South Gate City Council
June 17, 2025

SPECIAL SOUTH GATE CITY COUNCIL

SPECIAL SOUTH GATE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA
Tuesday, June 17, 2025 at
6:30 p.m.

SOUTH GATE COUNCIL CHAMBERS
8650 CALIFORNIA AVE
SOUTH GATE, CA 90280
VIEW MEETING LIVE ONLINE AT:

HTTPS://YOUTUBE.COM/@SOUTHGATECA90280
City Officials
MAYOR,
Maria Davila

CITY CLERK,
Yodit Glaze

VICE MAYOR,
Joshua Barron

CITY TREASURER,
Jose De La Paz

COUNCIL MEMBER,
Maria del Pilar Avalos

CITY MANAGER,
Rob Houston

COUNCIL MEMBER,
Gil Hurtado

CITY ATTORNEY,
Ra
úl F
. Salinas

COUNCIL MEMBER,
Al Rios

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3. ATTEND THE MEETING IN PERSON
*The disruption in service of any alternative method does not prelude the City Council or other legislative
body from taking further action and moving forward on the agenda.

Meeting Schedule
The regular meetings of the City Council are held on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, closed session business will usually commence at 5:30 p.m., when scheduled, and general business 1 session will commence at 6:30 p.m.

Brown Act
Agendas are drafted to accurately state what the legislative body is being asked to consider. The legislative body can take action on "all items" listed on the agenda and be in compliance with the open meeting laws. Under the Brown Act, no action may be taken on a matter unless it is listed on the agenda, or unless certain emergency or special circumstances exist. The governing body may direct staff to investigate and/or schedule certain matters for consideration at a future meeting.

City's Vision Statement
We envision a thriving, safe and inclusive community where everyone has the opportunity to access exceptional services, education and support to be resilient and live full, vibrant lives.

Public Communications
Public Comments on agenda items are limited to three (3) minutes. All comments are to be addressed directly to the Agency Members not to the members of the public.

Emails for public comment received prior to 4:00 pm on the day of the Council Meeting will be summarized by the City Clerk, not read in its entirety. A copy of the email will be provided to the City Council and will also be available at the City Clerk's Office for public review. A copy of each email will be recorded for public record and noted on the official minutes of tonight's meeting.

Call to Order/Roll Call

CALL TO ORDER:

Maria Davila, Mayor
ROLL CALL:

Yodit Glaze, City Clerk
Public Hearings

1. Status Update on Vacant Positions in Compliance with California Government Code Section 3502.3
The City Council will consider: (HR)
a. Conducting a public hearing on the City’s vacancies; and

b. Receiving and filing the status update report on vacancies in compliance with California Government Code
§ 3502.3.

Documents:

Item 1 Report 06172025.pdf
Reports, Recommendations and Request

2. Revenue Options – Utility Users Tax Workshop

The City Council will discuss options during workshop pertaining to the Utility Users Tax. 2 (Admin SVCS/CM)
Adjournment
I, Yodit Glaze, City Clerk, certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Meeting Agenda was posted on June 12, 2025, at 5:20 p.m., as required by law.

Yodit Glaze
City Clerk

GENERAL NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC
The City Council adopted new rules relating to the conduct of the public meetings, proceedings, and business in the City of South Gate on July 12, 2022, (Resolution 2022-38-CC) and go into effect on August 1, 2022. Resolution #2022-38-CC is available at the City Clerk’s Office.

MEETING SCHEDULE
Regular meetings of the City Council are held on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, closed session meetings will commence at 5:30 p.m. unless posted otherwise on its agenda. The regular City Council meetings will commence at 6:30 p.m. Agendas are available at the following locations:

City Clerk
Office,
Public Notice Boards at City Hall, and on the
City’s web page at https://www.cityofsouthgate.org
The Public can sign up to receive automatic notices of postings of agendas for the City Council or any other Commission or Board of the City of South Gate. Visit the City webpage and click on the Agenda & Minutes icon. That will take you the page where an individual can enter their email in the “Email Updates” box to register.

