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City reports rising vacancy rate under AB 2561; officials outline hiring incentives and employee housing plans
Summary
Under Assembly Bill 2561 the city reported 74 approved full‑time positions and a rising vacancy rate (July 2025: 5.4%; Dec 2025: 6.8%; June 2026: about 10.8%). Finance Manager Martin Beltran detailed recruitment efforts, hiring incentives for hard‑to‑fill roles and a plan to use a manufactured home for employee housing.
Finance Manager Martin Beltran presented the city’s AB 2561 staffing report, telling council the city has 74 approved full‑time positions and has tracked vacancy rates at three points during the fiscal year: 5.4% in July 2025, 6.8% in December 2025 and about 10.8% in June 2026 (Beltran noted one vacancy had been filled the previous day and the current total would be seven open roles).
"As of July 1st, 2025, we had 74 full‑time positions," Beltran said, and he walked through vacancy rates broken out by bargaining group. Police had a high vacancy last year but are now fully staffed, Beltran reported; other groups, including the largest bargaining unit (SHIA), had higher vacancy rates at the end of the fiscal cycle. Beltran described 11 recruitments completed this year, eight filled positions, and three active recruitments nearing completion.
Councilmembers probed whether the city’s public report distinguishes positions that were intentionally frozen during the budget process from vacancies the city intends to fill. Beltran and staff explained that the count of 74 reflects approved budgeted positions and that positions frozen at budget adoption were excluded; vacant positions that emerged during the year remain in the report, and decisions to reclassify or remove positions typically occur through the biennial budget process.
Beltran outlined recruitment and retention steps the city is taking: targeted mailers to certified candidates, partnership with executive recruiters for senior posts, hiring incentives for specialized roles (cited for plant operator recruitment), streamlining medical/background checks to shorten the hiring timeline, career development and training partnerships with Napa County and the Center for Community Development, an employee recognition program, and a recently approved plan to acquire manufactured housing to provide city employee housing as a retention tool.
Council and a library‑board representative urged clearer public tables distinguishing positions the city intends to fill from those intentionally left unfunded. Public commenters with library and volunteer affiliations asked that the council annotate the state report to avoid misinterpretation during future budget debates. Staff agreed to include explanatory notes and to return with more detailed classifications as part of the upcoming budget schedule.
No formal action was taken; the report satisfied the AB 2561 public‑hearing requirement and will inform recruitment priorities ahead of the next budget amendment.
