Sheriff asks board to delay approval of Vallejo assistance contract while meet-and-confer and operational issues are resolved

Solano County Sheriff Thomas Ferrara asked the Board of Supervisors not to approve a proposed contract today that would commit the sheriff's office to provide temporary law enforcement assistance to the city of Vallejo, citing incomplete labor negotiations and operational challenges. The sheriff recommended county staff continue meet-and-confer discussions and return to the board at its July 22 meeting if the outstanding issues can be resolved.

"I officially would recommend we not approve this today for the following reasons," Sheriff Ferrara told the board, outlining items he said must be completed before the county could take on the proposed deployment. The city of Vallejo approved the contract on June 17 and the sheriff said the county had received a written communication from the Department of Justice confirming that the county was not a party to Vallejo's stipulated agreement, a legal clearance he described as "legally sufficient." But Ferrara and county staff said other items remain unresolved.

Key operational and labor points the sheriff and staff raised:

- Meet-and-confer: The deputy sheriffs'union (DSA) submitted a formal letter opposing the contract; Ferrara said a full meet-and-confer process mediated by county human resources is needed before the county can finalize the agreement. DSA representatives said they remained open to negotiations and asked for a delay.

- Retired annuitant audit: Human Resources Director Nigel Edwards told the board CalPERS auditing of the county's retired-annuitant usage requires the county to remove several long-term retired annuitants from active retired annuitant assignments. The sheriff said losing eight retired-annuitant deputies would materially reduce his office's ability to provide additional staffing without hiring new deputies, which would require more time.

- Fleet and procurement timing: Ferrara said county procurement processes would be a constraint, noting vehicles must be purchased and outfitted quickly if the contract were to begin within weeks. He told the board some cars were already queued for upfitting and that county processes for acquiring and configuring vehicles can be slow compared with the schedule the Vallejo contract would require.

The city manager of Vallejo, Andrew Murray, together with Mayor Andre Sors and multiple Vallejo council members and community leaders, urged the board to approve the contract. Vallejo officials said the city had allocated $11.2 million to pay for one year of support and that the police union representing Vallejo officers did not oppose the agreement. Multiple residents and community groups also urged swift board approval, saying Vallejo needs additional sworn officers to address a spike in shootings and violent crime.

The Deputy Sheriffs Association's vice president said the union remained opposed to the contract as written and asked for more meet-and-confer time. Sheriff Ferrara proposed staff pursue meet-and-confer and, if agreements could be reached, return to the board on July 22 with a resolution to approve the contract.

Board members expressed a range of views: several supervisors praised the work to reach a draft contract and recognized the urgent public safety concerns in Vallejo, while others emphasized the need to complete labor negotiations and resolve the CalPERS/audit and procurement timing issues before committing county resources. At least one supervisor explicitly asked if the DSA would agree to continue discussions through the July 22 meeting date.

No formal board vote to approve the Vallejo assistance contract was taken on June 24; Sheriff Ferrara and staff will continue the meet-and-confer process and return to the board with an update and, if appropriate, a recommendation for action at a subsequent meeting.