City HR Director Jared Gagell briefed the Warren City Council on personnel updates and hiring processes on Nov. 25.

Gagell said the report before council — covering roughly July through September — shows about 90% of tracked vacancies have since been filled, with harder‑to‑fill roles including inspectors and certain temp positions for parks and recreation. He described the tracking report workflow (green highlights denote filled positions) and offered to send a more current report to councilmembers.

On police recruitment, Gagell said the current open enrollment had produced eight applications as of the day of the meeting (about half laterals and half recruits). He cautioned that initial application counts often fall during background checks and physical or psychological components; previous recruit cycles saw as many as 30 applicants but they can diminish quickly. Gagell discussed using NeoGov to streamline onboarding and application notification and supported ongoing conversations with police and civil‑service representatives about rolling recruitment and timing for academy enrollment.

Several councilmembers pressed about unfilled positions, pay competitiveness (comparing Warren to neighboring Sterling Heights), and whether civil‑service rules limit rolling recruitment. Gagell said HR will continue to coordinate with department heads, unions and civil‑service to refine recruitment strategy and to provide more comprehensive vacancy and timeline information to council.

Public comment echoed the staffing urgency: a resident said the city may be about 25 officers short when counting vacancies and academy positions.