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Sacramento receives AB 2561 vacancy report; firefighters warn of brownouts and chronic overtime
Summary
Human Resources presented the citys AB 2561-required 2024 vacancy and recruitment report; Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522 described daily staffing shortfalls, mandatory overtime, and repeated station closures in 2024. Council directed staff to continue integrating vacancy review into the budget process; the public hearing was opened, closed
Sacramento City Council on May 27, 2025 heard a required presentation under Assembly Bill 2561 on the citys 2024 vacancies, recruitment and retention efforts, and received testimony from Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522 about staffing shortfalls that led to frequent engine and company closures last year.
The report, presented by Ebony Heaven, human resources manager for the Employment Classification and Development Division, summarized AB 2561's requirement that public agencies publicly report on staffing vacancies, recruitment efforts and retention strategies before adopting their annual budgets. The citywide vacancy rate for 2024 reported in the presentation was 18 percent; full-time represented positions had a 14 percent vacancy rate, while part-time and seasonal roles showed substantially higher, variable rates. Heaven described data limitations in the city's applicant-tracking system (NEOGOV) and outlined recruitment and retention steps including blind applications, DEI-informed outreach, an upcoming onboarding tool in NEOGOV, flexible work options, and vendor-supported national recruitments.
The…
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