PUBLIC COMMENT/PARTICIPATION
Any person may request to address a legislative body during a public meeting. The Presiding Officer will call upon those present in the Council Chambers first. After all speakers in the Chambers have spoken, the Presiding Officer will call upon those participating via zoom or teleconference.

Speakers are limited to three (3) minutes on any item listed on the agenda, including public hearings.

Under Comments from the Audience portion, speakers are also limited to a single three (3) minutes time limit. Comments from the Audience is initially limited to 45 minutes at each meeting. Any speaker still wishing to speak, that did not speak, will have an addition Comments from the Audience opportunity after the last business item is finished. The Presiding Officer may extend the time limit as long as there is no objection from the City Council as a body.

To ensure that the public is able to participate, the City provides the opportunity to submit their comments in person, virtually, email, phone call, mail and any other method which may become available. Methods of participation may be subject to change during other such times when a State of Emergency, Health Order or State Executive Order limits in-person participation. 3 CURFEW
In absence of a motion duly adopted by majority vote of the City Council, the Presiding Officer may adjourn the City Council meetings at 10:30 p.m. The Presiding Officer may ask the City Council if any agenda items listed should be continued or dealt with during the meeting. For those items to be continued, the City Council can direct the item be placed on the next City Council agenda or the current meeting may be adjourned to a time certain at which time the meeting shall be reconvened as an Adjourned Regular Meeting of the City Council and action upon the published agenda continued.

STAFF REPORTS
As a general rule, staff reports. or other written documentation are prepared/organized with respect to each item of business listed on the agenda. Meeting agendas and staff reports are available at least 72- hours prior to the scheduled regular City Council meeting and a minimum of 24-hours prior to a Special City Council meeting. There are times when the City Council receives written material. revised material after the posting of agendas, these materials are become a public record and will be available for public view within 72-hours after the meeting in which they were received. Those materials and any other public document can be inspected in the City Clerk's Office located at 8650 California Avenue, South Gate.

SERVICES TO FACILITATE ACCESS TO PUBLIC MEETINGS
In compliance with the American with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in the City Council Meetings, please contact the Office of the City Clerk. Notification 48 hours prior to the City Council Meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to assure accessibility. For further information, please contact the Office of the City Clerk at (323) 563-9510 or via email at
[email protected]
.
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JUN l 2 2025 Ciffl of South Gate
Item No. l

CITY COUNCIL
FILED"lAehnnh gghu,
For the Special Meeting of': June 17, 2025
Originating Department: Human Resources
Human Resources Director:

Jon amilton Rob Houston
SUBJECT: STATUS UPDATE ON VACANT POSITIONS IN COMPLIANCE WITH CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE § 3502.3
PURPOSE: California Government Code F> 3502.3 requires that each public agency present at a public hearing at least once per fiscal year the City of South Gate's ("City") vacant position prior to the adoption of an aru'iual budget and to permit the City's Associations to make a presentation at the hearing if they so desire.

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS: The City Council will consider:
a. Conducting a public hearing on the City's vacancies; and b. Receiving and filing the status update report on vacancies in compliance with California Governrnent Code Efi 3502.3.

FISCAL IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact from receiving the report on the presentation of vacant positions
BACKGROUND: Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2561 (AB2561) into law on September 22, 2024, to amend the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act ("MMBA"). AB2561 added California Governrnent Code Fp 3502.3, which requires public agencies to hold a public hearing at least once per fiscal year to report on vacancy and recruitment status and retention efforts. A basis for the new requirements is that the California Legislature determined that vacancies are widespread and can result in significant problems in the public sector. As vacancies increase, existing employees are then required to take on heavier workloads, which results in burnout and increased turnover. This, in turn, could negatively impact and diminish the delivery of needed public services.

To this end, California Governrnent Code Fp 3502.3 imposed tmee requirements on local agencies:
(1) At least once each fiscal year and prior to the adoption of its annual budget, the City Council must hold a public hearing and receive the City's report on the status of vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts;
(2) During the hearing, the City must identify any necessary changes to policies, procedures, and recruitment activities that may lead to hiring obstacles; and 1 5
(3) The City must allow the recognized employee associations to make a presentation, if they so desire.

