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City reports 6.3% vacancy rate in AB 2561 hearing; no bargaining unit exceeds 20% threshold
Summary
The City of Imperial reported 127 authorized positions and a 6.3% overall vacancy rate for 2025 at its AB 2561 public hearing; HR director Kristin Smith outlined recruitment timelines, vacancy drivers and retention measures including a compensation study and youth recruitment programs.
Kristin Smith, director of human resources, presented the city’s annual AB 2561 report on vacancies, recruitment and retention, saying the city began 2025 with 127 budgeted full-time positions and an overall vacancy rate of 6.3 — below the 20% threshold that triggers enhanced reporting requirements for bargaining units.
Smith provided monthly vacancy-tracking data, noting an average end-of-month vacancy rate of 8.4% for 2025 with a peak 13.4% in July tied to newly funded positions. She said the city received 2,472 total applications in 2025 (2,083 for full time; 389 for part time/seasonal) and noted different fill-time averages: about 102 days for ongoing recruitments and up to 134 days for internal-only recruitments.
Smith reviewed hiring steps (recruitment review, eligibility lists, panel interviews, conditional offers and background clearance), and summarized retention measures: implementation of a classification and compensation study for some employee groups, bilingual pay, educational pay for sworn staff, reinstated reserve officer programs, and a youth cadet program to build a law-enforcement recruitment pipeline.
She said specific vacancy counts as of the meeting included one IPOA police vacancy and several Teamsters and unrepresented positions; the city swore in a new police recruit the same day, keeping reported vacancies low. No council action was required; the public hearing satisfied the city’s AB 2561 annual reporting obligations.
