San Dieguito Water District reports zero board vacancies, outlines state reporting requirement

San Dieguito Water District human resources staff told the board on June 18 that the district’s vacancy rate is 0 percent and that the agency meets the state’s new reporting requirement for vacancy, recruitment and retention data.

The presentation, led by Human Resources Director Judy Vaughn Kalinowski with lead recruiter Lisa Roner, said a state law that took effect in January requires public agencies to report vacancy rates and, if vacancy rates exceed 20 percent, to present a plan to fill those vacancies before adoption of the final budget. Staff said they had notified recognized employee organizations and received no objections.

“Lisa monitors our vacancy rates every two weeks,” Vaughn Kalinowski said, and credited competitive salary structure, benefits, training and an active onboarding process for the low vacancy rate. She said the district plans to present similar reports annually before final budget adoption.

Board President Lyons and other board members praised the staffing metrics and thanked staff for the recruitment work. A motion to approve the report was made by Board Member O’Hara and seconded by Board Member Schaeffer; the transcript records the motion and second but does not record a roll-call vote tally in the public record excerpt.

The staff presentation identified the statute by its bill number as cited in the staff report. Staff said they had contacted unions and that unions expressed appreciation for the district’s recruiting and retention efforts. No further board direction was recorded in the transcript excerpt.