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Budget analysts flag SFFD testing, recruitment and EMS staffing issues; DHR and Fire Department outline fixes
Summary
A Budget & Legislative Analyst audit identified unclear recruitment responsibilities, testing‑process weaknesses, succession gaps and a 90% increase in overtime; DHR defended the department’s diversity record and announced a move to continuous testing while SFFD described recent recruit classes and warned remedies will require budget changes.
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee heard a detailed Budget & Legislative Analyst audit on the San Francisco Fire Department’s recruitment, hiring, promotion and overtime practices and pressed the Department of Human Resources and the Fire Department for concrete next steps.
Amanda Guma, the audit project manager, told the committee the review — requested by the Board of Supervisors and released Jan. 13 — includes six findings and 19 recommendations. The analysts found weaknesses in public documentation (they recommended transcribing and posting Fire Commission minutes), unclear recruitment responsibility since testing moved to DHR, and promotional‑test practices that limit pretest validation. The audit cited a sharp rise in overtime use — an increase of about $19 million, roughly 90% since fiscal year 2009–10 — and recommended adding roughly 138 full‑time positions to reduce reliance on overtime.
Guma also flagged workforce planning gaps, noting a projected wave of retirements and urging coordinated succession planning to preserve diversity. The report highlighted that EMS calls make up the large majority of service demand and recommended rebalancing staffing between suppression and EMS.
Mickey Callahan, director of the Department of Human Resources, disputed some of the audit’s comparisons but said DHR will adopt a continuous testing model — piloted recently for police — to make recruitment ongoing and more accessible. Callahan emphasized the department’s diversity record: "The fire department workforce is currently comprised of 52 percent people of color and 16 percent women," and said those rates exceed previous consent‑decree goals. DHR staff said continuous testing has increased show rates in the police pilot and can host community testing events to widen the candidate pool.
Chief Hayes White defended the department’s progress and provided operational context: the department has faced staffing losses in administrative units and will seek budget restorations; he said recent classes included 43 recruits who graduated in December and 48 more that began the week of the hearing. White acknowledged EMS shortfalls and described the historical loss of an exclusive operating area, saying restoring a stronger EMS posture would carry significant cost (BLA estimated $10–12 million to restore certain EMS service levels).
Supervisors and union representatives pressed for clarity on the audit’s suggested savings and the transparency of promotional testing. Auditors and DHR discussed an answer‑key practice (developing keys concurrent with administration) that DHR said was designed to reduce cheating under the city’s historical consent‑decree process; auditors recommended testing practices align with industry best practices and allow pretest validation when legally permissible.
Public comment included Kevin Smith, president of the San Francisco Black Firefighters, and Jared Cooper, president of the San Francisco Firefighter Paramedics Association, who urged stronger recruitment outreach, transparent testing and a strategic plan to address EMS coverage. The committee continued the item for further follow‑up.
What's next: DHR and SFFD committed to providing lists of outreach groups, to roll out continuous testing for fire, and to work with the board on budget requests and implementation details; the committee continued the hearing to a later date.
