Association
of Chula Vista
Employees
Who We Are
ACE is the largest bargaining group in
the entire city.
486 service employees
185 different job classifications
Representing departments: Public
Works, Police, Development Services,
Animal Care Facility, Finance, Fire,
Libraries, Human Resources,
Information Technology, and
Recreation.
Vacancy Rate
• 9.9% Vacancy (Dec
2025)
• 45 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
15 ACE staff support Fire
115 ACE staff support Police
ACE Public Works staff
contribute directly to public
safety through essential
services including:
Fleet maintenance
and repair that keeps
City and emergency
vehicles operational
Street maintenance
that keeps roads safe
and passable
Roadway striping and
safety signage
Prevention of
flooding and hazards
Traffic signal
operations and traffic
control systems
ACE PD operations, ACE Fire
operations, and Public Works
staff are vital to maintaining
public safety
Police Dispatchers
Police Dispatchers are overworked.
Supervisors are also working the floor, counting towards minimum number of dispatchers on duty. This leaves little to no opportunities to properly supervise, coach, train, and support the other dispatchers on the floor.
Currently a 57% success rate of passing training program.
Dispatchers handle over 186,000 emergency calls and handled over 82,000 non-emergency calls.
Radio dispatcher can monitor up to 80 units (includes patrol officers, traffic officers, senior volunteers, and detective units).
Police Dispatchers
Dispatchers are also
responsible for CLETS entries
(California Law Enforcement
Telecommunications System)
that include stolen vehicles,
missing persons, and
repossessions.
Other cities like SDPD and
SDSO have a records
department that handles these
24/7, Oceanside PD records
handles these requests during
normal business hours taking
this load off the dispatchers.
Chula Vista had 1.1million
radio clicks, which is every
time an officer or dispatcher
clicked on the radio to talk.
40% more radio traffic than
other agencies.
Parks Maintenance Workers
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
More parks
being added
across the
city, but staff
is not
increasing
Parks Maintenance Workers
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.
Chula Vista in the County Context
2nd largest
jurisdiction and
fastest growing
city in the County
Pay continues to
fall below the
median in the
interim each year.
Many of the
positions that are
below the median
are in the ACE
vacancies.
Vacancies
Below the
Market Median
• Animal Control Officer – 1 Vacancy
• Associate Planner – 1 Vacancy
• Building Inspector – 2 Vacancies
• Community Service Officer – 1 vacancy
• Conservation Specialist II – 2 vacancies
• Delivery Driver – 1 vacancy
• Detentions Officer – 2 vacancies
• Development Services Tech I/III – 2 vacancies
• Equipment Mechanic – 1 vacancy
• Info Technology Technician – 1 vacancy
• Librarian II/III – 3 vacancies
• Library Associate – 3 Vacancies
• Maintenance Worker II – 3 vacancies
• Management Analyst II – 4 vacancies
• Parks Maintenance Worker II – 1 vacancy
• Registered Veterinary Tech – 1 vacancy
• Senior Police Records Specialist – 1 vacancy
• Senior Public Works Inspector – 1 vacancy
• Survey Technician II – 1 vacancy
Total Vacancies
Below Median:
32 or
71%
31%
26% 24%
38%
25% 26%
38%
29% 29%
35% 37%
21%
13%
36%
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 Equipment Mechanic Info Technology Technician Percentile Ranking
Changes in Percentile Ranking for ACE Benchmark Classifications from March 2025 to March 2026 March 2025 March 2026 Median
27%
45% 48%
32%
43%
62%
39%42% 43% 41%
29% 29%
46%
29%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Librarian II Library Associate Maintenance Worker II Management Analyst II Police Records Specialist Public Works Inspector Recycling Specialist II Percentile Ranking
Changes in Percentile Ranking for ACE Benchmark Classifications from March 2025 to March 2026 March 2025 March 2026 Median
Wage Stagnation - Net Value of Cost-Of-Living
Adjustment (COLA)
Due to the 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
Other City’s will be giving
raises as of July 1st so that net
value will be less once the
market changes once again.
-1.46%
-3.38%
-9.13%
-2.02%
-3.34%
-4.33%
-2.57%
3.54%
1.62%
-4.13%
2.98%
1.66%
0.67%
2.43%
-10.00%
-8.00%
-6.00%
-4.00%
-2.00%
0.00%
2.00%
4.00%
6.00%
Associate Planner Building Inspector II Community Services Officer
Development Services
Technician II
Engineering Technician II Equipment Mechanic Info Technology Technician
Net Value of 5% COLA for Classifications Under Median on Vacancy List March 2026 July 2026
-2.54%
-2.83%
-2.54%
-3.66% -3.59%
-0.74%
-3.48%
2.46%
2.17%
2.46%
1.34% 1.41%
4.26%
1.52%
-5.00%
-4.00%
-3.00%
-2.00%
-1.00%
0.00%
1.00%
2.00%
3.00%
4.00%
5.00%
6.00%
Librarian II Library Associate Maintenance Worker II Management Analyst II Police Records Specialist Public Works Inspector Recycling Specialist II Net Value of 5% COLA for Classifications Under Median on Vacancy List March 2026 July 2026
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 year.
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 for the work that they do so that we can retain the best talent.