San Rafael reports vacancy rate around 8%; council receives AB 2561 staffing update

Human Resources Director Marissa Sanchez told the San Rafael City Council on May 5 that the city's overall vacancy rate was approximately 8% as of March 31, and that no single bargaining unit exceeded the 20% threshold that would trigger additional reporting under state law (Assembly Bill 2561).

Sanchez said the requirement is intended to increase transparency about municipal staffing and to help jurisdictions improve hiring and retention. She outlined recent historical vacancy peaks and progress: the mid-manager group approached 19% in fiscal 2020-21 and the city is now at about 8% overall; the engineering group (WCE) reached about 55% in fiscal 2022-23 and is now fully staffed, Sanchez said; the police group's vacancy rate reached 16% in 2022-23 and is currently 5%; the fire group's peak was 19% (2021-22) and is now about 1%.

Sanchez described recruitment and retention steps underway: expanded outreach and social-media recruitment, internal vacancy tracking, targeted work on hard-to-fill roles, stay interviews and retention efforts, and close coordination with departments. She told the council staffing improvements have reduced service impacts but that competition from other agencies and budget pressures remain challenges.

The council unanimously voted to receive the report (4-0). Sanchez said the city will report vacancy data at least once per fiscal year as required by AB 2561; staff noted the next required report will be timed to accompany the budget process next spring so it appears before the council when the budget is adopted.

Why it matters: vacancy rates affect service delivery and the citybudget and hiring plans; the AB 2561 reporting requirement formalizes public transparency around open positions.