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Auburn holds AB 2561 public hearing on workforce vacancies; police dispatch and safety staffing highlighted
Summary
Under Assembly Bill 2561, Auburn conducted its required annual public hearing on workforce vacancies, recruitment and retention. HR reported a modest vacancy rate, long fill times for safety roles and a 23% turnover rate; the Auburn Public Safety Association spoke about operational impacts in dispatch and records.
Under the requirements of Assembly Bill 2561, Human Resources Director Jen Leal presented the city’s annual public hearing on workforce vacancies, recruitment and retention for fiscal year 2024–25 and allowed recognized employee organizations to comment.
Leal told council that the city budget had funded 89 full-time positions at the start of the year but a hiring freeze and attrition reduced authorized FTEs to 80 at midyear and to 78 current filled full-time positions; staff recommended budgeting 79 full-time positions for 2025–26. The HR presentation included bargaining-unit structure (five recognized units: AEA, APOA, APSA, CHIA, and IFF), and a vacancies overview as of May 1, 2025. Leal said the city had three funded vacancies and a 4% citywide vacancy rate; she identified two main hiring challenges—lengthy preemployment/background checks for public safety positions and limited candidate pools for technical jobs (engineers, planners). Leal said it takes on average about 76 days to fill a vacancy city-wide, with safety positions taking roughly 157 days because of background and preemployment processes. The city’s reported turnover rate for the period was 23%.
The Auburn Public Safety Association’s president, Geralyn Gao, used the organization’s 10-minute allotment to describe recent staffing changes and workload impacts in dispatch and public-safety support positions. Gao thanked staff and the chief for communication, noted the return of a dispatcher and the temporary freezing of a records supervisor position, praised individual staff awards, and asked council to prioritize staffing in the department.
A brief public question-and-answer exchange followed. Resident Caleb Engel asked whether the city’s “unrepresented confidential” group is unionized; Leal confirmed those positions are not represented by a bargaining unit. A limited period for bargaining-unit presentations and council questions was observed under the adopted procedures. The council took no further action beyond conducting the required public hearing; Leal closed the hearing after the association presentation and public comment.
