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Council presses staff on HR vacancy data and a policy for funding open positions
Summary
Council members asked finance and HR for clearer vacancy metrics after the mayor’s 180‑day vacancy-savings proposal; staff said a new HR system can overcount vacancy days for pooled positions and warned some vacancies reflect recruitment or space constraints.
Council members asked detailed questions about the HR vacancy data the mayor relied on to propose vacancy savings. "What is the philosophy on why we continue to roll these? Because we've been talking about vacant positions since 2007," Council member Donnell said, pressing staff for the HR method and policy justification.
HR and department staff explained the new HR system tracks individual position numbers in a pool and that the 'days vacant' counter can continue to run even when a replacement is hired into a different position number in the same job pool; this can make some vacancy-day figures appear older than the actual unfilled time for a specific slot. Department heads added that some vacancies persist for operational reasons (lack of office space, recruitment difficulty for specialized roles) and cautioned that cutting field crews or utility positions could materially lower service levels. Council members asked staff to return with vetted vacancy lists, propose a formal policy (e.g., a 180‑ or 365‑day funding cutoff), and quantify service impacts before implementing savings.
