Association
of Chula Vista
Employees
Who We Are
ACE is the largest bargaining group in
the entire city.
443 service employees
182 different job classifications
Representing departments: Public
Works, Police, Development Services,
Animal Care Facility, Finance, Fire,
Libraries, Human Resources,
Information Technology, and
Recreation.
Vacancy Rate
• 11.1% Vacancy (Dec
2024)
• 50 unfilled positions
• Critical service gaps in
the community
Recruitment and Retention
• Wages not competitive
• City’s Compensation Policy not
followed
• Losing talent to other cities
Impact to
Public Safety
25 ACE staff support Fire
103 ACE staff support Police
ACE PD operations, ACE Fire
operations, and Public Works staff
are vital to maintaining public safety.
Police Dispatchers
Police Dispatchers are
overworked.
Only 1/3 move forward in the
recruitment process. Most demanding in the County.
Dispatchers handle
approximately 184,000
emergency calls (9-1-1) and
84,000 non-emergency line calls
each year, totaling nearly
300,000 calls per year.
60 officers per dispatcher radio
– far exceeding the typical
average of 12 to 20 officers per
radio.
Police Dispatchers
Dispatchers are also
responsible for inputting
critical records into the
National System, ensuring
compliance requirements.
Low lateral interest due to
workload and pay
As a comparison, Chula Vista
had 300,000 more push to talk
activations than El Cajon PD
who ranked second place.
Parks Maintenance - Workload
Issues with
recruitment
and retention
35 workers
maintain 70
parks, 27 for
just core
maintenance
8 workers
doing
specialties –
construction
and irrigation
22 acres per
worker doing
the core
maintenance
Also
maintain
police
department
and animal
shelter
Parks Maintenance - Compensation
Pay below market median
Specialized roles (pesticide license, irrigation) hard to fill For other Departments in Public Works, many crews have a quota, while the work in Parks never stops.
Staff lost to internal transfers or other cities and agencies.
Competitive
Compensation
Critical for recruitment
and retention efforts.
Employees want fair,
market-aligned wages.
Employer-
Employee
Relations
Policy
Last updated 2005
“If fiscally prudent it is the City’s objective to
compensate employees at rates above the middle of
the labor market as measured by the median”
Chula Vista in the County Context
2nd largest jurisdiction and
fastest growing city in the
County
13 jurisdictions had
increases July 1, 2024
Our pay fell behind within
months.
Many of these positions that
are below the median are in
the ACE vacancies.
Vacancies
Below the
Market Median
• Aquatic/Recreation Supervisor II/III – 2 Vacancies
• Building Inspector II – 2 Vacancies
• Community Engagement Specialist – 1 Vacancy
• Conservation Specialist II – 1 Vacancy
• Detentions Officer – 3 Vacancies
• Development Services Tech II/III – 2 Vacancies
• Librarian II – 2 Vacancies
• Library Associate – 2 Vacancies
• Maintenance Worker II – 9 Vacancies
• Management Analyst II– 2 Vacancies
• Open Space Inspector – 1 Vacancy
• Property & Evidence Specialist – 1 Vacancy
• Public Works Specialist – 1 Vacancy
• Registered Veterinary Tech – 1 Vacancy
• Senior Park Ranger – 1 Vacancy
• Stormwater Compliance Inspector II – 1 Vacancy
• Traffic Signal & Light Tech II – 1 Vacancy
• VOIP Video Conference Specialist – 1 Vacancy
Total Vacancies
Below Median:
36 or
72%
83.90%
88.20%
53.30%
67.30%
59.20% 60.10%
31.00%
26.00% 24.00%
38.00%
25.00% 27.00%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Associate Planner Building Inspector II Community Services Officer
Development Services
Technician II
Engineering Technician
II
Librarian II
ACE Classifications on Vacancy List Percentile Ranking from May 2024 to March 2025 May 2024 March 2025 Median
64.20%
57.80%
62.00%
53.70%
76.70% 74.80%
48.00%
32.00%
48.00%
41.00%
25.00%
39.20%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Maintenance Worker II Management Analyst II Office Specialist Property and Evidence Specialist
Recreation Supervisor II Recycling Specialist II
ACE Classifications on Vacancy List Percentile Ranking from May 2024 to March 2025 May 2024 March 2025 Median
Wage Stagnation - Classifications on Vacancy List
Due to this degradation of employee's wages
below the median, the 5% COLA that many
will receive July 1st will not have a true value
of 5%
The result is that many of our jobs on the
vacancy list are no longer competitive in the
local labor market of 18 local jurisdictions
-1.60% -1.17%
-8.10%
-1.52%
-3.64% -3.41%
3.40% 3.83%
-3.10%
3.48%
1.36% 1.59%
-9.00%
-8.00%
-7.00%
-6.00%
-5.00%
-4.00%
-3.00%
-2.00%
-1.00%
0.00%
1.00%
2.00%
3.00%
4.00%
5.00%
6.00%
Associate Planner Building Inspector II Community Services Officer
Development Services
Technician II
Engineering Technician II Librarian II
Net Value of 5% COLA for Classifications Under Median on Vacancy List March 2025 July 2025
-0.70%
-2.37%
-0.51%
-6.20%
-5.78%
-3.41%
4.30%
2.63%
4.49%
-1.20% -0.78%
1.59%
-7.00%
-6.00%
-5.00%
-4.00%
-3.00%
-2.00%
-1.00%
0.00%
1.00%
2.00%
3.00%
4.00%
5.00%
6.00%
Maintenance Worker II Management Analyst II Office Specialist Property and Evidence Specialist
Recreation Supervisor II Recycling Specialist II
Net Value of 5% COLA for Classifications Under Median on Vacancy List March 2025 July 2025
Conclusion
Competitive compensation is critical for our recruitment and retention efforts.
ACE workers deserve to be compensated fairly and equitable compared to the local labor market without needing to catch up every 2-3 years.
The City can pay ACE employees fair and equitably by following its Compensation Policy to be fiscally prudent in budgeting to keep ACE Employees from falling below the median of the local market.
We truly hope that the City will invest in its workforce so that our workers are compensated fairly for the work that they do so that we do not continue to lose talented employees to other cities.