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Chula Vista hears workforce-vacancy report as union urges pay increases
Summary
City staff told the council that vacancy rates declined but remain concentrated in lower-paid classifications; the ACE bargaining group urged competitive raises, warning that many classifications pay below the regional median and drive recruitment and retention problems.
City staff and employee representatives told the Chula Vista City Council on March 17 that the city is still coping with hard-to-fill jobs in core public services and that pay gaps are worsening recruitment and retention.
Tanya Tomlinson, the city's director of human resources and risk management, presented the annual staffing and recruitment review required under recently enacted state law. Tomlinson said the city opened 133 recruitments in 2025, received nearly 18,000 applications, tested about 2,500 candidates and extended 372 offers. She reported that the ACE bargaining unit had about a 9.9% vacancy rate as of Dec. 31, 2025 (45 vacancies) and that the number had improved to 37 vacancies (8.18%) as of March 20, staff's snapshot date. Tomlinson said the city will monitor vacancy rates biweekly and consider policy or procedural changes with hiring departments as needed.
Mayra Estrada, president of the Association of Chula Vista Employees (ACE), told the council the issue is pay competitiveness. "About 75% of ACE classifications fall below the median," Estrada said, urging the city to prioritize targeted compensation changes for frontline classifications that maintain streets, parks, fleet and dispatch operations. ACE highlighted classifications where even after a scheduled 5% cost-of-living adjustment, wages would remain below market median and said 32 of the 45 vacancies—about 71%—are in classifications already paid below market.
Council Member (District 2) acknowledged the union's concerns while stressing fiscal caution. The councilmember said Chula Vista has a balanced budget and fully funded reserves and that compensation will be addressed "in a manner that maintains our fiscal standing." He and other councilmembers said staff and bargaining groups would continue to meet and that targeted adjustments would be considered for critical classifications.
The presentation was informational; no binding action was taken. Staff said it would return to the council as needed and that the vacancy monitoring and any necessary recruitment-policy adjustments would continue.
Next steps: staff will continue biweekly vacancy monitoring and report back when policy changes are recommended; no formal contract change was adopted at the March 17 meeting.
