Upland receives AB 2561 vacancies report: 274 budgeted positions, 32 vacancies; police and AFSCME highlighted

The City of Upland presented its AB 2561 annual report to the City Council on May 26 detailing vacancies, recruitment and retention efforts required under California law.

Deputy Director of HR and Risk Management Cecilia Todd said the city had 274 budgeted full‑time positions across five employee groups and 32 vacancies as of May 14, 2026. She broke out the vacancies by bargaining unit: AFSCME (general employee group) had 22 vacancies out of 133 positions (16.5%); police officers had six vacancies out of 64 positions (9.3%); management and police management showed smaller vacancy counts; unrepresented classifications had no vacancies. Todd said no bargaining unit exceeded the 20% vacancy threshold that would trigger additional reporting requirements under AB 2561.

Staff described a three‑phase hiring process (requisition and recruitment strategy, screening and competitive assessment, interviews and background checks), new hiring events that shortened timelines for select utility positions by approximately two–three weeks, expanded outreach (niche boards, social media, job fairs), and targeted incentives such as a police hiring bonus and education/cert pay incentives. Councilmembers asked about the hardest positions to fill (traffic engineer and police officer) and use of the PACE program for broader recruitment.

Outcome: The hearing was a received‑and‑file action (no further action requested); staff will continue monitoring vacancies and implementing the recommended recruitment and retention practices.