Sacramento Assistant City Manager and longtime city employee Leyne Milstein announced her retirement this week, a city spokesperson confirmed Thursday. Her departure will come at the end of a year during which several senior city officials resigned or retired.
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Her last day will be Dec. 30.
“This decision comes with mixed emotions,” Milstein wrote in an email to the City Council on Tuesday. “Without doubt, most of all, I will miss the people. The relationships, friendships, collaboration, and shared commitment to the work have made my time at the City incredibly meaningful.”
For one year Milstein took the reins as the interim city manager after the council voted to end former City Manager Howard Chan’s contract. She returned to the assistant role when current City Manager Maraskeshia Smith was hired in January.
Milstein started at the city in 2005 as a budget manager, according to her LinkedIn. She was hired as the director of finance in 2008 and served in that role until she was hired in her current role in 2017. Her office oversaw the finance, human resources and IT departments.
“I leave with a tremendous amount of gratitude, a lot of great memories, and genuine affection for the people and the work that have been such a big part of my life,” Milstein wrote.
Milstein was reportedly well-respected in the city for her deep grasp of budgetary issues and labor negotiations, with Mayor Kevin McCarty once describing her as “wicked smart.”
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“Leyne has been an amazing partner and teammate, particularly during my transition into the City Manager role,” Smith said in a statement. “I am incredibly grateful for her leadership, support and many years of dedicated service to the City of Sacramento. She will be greatly missed, and we wish her all the best as she begins this well-deserved transition into retirement.”
This leaves the team of assistant city managers in flux — former ACM Katie Dignan suddenly departed from her role earlier this month after only eight weeks on the job. Longtime city employee Megan Van Voorhis was appointed to fill Dignan’s position on an interim basis.
Assistant City Manager Michael Jasso, who was Dignan’s predecessor, worked his last day with the city in March. Another position, most recently held by Mario Lara, has been vacant since his departure in August 2025. The fourth assistant city manager, Ryan Moore, remains in the position he’s held since February 2023.
City spokesperson Jennifer Singer said that Smith is focusing on recruitment for Milstein’s role and Dignan’s former role, with no plans to fill the current vacancy. The city is also in the midst of recruiting a new chief of police.
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This story was originally published September 24, 2026 at 5:38 PM.
