St. Paul’s Talent and Equity Resources reviews 2026 budget cuts, vacancy plan for Human Rights department

Director Tony Newborn of Talent and Equity Resources briefed the St. Paul City Council Budget Committee on the department’s 2026 proposed budget changes and on the ordinance-driven hiring process for the Human Rights and Economic Opportunity (HERO) director.

Newborn said TER proposes ongoing savings through backfilling vacancies at lower steps, eliminating an unused labor software license (about $30,000), reducing professional services and travel, and giving up rented office space shared with Ramsey County. She described one current unfilled TER position and said the department has about 47 FTEs. Newborn also reported unplanned costs this year tied to a cyberattack that disrupted payroll systems and required temporary staff and overtime to ensure employees were paid.

TER’s priorities, Newborn said, are learning and development, process and systems improvement, strengthening recruitment and retention (including Mayor Carter’s priority to recruit residents), and implementing a collective bargaining/negotiation strategy led by Deputy Director Jason Schmidt. She highlighted training and development gains from prior council investments: 964 employees trained, a 23% increase in users on the department’s OpenSesame training platform, a “referee to coach” professional-development pipeline, and an additional payroll FTE that has helped complex payroll processing for Parks.

On the HERO director vacancy, Newborn explained that the mayor notified the council of the vacancy as required by ordinance and that the ordinance also requires the council to confirm a selection committee and to identify qualifications for the position. She said the HERO director hiring process differs from most other director recruitments because the ordinance prescribes elements including a term (the HERO term is three years, she said) and a council-confirmed selection panel. Newborn outlined a proposed calendar that would start recruitment in early 2026 after planning meetings in 2025, allow a 30-day posting, and take several months for screening and interviews; she estimated the process could take three to six months once started and guesstimated receiving “400 plus” applications.

Council members questioned whether an executive recruiter should be retained to help source candidates and manage large applicant volumes. Newborn said it “depends”: TER has internal capacity (a testing/hiring team of six or seven) but hiring a recruiter can cost about $30,000–$40,000 and recruiters would need to work within the ordinance-driven process and with community selection panel constraints. She and council members discussed stipend payments to community panelists and the trade-offs between staff time and outside recruitment support.

Committee members also asked about HERO’s budgeted salary and benefits for 2026. Budget staff confirmed the 2026 budget includes $136,000 for salary and $44,000 for benefits, a total just under $181,000. Council members raised the possibility of an administrative order to move unspent salary dollars into professional services if the position is filled mid-year and the council wishes to use those funds for recruitment expenses.

Newborn identified payroll, hiring/class-and-compensation, labor relations, learning and development, and administrative support as areas where TER would recommend additional staffing if resources allow; she said payroll is the highest priority for future capacity because of tight timelines and audit exposures. Newborn emphasized TER’s role as an internal service provider and its aim to improve processes and onboarding in partnership with OTC and the mayor’s office.

The committee did not take formal action on budget amendments or the HERO hiring process during the meeting; members requested follow-up details on line-item changes in TER’s proposed 2026 budget and asked staff to return with a timeline and recommended options for the HERO selection process.

Newborn closed by offering to provide additional vacancy-process slides and by pausing for follow-up questions; the committee then shifted to the Ramsey County presentation.