by John Glidden | glid24@protonmail.com | June 22, 2026
VALLEJO – Vallejo’s assistant city managers each received a temporary five percent raise while serving as acting city manager prior to the hiring of interim Harry Black in mid-May, according to records released to JohnGlidden.com via a public records request.
Gillian Haen, who has served as assistant city manager for more than four years, saw her hourly rate increase from $126.81 to $133.157 while as acting city manager. Haen usually earns an annual salary of $263,778, which is the highest step on the current assistant city manager salary scale.
Meanwhile, Vallejo’s other assistant city manager, Nalungo Mwanga-Conley, had her hourly salary bumped up from her usual $120.77 to $126.81, while acting CEO. Mwanga-Conley was hired in July 2025 by then-City Manager Andrew Murray. Mwanga-Conley, who is one step below Haen on the assistant city manager salary scale, earns $251,217 annually.
Haen and Mwanga-Conley switched off for about two weeks as acting city manager following the resignation of Murray. The city announced on April 8 that Murray would be leaving Vallejo following just two years at city hall. On Murray’s last day with Vallejo, April 16, the city announced its acting city manager plan.
The rotation plan didn’t last long as the city council, at its April 28 meeting, named Black as interim city manager. He started with Vallejo on May 16.
For comparison, Black earns a base annual salary of $340,432, which is about $37,000 more than Murray, who never received a raise from the Vallejo City Council during his time in Vallejo. In fact, Murray was surpassed in annual base salary by Vallejo Police Jason Ta in July 2025. 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.
Haen has worked with six city managers
Haen is currently one of the more tenured individuals at city hall, having worked with at least six Vallejo permanent and interim city managers during her time at city hall. Haen was originally hired as Vallejo’s planning & development services director in October 2019 by then-City Manager Greg Nyhoff.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the city council granted Nyhoff emergency powers, which he used to create the now defunct “deputy city manager” position in October 2020. Nyhoff named Haen and then-Human Resources Director Heather Ruiz as interim deputy city managers.
Creation of the deputy city manager position came six months after Nyhoff fired three senior department heads in April 2020: Will Morat, assistant to the city manager for economic development, Slater Matzke, special advisor to the city manager, and Joanna Altman, assistant to the city manager for communications and special projects.
Haen was then promoted to interim assistant city manager in July 2021 by then-Assistant City Manager Anne Cardwell following her elevation to interim city manager. Cardwell served first as “acting” city manager and then interim city manager following the sudden disappearance of Nyhoff in June 2021 with an undisclosed medical condition. In early July of that year, the council approved a $577,536 resignation and separation agreement with Nyhoff, ending his tenure with Vallejo.
Cardwell would leave in October 2021 to become finance director with the city of Napa. Upon her recommendation, the council would name then-Water Director Mike Malone interim city manager — Vallejo’s third city manager of 2021. The council made Malone the permanent city manager in April 2022. At the same time, Malone appointed Haen the permanent assistant city manager.
About 18 months later, in October 2023, Malone announced he would be retiring in April 2024. A month before Malone left city hall, a then-top city official lobbied the council to name Haen as interim city manager, causing one councilmember to call the request “inappropriate.”
Then-Public Works Director Melissa Tigbao sent the email to the city council on March 28, 2024, suggesting the council name Haen as interim city manager as a way to maintain leadership continuity and prevent turnover within city staff.
“It will be unfortunate for this organization to continue to see staff turnover, and based on how decisions are made for our near future, I expect the turnover will happen at the executive level,” Tigbao added. “This will be detrimental to this City that I live in.”
Tigbao received a sharp rebuke from then-District 6 Councilmember Tina Arriola.
“I find this practice of staff, lobbying or writing letters of support for employees vying for promotions within the department not only distasteful, but frankly, inappropriate,” Arriola wrote back the same day. “While I respect the concern of MORALE, I resent the implication that unless we consider one or more staff members plea, in essence, senior staff will depart, arguing that she was “not comfortable with hearing that the Interim City Manager may be from the outside.”
The city council ignored Tigbao’s plea, choosing Beverli Marshall as interim city manager in April 2024. Tigbao left Vallejo to become the public works manager with the city of Pacifica in May 2025.
Marshall served for about six weeks before the council tapped Andrew Murray as the new permanent city manager in late May 2024. Interestingly, Murray and Haen were the two finalists for the permanent position.
Following Murray’s departure, the council decided against naming either Haen or Mwanga-Conley as interim city manager, instead bringing in Black as interim city manager.