The City has five recognized employee Associations: Division Management Association (DMA), Professional Mid-Management Association (PMMA), Municipal Employees' Association (MEA), Police Management Association (PMA), and the Police Officers' Association (POA).

On June 3, 2025, the Human Resources Department notified each of the employee associations that a public hearing will occur on June 17, 2025, regarding the City's vacancies and informed them that they may make a presentation if they desire.

On June 5, 2025, notice of this public hearing was published in the South Gate Press.

The City has 338 full-time positions budgeted with 55 of these positions vacant as of May 17, 2025, for an approximately 16% vacancy rate. Attached to this agenda bill is the PowerPoint presentation showing the number of vacancies and percentage of total vacancies by each City bargaining unit. The Division Management Association (DMA) has the highest vacancy rate on a percentage basis at approximately 27.3%. However, DMA is a small unit comprising of 11 members, of which there are three vacancies and two of which are currently in the recruitment process. The vacancy rates in the City's other Associations are: POA (22.6%); PMMA (22.2%); MEA (13.7%); and PMA (O.O%). The unrepresented Executive Management Team is currently at O.O% vacancy.

For Fiscal Year 2024/25, the City has hired 44 new employees, 20 of which are full-time, and promoted 29 existing full-time employees. Over this same period of time, the City received and reviewed 5,178 job applications, which is a sharp increase over the previous fiscal year when only 2,967 applications were received.

The Human Resources Department ("HR") has established a thorough recruitment process to ensure that it can attract the best possible candidates. To do this, HR in cooperation with other relevant stakeholders applies the following procedure:
(1) Reviews all job classification specifications (job descriptions) and updates them as needed prior to opening a recruitment.
(2) Once the review of the job classification specification is finalized, the position is then posted and published on governrnentjobs.com and any other applicable job board.

Governmentjobs.com is the most prolific online site used by public agencies to recruit employees and it is operated by NEOGOV.
(3) HR uses an online tracking system to ensure all candidates are fairly and systematically reviewed.
(4) HR then pre-screens all candidates to determine that each meets the minimum qualifications for the position and then organizes them from most qualified to leave qualified based upon objective, nondiscriminatory criteria. (5) The most qualified candidates are then invited to a panel interview of independent reviewers, scored, and then ranked starting with the best candidate, from which an eligibility list is generated.
(6) HR will then send to the hiring authority the application materials for the top three candidates on the eligibility list for a final, subjective interview and selection. The hiring authority will then contact HR informing them of the selected candidate. 2 6
(7) HR then manages the negotiation process with the selected candidate until such time that a conditional offer is accepted or declined by the candidate.

While HR dedicates a substantial amount of time into recruiting the best candidates for any given position, there are substantial challenges that the City faces in this process:
(1) The local labor market is incredibly competitive, and the pool of qualified candidates has diminished over the years when compared to pre-COVID recruitment efforts. (2) Attracting candidates located outside of the local areas is challenging due to ever- increasing traffic congestion.
(3) The Public Employee Pension Reform Act ("PEPRA") has disincentivized employees to remain at one public agency over a career or even remain in public sector employment. (4) Although public sector employment can offer better benefits (e.g., medical coverage, pension eligibility, etc.) in some industries, private sector higher wages tend to attract younger workers despite having little to no benefits. (5) Younger generations are not as likely as their older generation counterparts to remain tied to a singular employer, which causes them to freely move from one employer to another. (6) When evaluating candidates' skill sets developed in the private sector, such skills are not comparable or easily transferrable to those required in the public sector.

Once hired, the City takes several efforts to retain existing employees. For example, the City does generally offer a more competitive benefits package than its competitors, although there are several larger cities that offer much higher wages. To ensure that the City remains competitive, HR conducts a continuous analysis of positions to ensure that the wages remain competitive within the relative, comparative market median. In Fiscal Year 2024/25, HR evaluated 42 of the City's positions to determine if they were competitive with the market median and, in some cases, came to City Council for approval to adjust the wages for positions that fell below the accepted competitive range. The City also strives to promote a positive workplace culture with activities celebrating the employees such as employee recognition events, employee appreciation events, training opportunities, and various support programs.

