Consent Agenda Item 3b
STAFF REPORT
Consent Agenda Item
DATE: January 20, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and Council Members
FROM: Siana L. Emmons, Human Resources Director/City Clerk THROUGH: Amy Nilsen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Administrative Department Monthly Report for December 2025 STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Receive report as an informational item.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The Administration Department monthly report encompasses the following divisions: City Attorney, City Clerk, Risk Management/Human Resources and Information Technology.
CITY ATTORNEY
The City Attorney billing was 11.2 hours for the month of December with the Mitchell Law Firm, LLC. Billing for the month of December will be provided with the February monthly report.
Project support for these months included public records request review, ordinance review, contract review, personnel inquiries and various email and telephone calls.
CITY CLERK DIVISION
For the month of December, the Clerk’s Office prepared and published two agendas for Regular City Council Meetings, and one Cancellation Notice for RCRPD Commission meeting.
City Council Meetings
Council Meeting Date Agenda Items
December 1, 2025 Regular Meeting 6
December 15, 2025 Regular Meeting 15
Totals 21
Consent Agenda Item 3b
City Clerk’s Office Key Duties December
Public Records Act Requests 3
General Information Requests 25 – 30 per day, average
Ordinances 3
Resolutions 3
Minutes Prepared 2
Notary Services Provided 1
Claims for Damages Filed 0
FPPC Filings: 0
Legal/Proof of Publications 1
Notices Posted (Public Hearing, Agenda, Ordinance, etc.) 6 On January 7, 2026, Clerk staff attended a Cal Cities education workshop “2025 Legislative Recap & Legal Recap” for Municipal Clerks. As previously reported to Council, due to Fortuna and the County not meeting the required population thresholds, many of the new Brown Act requirements under SB 707, will not have to be implemented.
However, there are several other legislative acts that will have an impact. Some of the key takeaways include Assembly Bill (AB) 538, which impacts how local agencies respond to Public Record Act Requests (PRA). AB 538 will require local agencies to obtain certified payroll records from contractors and sub-contractors. While this will result in an increased administrative burden on staff responsive to PRA’s, it is helpful that penalties could be applied if the local agency is not getting cooperation in obtaining payroll records from contractors.
With the impending election this November, it’s also important to understand Senate Bill (SB) 482, which will require that within 120 days of the general election, local agencies have to send an updated roster of elected officials to the Secretary of State to ensure meeting the requirements to aid in publishing the California Roster.
Ethics training and new fiscal and financial training requirements under SB 827 were also included in this training and important to learn about. Under SB 827 there will be a new 2-hour, biennial learning requirement for certain staff and elected officials, covering financial and administrative planning, budgeting and reporting, capital financing and debt management, prudent investing, ethics with public resources, and pensions, cash management and procurement.
RISK MANAGEMENT / HUMAN RESOURCES DIVISION
Staff are no longer meeting weekly with NeoGov representatives, as the training platform for the Perform module is technically complete. Staff continue to make changes within the Perform module to the employee lists and evaluation programs for miscellaneous and safety employees.
Once the employee lists and final changes to the evaluation programs are complete, staff will run a trial period to assess and obtain feedback from a small group of test supervisors and employees.
After any issues are worked out, staff will work on City wide training and final implementation of Perform, which should streamline the evaluation process and digitize what is currently a relatively cumbersome paper process.
The City of Fortuna participates in an Employment Relations Consortium (ERC) through the law firm Liebert Cassidy Whitmore (LCW). An ERC is a number of local agencies (cities, counties Consent Agenda Item 3b
and special districts), in a geographic area joining together for the purpose of bringing quality employment relations training, consultation and informational services to their employees.
This is a great opportunity for City employees to attend in person or webinar-based platforms to expand professional and personal education and skill sets. Last week, LCW published the upcoming 2026 ERC schedule and “Employment Relations Certificate Program”. Some of the upcoming trainings will take place in Fortuna at the River Lodge and include topics such as:
“Workers Compensation: Managing Employee Injuries, Disability and Occupational Safety”, “Labor Code 101 for Public Agencies”, “Employees and Driving”, “Case Study for Managing Illness or Injuries”, and more. Training courses are available to all employees as applicable to their positions.
Risk Management
There were no new Worker’s Compensation claims as of December 1, 2025, and no (0) new tort claims. City staff continue to work closely with LWP for Worker’s Compensation and George Hills, the City’s third-party claims administrator to bring claims to settlement or closure.
