Council holds required public hearing on staffing vacancies and recruitment under AB 2561; HR reports 38 vacancies and a 60‑day average hiring timeline

Pursuant to Assembly Bill 2561 (Government Code §3502.3), the City Council held a public hearing and received a staff report on vacancy levels, recruitment and retention efforts.

Gabe Garcia, human resources director, told council the city had 392 authorized full- and part-time positions and reported 38 vacancies in the staff report written on May 4. HR staff described a typical hiring workflow (requisition, posting, application screening, examinations or panels and pre-employment checks) and said the city has reduced average time from requisition to appointment to about 60 days, depending on position complexity.

Garcia summarized retention tools the city currently uses: recruitment and retention bonuses in some bargaining units, compressed work weeks (9/80), tuition reimbursement, ongoing training and development, and internal promotion where feasible. He said the city has provided the presentation to employee organizations and that no bargaining unit currently meets the statute's "high vacancy" threshold; at the time of report the highest vacancy rate for a bargaining unit was approximately 13 percent, below the reporting threshold.

Councilmembers asked follow-up questions about historical vacancy trends, positions that are hardest to fill (specialized fields such as public safety, planners and building officials were cited), and whether the city had identified procedural barriers to hiring. Staff said applicant follow-up and documentation gaps are recurring challenges and indicated they would continue to refine processes. The hearing concluded with the council receiving the staff report and public comment (none) as required by the new state law.