Agenda Item #16.4
For Council Meeting of: May12, 2026
CITY OF SANTA ROSA
CITY COUNCIL
TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: DOMINIQUE BLANQUIE, HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR
SUBJECT: STATUS OF VACANT POSITIONS AND RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION EFFORTS IN COMPLIANCE WITH ASSEMBLY BILL 2561 (2024) AGENDA ACTION: MOTION
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended by the Human Resources Department that Council, by motion, receive and file a report on status of vacant positions and recruitment and retention efforts in compliance with Assembly Bill 2561.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this report is to present an update on position vacancies in compliance with Assembly Bill (AB) 2561 - Local public employees, vacant positions.
BACKGROUND
California State Assembly Bill (AB) 2561 was approved on September 22, 2024, and added §3502.3 to the Government Code. This law, effective January 1, 2025, requires public agencies at least once each fiscal year to: (1) hold a public hearing and receive the agency’s report on the status of vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts; (2) during the hearing, identify any necessary changes to policies, procedures, and recruitment activities that may lead to hiring obstacles; and, (3) allow the recognized employee organization for bargaining units to make a presentation at the hearing.
In addition, if the number of job vacancies within a single bargaining unit meets or exceeds 20% of the total number of authorized full-time positions, the City must, upon request of the recognized employee organization, include additional specified information during the public hearing.
PRIOR CITY COUNCIL REVIEW
25-0395 Received and filed STATUS OF VACANT POSITIONS IN COMPLIANCE WITH ASSEMBLY BILL 2561 (2024).
ANALYSIS
Vacancies
As of the date of our analysis on March 26, 2026, 117.55 FTE were vacant out of 1,277.15 total Full Time Equivalent (FTE) budgeted for an overall vacancy rate of 9.20%. A report of vacancy rates by bargaining unit as of March 26, 2026.
In the table below, you will find a breakdown of this information by Unit:
Unit
FTE Vacant
FTE Total Budgeted
Vacancy Rate
02 - Firefighting
20.00 160.00
12.50%
03- Maintenance
9.00 95.00
9.47%
04- Support Services
9.60 71.60
13.41%
05 - Police Officers
4.00 142.00
2.82%
06 - Professional
9.00 90.00
10.00%
07 - Technical
38.45 290.55
13.23%
08 - Transit
11.50 61.00
18.85%
09 - Fire Safety Management
0.00 11.00
0.00%
09 - Police Safety Management
0.00 9.00
0.00%
09 - Sergeants
0.00 23.00
0.00%
10 - Executive Management
0.00 11.00
0.00%
10 - Executive Management (Safety)
0.00 2.00
0.00%
11 - Middle Management
1.00 18.00
5.56%
12 - Confidential
0.00 11.00
0.00%
13 - Mechanics
2.00 19.00
10.53%
14 - Police Civilian Technical Unit
4.00 50.00
8.00%
15 - Appointed Officials
0.00 2.00
0.00%
16 - Utilities Systems Operators
1.00 58.00
1.72%
17 - Professional Attorneys
0.00 7.00
0.00%
18 - Miscellaneous Mid-Management
8.00 146.00
5.48%
Overall
117.55
1277.15
9.20%
The attached vacancy information was provided to the City’s bargaining unit representatives with the request to inform us if they intend to present to Council on this topic during the hearing.
The vacancy report shows that no bargaining unit vacancy rate meets or exceeds 20% of the total number of authorized FTE positions. Therefore, the additional information required by AB2561 in this instance will not be required.
Recruitment and Retention Efforts
As part of a strategy to make the General Fund fiscally sustainable, starting July 1, 2024, the City initiated a hiring freeze for vacant positions that were not already in the recruitment process. A new process was put in place to review requests to fill positions based on operational necessity prior to releasing the positions from the freeze.
The 2025/2026 fiscal year budget approved 23.1 FTE new positions (most in Fire associated with Measure H) effective June 29, 2025 and approved position reductions of 52.1 FTE to be implemented in stages between July 8, 2025 and January 1, 2026, for an overall reduction of 30 FTE.
As of July 1, 2025, there were 163.5 FTE positions vacant. Between July 1, 2025 and March 26, 2026, 72 employees separated, 61 new employees were hired, and 58 employees were promoted. The turnover rate during this time was 6.16%.
Between July 1, 2025 and March 26, 2026, the Human Resources Department initiated 61 new recruitments, received 4,349 applications and referred 750 candidates to hiring departments.
Of the 117.55 FTE positions vacant on March 26, 2026, 58 FTE positions had been approved to fill and were in some stage of recruitment.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378, the proposed action is not a “project” subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it consists of receiving and filing a report and does not involve a commitment to any specific action or result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. In the alternative, the proposed action is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity may have a significant effect on the environment.
BOARD/COMMISSION/COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Not applicable.
NOTIFICATION
This item is on the agenda for the May 12, 2026, City Council meeting and will follow all required postings and notifications. On April 06, 2026, all bargaining units were notified of the City’s intent to comply with Assembly Bill 2561. Further, they were notified they were entitled to make a presentation at this hearing pursuant to Government Code Section 3502.3. No other public outreach was conducted for this hearing.
ATTACHMENTS
Not applicable.
PRESENTER
Dominique Blanquie, Human Resources Director
STATUS OF VACANT POSITIONS IN COMPLIANCE WITH ASSEMBLY BILL 2561 (2024) PAGE 3 OF 3