In an effort to overcome some of the challenges the City is facing to fill its vacancies, the City and its various labor associations are exploring a completely new approach to the entire hiring process to improve efficiency, expand the pool of qualified candidates for consideration, and a "fast track" process to promote internal employees to increase morale and retention efforts.

Additionally, the City is re-evaluating its reliance upon temporary employees due to the substantially higher cost associated therewith, the tendency not to fill a vacancy in a timely manner, and the inability for the temporary employee to be fully integrated as a member of the South Gate family. In many cases, motivated employees desire the opportunity to learn skills necessary to gain the required experience to advance to a higher-level vacancy, but in the past there was no such pathway to gain this exposure and experience. However, this past fiscal year, HR, the Executive Team, PMMA, and MEA developed a Training & Development Program to provide that pathway for employees to gain the experience necessary to compete for a future promotional opportunity. The first use of this Program occurred in the Public Works Department and is currently in the process of expanding in the Police Department.

ATTACHMENT: PowerPoint Presentation
3 7
AB 2561: Public Hearing on Job
Vacancies & Recruitment Efforts
June 17, 2025
8 Agenda
AB 2561
Background
Adoption
Requirements
Purpose
Current Vacancies
Status
Recruitment Process
Challenges
Retention Efforts
9 Background
On September 22, 2024, Governor Newsom singed AB 2561 into law to amend the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act and create a new obligation for public agencies to publicly address the status of their vacancies. As a basis for the new requirements, the California Legislature determined that vacancies are widespread in public agencies and they can be a significant problem in the public sector. Vacancies require employees to take on heavier workloads, resulting in burnout and increased turnover, which could negatively impact the delivery of public services.
10 Adoption of AB 2561
Effective January 1, 2025
Adds Section 3502.3 to the California Government Code
Applies to all public agencies subject to Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (“MMBA”) regardless of whether they have a unionized workforce
The City recognizes the following employee Associations:
Police Officers’ Association (POA)
Police Management Association (PMA)
Municipal Employees’ Association (MEA)
Professional Mid-Management Association (PMMA)
Division Management Association (DMA)
11 Requirements of AB2561
Presentation at a public hearing at least once per fiscal year prior to adopting an annual budget.
Must allow the City’s Associations to make a presentation at the hearing if they so desire.
12 Purpose
The purpose of this presentation is to present an update on position vacancies as of May 17, 2025, in compliance with Assembly Bill (AB) 2561 – Local public employees; vacant positions.
13 Current Vacancies
For Fiscal Year 24/25, there are 338 budgeted full-time positions:
To date, there are 55 vacancies:
Clerical Assistant
Code Enforcement Officer
Code Enforcement Supervisor
Housing Inspector
Housing Specialist (2)
Management Analyst (2)
14 Current Vacancies (cont.)
Senior Secretary
Accounting & Finance Manager
Budget & Procurement Manager
Business License Inspector
Information Systems Technician
Senior Accountant
Recreation Coordinator (Fitness)
Transit Service Coordinator
Associate Engineer
Deputy City Engineer
15 Current Vacancies (cont.)
Electrician I/II (2)
Facilities Maintenance Technician II
Journey Electrician
Principal Civil Engineer (2)
Senior Public Works Management Analyst
Sewer Maintenance Worker I/II (2)
Street & Sewer Superintendent
Street Maintenance Worker
Water Distribution Operator I/II/III (2)
16 Current Vacancies (cont.)
Civilian Custody Officer
Community Service Officer
Crime Scene Forensic Specialist (2)
Intermediate Account Clerk
Office Assistant (Police)
Police Dispatcher (3)
Police Officer (14)
Technical Services Manager
17 Vacancy Rate
16.57% Overall Vacancy Rate
22.6% in POA
0% in PMA
13.7% in MEA
22.2% in PMMA
27.3% in DMA
18 Status of Vacancies
Clerical Assistant
Eligibility list established
Pending department selection for hire; however, due to budget concerns, this recruitment is on hold
Code Enforcement Officer
Pending requisition from hiring department to initiate a recruitment Code Enforcement Supervisor
Pending requisition from hiring department to initiate a recruitment 19 Status of VacanciesHousing Inspector
Pending requisition from hiring department to initiate a recruitment Housing Specialist (2 vacancies)
