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City receives AB 2561 vacancy report; staff says hiring timelines improved but 35 vacancies remain
Summary
Under Assembly Bill 2561, National City staff presented an annual public report on job vacancies and recruitment. Human Resources said the city opened 55 recruitments in the fiscal year, filled 74 full-time positions, and still had 35 vacancies as of March 1. Staff reported shortened hiring timelines for non-safety positions and continued outreach
National City received its first public hearing report required by Assembly Bill 2561 on citywide vacancies and recruitment efforts.
Human Resources recruitment analyst Haley Lusher told the council the department had opened 55 recruitments since the start of the fiscal year and had successfully filled 74 full-time positions; 35 positions remained vacant as of March 1. Lusher told council the city has shortened fill times for non-safety positions from 9'12 months to around three months and has modernized the recruitment platform to streamline applications.
Why it matters: AB 2561 requires local agencies to report publicly at least once per fiscal year on vacancies, candidate activity and recruitment and retention efforts before adoption of the budget. The law aims to reduce understaffing and the resulting service impacts.
Key points and requests
- Fire department: Jeremy Day, president of National City Firefighters, emphasized operations staffing needs and supported a proposal to use existing vacant-position budget funds to create a division chief of operations within the department. He said operations positions all respond to 9-1-1 calls and argued the new position would improve succession planning.
- Union input: SEIU chapter president Carla Palategui said the reporting requirement is positive and would increase transparency on vacancies and help the city and unions coordinate on recruitment and retention; she asked staff to consider part-time positions in future reporting.
Council response and next steps
Council asked HR to include part-time/noncareer listings in future extracts and accepted the report unanimously. Staff said they will provide additional recruitment extracts and continue outreach at job fairs and campuses to expand applicant pools.