Date of Claim Type of Claim Status
09/18/2025 Property Claim In Progress
10/28/2025 Property Claim In Progress
In December, Risk staff completed the required application, Aboveground/Underground Storage Tank and Non-vacant/vacant land listing worksheets required for the PRISM Pollution Legal Liability Program for July 1, 2026, policy term. This program provides coverage for first-party remediation and third-party bodily injury and property damage arising out of pollution conditions occurring at, or migrating from, member-owned or leased locations, as well as pollution resulting from member-contracted operations.
Risk staff are also currently working on updating calendars and sending reminder notices out to employees, supervisory employees and elected and appointed officials regarding mandatory training and evidence of compliance with harassment, discrimination and retaliation, pursuant to Government Code Section 12950.1 and SB 778 and as required under AB 1825 and SB 1343. If you think you are due for any of these trainings, you probably are, but again, staff will send out updates and reminders.
Human Resources
Assembly Bill (AB) 2561, signed into law on September 22, 2024, and effective January 1, 2025, amended the Meyers-Milias- Brown Act (MMBA) to require public agencies to present on the status of vacancies, recruitment, and retention efforts during a public hearing at least once per fiscal year, preferably before the final budget adoption. To meet the requirements of AB 2561 (Government Code Section 3502.3), this report will be agendized at an upcoming meeting and will provide the Council and public with information on current staffing levels, recruitment and retention activities, demonstrating the City’s commitment to transparency and sound government.
Human Resources staff continue to administer recruitments for non-general fund full-time positions, police officer and sergeant and part-time recreation positions, as needed.
Consent Agenda Item 3b
Current Open Recruitments:
Department Requisition Recruitment Status
Parks & Rec 202500104 Park Maintenance
Worker II
Candidate in preemployment.
Parks & Rec 202500105 Recreation Leader/Youth
Basketball Facilitator
Candidates in preemployment.
Police 202300053 Police Officer Open until filled.
Police 202300074 Police Officer Trainee Open until filled.
Police 202500099 Community Services
Officer
Conditional Offer
withdrawn.
Public Works 202500106 Treatment Pant Operator
I/II (Non-General Funded
Position)
Closed January 8th.
Interviews pending.
Parks and Recreation
Park Maintenance Worker II: Candidate selected and onboarding scheduled for January 19th.
Recreation Leader/Youth Basketball Facilitator: 3 candidates were selected and are currently in the pre-employment stage.
Police Department
Police Officer: Recruitment open until filled, interviews continue to be scheduled as qualified applicants apply.
Police Officer Trainee: Recruitment open until filled, interviews continue to be scheduled as qualified applicants apply. One candidate in the pre-employment stage.
Community Services Officer: The conditional offer of employment was withdrawn following the Candidate’s failure to satisfy the required background check.
Public Works
Treatment Plant Operator I/II (Non-General Funded Position): Recruitment closed on January 8th. 19 applications were received and are currently in the initial screening stage.
The City is always looking to recruit qualified staff for open positions. For more information about employment with the City of Fortuna, visit the City’s website www.friendlyfortuna.com, send email to the City Clerk at [email protected], or call 707-725-7600. We also encourage all interested applicants to create a user account on www.governmentjobs.com
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DIVISION
City Website (www.friendlyfortuna.com)
If any members of the public are interested in the latest City news or City alerts, please visit the City of Fortuna website www.friendlyfortuna.com
Computer/Network
At the end of December, Nylex contacted IT staff because in the last two months, due to production, supply chain, and political factors, the prices of computer memory have increased by Consent Agenda Item 3b
300%. Currently RAM (memory) is in short supply and very expensive. The two major manufacturers, Crucial and Micron, have stopped selling RAM directly to end users and only supply the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) like HPE, Dell, and Lenovo. This essentially obfuscates the impact of high RAM prices by including it in the overall cost of the computer or server. In the last few weeks, Nylex observed desktop and server prices increasing by 15% to 30%.
Many in the market have responded by keeping or selling old RAM at current higher prices.
Considering the current trend, Nylex recommended that the City either buy as quickly as possible or wait till the end of the first quarter of 2026 to order new computers and servers, if needed. After consideration and more discussion with Nylex, the City will not purchase any RAM or new computers in the first and possibly second quarter of the year, unless absolutely necessary, depending on how the trend continues.
Last week, the City Server, which hosts the City’s main shared drive, was still running an end-oflife operating system. On January 9, 2026, Nylex moved the end-of-life server to one of the new servers and upgraded it. There was already space on the new server and licensing available to accommodate this upgrade, so nothing needed to be purchased, and the upgrade was successful.
IT support staff continues to work collaboratively with Nylex to meet the City’s ongoing technical needs.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
Receive Administrative Monthly Report. Consent Agenda vote.