,000 annual salary. During his two years in Vallejo, Murray never received a salary bump and was surpassed in annual base salary by Vallejo Police Jason Ta last summer. Ta became the highest paid city employee, by base salary after the city’s unpresented employees received a five percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), pushing his annual base salary to $309,484.66 in July 2025.

A history of turnover in recent years

This is the second time in five years that a Vallejo city manager has abruptly left the position shortly before the city was to begin work on the upcoming budget. Greg Nyhoff suddenly disappeared from city hall in June 2021 before the city council began work on the fiscal year 2021-2022 budget. The city’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.

Nyhoff never returned to the city as the council eventually approved a $577,536 resignation and separation agreement with Nyhoff at the end of June 2021. A bulk of the payment, $408,542, will be equal to the amount of salary Nyhoff would receive through the end of the employment agreement. He will also receive $67,382 for 528 hours of unused vacation, $36,768 that would have been paid to his CalPERS, $3,000 in an automobile allowance, and $23,100 for a housing allowance, along with his medical insurance.

Assistant City Manager Anne Cardwell was elevated to “acting” and then “interim” city manager following Nyhoff’s disappearance and eventual departure. Cardwell didn’t last long in the position, instead choosing to become finance director with the city of Napa after serving a handful of months as interim city manager. Before leaving the city, Cardwell advocated for then-Water Director Mike Malone to become interim city manager. The city council agreed, naming him interim city manager in October 2021; Malone was the city’s third city manager in 2021. Six months later, in April 2022, Malone was named the permanent city manager.

Malone stayed for about two years before he retired from city hall in April 2024. The council named Beverli Marshall as interim city manager for about a month before Murray was hired.