San Gabriel receives state-mandated staffing report showing improved firefighter vacancies, high police vacancy rate

San Gabriel city staff on Tuesday presented the city’s first public report required by Assembly Bill 2561 showing point-in-time vacancy data for bargaining units and unrepresented positions and outlining recruitment and retention actions taken since Jan. 1, 2025.

The Human Resources and Risk Management director, Edward Macias, told the City Council the Jan. 1 point-in-time report showed the Firefighters Association had 30 authorized full‑time equivalent (FTE) positions with six operational vacancies — a 20% vacancy rate — and that by May 31 the fire unit’s operational vacancies had fallen to one, a 3.3% vacancy rate. Macias said the city received 107 applications for firefighter EMT, tested 26 candidates, referred 13 for hiring consideration and hired six, while paramedic recruit pools were smaller and produced no hires in this cycle.

Macias said police staffing worsened between the two reporting dates. The Police Officers Association (POA) had 39 authorized FTEs on Jan. 1 with five operational vacancies (12.8%); by May 31 the POA showed eight operational vacancies, a 20.5% rate that triggers additional reporting under AB 2561. The police management group and unrepresented groups also showed elevated vacancy levels at the May 31 point in time.

Why it matters: AB 2561 requires agencies to publicly report vacancies for recognized bargaining units and unrepresented positions and to describe recruitment and retention efforts for units above certain thresholds. The law aims to make public‑sector staffing transparency standard across California.

Macias summarized steps the city has taken: contemporaneous recruitments for firefighter EMT and paramedic roles, streamlining testing, a side letter to the firefighters’ memorandum of understanding allowing hiring flexibility, an external compensation and benefits study comparing the city to 10 comparator cities, temporary workplace improvements and use of NeoGov online application and testing to speed hiring.

Council members followed with detailed questions. Vice Mayor Eric Chan asked Macias to explain the definitional difference between a “vacant” position and an “underfilled” position; Macias replied that an underfilled FTE is, for example, a police recruit who fills the position on paper but remains in training and does not yet perform full shift work, and therefore counts operationally as a vacancy.

Councilmember John Woo pressed staff on long‑term facility plans to make the police station more competitive for recruits; Macias and City Manager Mark Lazaretto said short‑term temporary modular offices and modest facility repairs have been made, and that a facility study and larger capital plan would be needed for permanent improvements.

Council members offered several follow‑up ideas during discussion: Mayor Denise Menchaca and multiple council members urged formalizing optional exit interviews and exploring an annual employee satisfaction survey as tools to identify retention problems early. Councilmember Jorge Herrera Avila asked about making the staffing data a recurring briefing; staff said the AB 2561 report is annual but council may ask for quarterly or semiannual updates.

Outcome: The council closed the public hearing and the report was received and filed for the public record. No formal policy change or budget appropriation was approved as part of the hearing.

Next steps and context: Staff said the city will continue recruitment using NeoGov and online testing, pursue compensation and benefit adjustments as informed by the compensation study, and evaluate whether more frequent reporting to council is valuable. Macias described ongoing efforts to expand outreach to untapped labor markets and to modernize workplace policies.

Quotes (selected)

“For the firefighters association, we had authorized 30 FTEs. We had 6 vacant FTEs…for a vacancy rate of 20% as of Jan. 1,” — Edward Macias, Human Resources and Risk Management director.

“An underfilled position would be a position, such as police officer recruit…they are employees, but they're not really doing shift work,” — Edward Macias.

“We have both short‑term and long‑term plans…we have added temporary modules to the facility. But ultimately the environmental factors are going to rely on the city making the investment into a more permanent bricks and mortar facility,” — Edward Macias/City Manager reference during Q&A.

Ending: Councilmembers praised the transparency of the AB 2561 presentation and asked staff to return with additional tools — exit interviews and periodic updates — while noting filling public safety ranks remains challenging statewide.