February 10, 2026
Agenda Item No.12
TO:
HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:
Jason Al-Imam, Adminstrative Services Director/Treasurer - 949-644-3126, [email protected] PREPARED BY:
Sarah Rodriguez, Deputy Director of Human Resources - 949-644-3301, [email protected] TITLE:
Status of City of Newport Beach Vacancies and Retention Efforts for Fiscal Year 2025-26, Pursuant to Government Code Section 3502.3 ABSTRACT:
Assembly Bill (AB) No. 2561, became effective January 1, 2025, and added Government Code Section 3502.3 to the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA) and requires public agencies to report on job vacancies and recruitment efforts at least once per fiscal year, prior to the adoption of their budgets. The law provides employee organizations with the opportunity to present their views and, depending on vacancy levels, to request additional information related to vacancies within their bargaining units. AB 2561 is designed to help mitigate the negative effects that understaffing may have on the delivery of public services and on public employees.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
a) Determine this action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) and 15060(c)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines because this action will not result in a physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly; and b) Receive and consider the Status of City of Newport Beach Vacancies and Retention Efforts for Fiscal Year 2025-26, pursuant to Government Code Section 3502.3.
DISCUSSION:
The California Government Code requires the City of Newport Beach (City) to publicly report information regarding vacancy rates and recruitment and retention efforts. This reporting must be done at least once a fiscal year, prior to the City’s budget adoption. The presentation must include tracking vacancies and reporting on the City’s recruitment and retention efforts. Additionally, the public hearing provides an opportunity to identify any policies, procedures and/or recruitment efforts which may create challenges in the City’s hiring process. In those cases, the City should also identify potential changes to alleviate any hiring obstacles.
If the vacancy rate in a particular bargaining unit exceeds 20% of the total number of authorized full-time positions, that bargaining unit’s labor representative may request additional information which the City must provide, including the total number of job vacancies within the bargaining unit; the total number of applicants for the bargaining unit’s vacant positions; the average number of days to complete the hiring process once a position has been posted; and what opportunities exist to improve compensation and other working conditions. Employee organizations are also permitted to make a presentation at the public hearing when the City makes its presentation.
The City has seven full-time employee collective bargaining associations, one full-time employee union and one unrepresented full-time group (collectively referred to as units). Based on the current data, none of the units has a vacancy rate exceeding 20% of the total number of authorized full-time positions. The specific vacancy information is contained in Table A:
Table A
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact related to this item.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
Staff recommends the City Council find this action is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly.
NOTICING:
The agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of the meeting at which the City Council considers the item).
ATTACHMENT:
Attachment A – Status of City of Newport Beach Vacancies and Recruitment and Retention Efforts Presentation Status of City of Newport Beach Vacancies and Retention Efforts for Fiscal Year 2025-26, Pursuant to Government Code Section 3502.3 February 10, 2026
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