El Centro Council approves vacancy report, trash-rate pass-through, firefighters MOU, fair-housing contract and police-station amendment

At its regular meeting, the El Centro City Council approved a package of administrative and contract items, voting unanimously on several motions that officials described as routine but necessary for operations and ongoing projects.

Vacancies and recruitment (Item 5): Human-resources staff presented the required AB 2561 report on vacancies and recruitment. The city reported vacancy rates below the 20% high-vacancy threshold for every bargaining unit as of May 26: water group 3.03% (1 vacancy of 33 positions), general employees 7.94% (10 vacancies of 126), firefighters 0% (36 positions), police officers 10.17% (6 of 59), and supervisory/professional 6.67% (1 of 15). Staff described recruitment steps (NEOGOV implementation, compensation study, an added recruiter for public safety, conversion of 21 temporary positions to full-time, and outreach at job fairs). After questions about veteran preference implementation, verification of foreign credentials and whether budgeted positions track growth needs, the council voted to accept the report (motion passed 5-0).

Solid-waste rates (Item 6): Public works director Abraham described a contract-required rate adjustment for CRNR, calculated from CPI indices and capped under the Prop 218 framework. The adjustment is a 2.1% increase for single-family residential service (about $0.53/month, with a billed amount of $25.62 once small opt-in charges are included), 2.3% for rolloff services and 2.6% for certain disposal fees. Staff and consultant HF&H said the change is a pass-through and remains under the contract’s 4% annual cap. The increase takes effect July 1; council approved the related resolution (motion passed 5-0).

Firefighters MOU (Item 7): Council adopted a tentative memorandum of understanding with the Firefighters Association that updates compensation and incentives. Key terms presented included a 1.5-year agreement to better align bargaining-group dates, elimination of an existing step in favor of longevity-based payments (3% at 10 years, 6% at 15, 9% at 20, 12% at 25 as the cap), paramedic incentive increase from 9.5% to 12%, bilingual pay increase from $40 to $50 per payroll, and two 2% cost-of-living adjustments effective Jan. 1 and July 1, 2026. Council voted to adopt the MOU (motion passed 5-0).

Fair-housing agreement (Item 8): The city recommended awarding CDBG-funded fair-housing services to Fair Housing Foundation after an RFP evaluation. The CDBG allocation for next year was reported at $57,676; the recommended agreement is one year with two optional one-year renewals. Council approved the agreement (motion passed 5-0).

Police-station contract amendment (Item 10): Staff requested Amendment No. 12 with Watkins Architects to add $88,940 for additional contract administration and site work during extended construction, bringing the contract total to $2,962,698. Staff said the amendment fits within the previously approved project budget and is not a new budget request. Council approved the amendment (motion passed 5-0).

Procedure and votes: The meeting record shows each of these items was moved, seconded and approved by a 5-0 vote. Several council members asked procedural and clarifying questions about budgeting, foreign-education verification for applicants, and competitive procurement timelines; staff provided responses or said they would follow up.

What to watch next: staff follow-up on veteran-preference implementation and any recruitment or budget adjustments coming through the annual budget; no appeal or legal challenge to the awarded contracts was recorded at the meeting.