Pending requisition from hiring department to initiate a recruitment; however, due to budget concerns, this recruitment is on hold
Management Analyst (2 vacancies)
Eligibility list established
One position filled on June 16, 2025; however, for the other position, due to budget concerns, this recruitment is on hold
20 Status of Vacancies
Senior Secretary
Pending requisition from hiring department to initiate a recruitment; however, due to budget concerns and whether this position continues to be needed, this recruitment is on hold
Accounting & Finance Manager
Open since 05/22/25
Currently accepting applications on a continuous basis Budget & Procurement Manager
Pending requisition from hiring department to initiate a recruitment 21 Status of Vacancies
Business License Inspector
Pending requisition from hiring department to initiate a recruitment; however, due to budget concerns, this recruitment is on hold
Information Systems Technician
Pending requisition from hiring department to initiate a recruitment Senior Accountant
Pending requisition from hiring department to initiate a recruitment 22 Status of Vacancies
Recreation Coordinator
Pending requisition from hiring department to initiate a recruitment Transit Service Coordinator
Pending requisition from hiring department to initiate a recruitment The City has attempted to hire for this position in several different versions for over four years and it has been difficult to find qualified candidates Associate Engineer
Pending requisition from hiring department to initiate a recruitment 23 Status of Vacancies
Deputy City Engineer
Due to budget concerns, this recruitment is on hold
Electrician I/II (2 vacancies)
Position on hold
Historically a difficult position to fill/small pool of qualified candidates in the labor market
Position under review to determine if alternative way to provide services 24 Status of Vacancies
Facilities Maintenance Technician I/II
Eligibility list established
Pending department selection for hire
Journey Electrician
Continuous recruitment
Very difficult to fill as qualified candidates are few and in high demand Position under review to determine if alternative way to provide services 25 Status of Vacancies
Principal Civil Engineer (2 vacancies)
Eligibility list established
One position is pending department selection for hire; however, due to budget concerns, the recruitment for the second position is on hold Traditionally a difficult position to find qualified candidates Senior Public Works Management Analyst
Position on hold
Historically a difficult position to fill/small pool of qualified candidates in the labor market
Position under review to determine if alternative way to provide services Sewer Maintenance Worker I/II (2 vacancies)
Pending requisition from hiring department to initiate a recruitment 26 Status of Vacancies
Street & Sewer Superintendent
Position under review and, once finalize, will be ready to initiate a recruitment Street Maintenance Worker
Eligibility list established
Pending department selection for hire
Water Distributor Operator I/II/III (2 vacancies)
Pending requisition from hiring department to initiate a recruitment 27 Status of Vacancies
Civilian Custody Officer
Eligibility list generated and selected applicants are in the background phase Community Service Officer
Eligibility list generated and selected applicants are in the background phase Crime Scene Forensic Specialist (2 vacancies)
Position on hold
Historically a difficult position to fill/small pool of qualified candidates in the labor market Position under review to determine if alternative way to provide services 28 Status of Vacancies
Intermediate Account Clerk
Eligibility list generated and selected applicants are in the background phase Office Assistant (Police)
Due to budget concerns, this recruitment is on hold
Police Dispatcher (3 vacancies)
Open since 04/17/2025, closed on 06/01/2025
Currently in candidate review & testing stage
29 Status of Vacancies
Police Officer (14 vacancies)
Concurrent recruitments in various phases from monthly testing, interviews and backgrounds
Difficult to find qualified candidates capable of passing the required background investigation, physical fitness standards, and psychological analysis Technical Services Manager
Open since 04/21/2025, closed on 06/02/2025
Currently in candidate review & testing stage
30 Recruitment Process
All job classification specifications are reviewed and updated as needed prior to opening a position.
Once job classification specification is finalized, the position is posted and published on governmentjobs.com and any other applicable job board.
The City uses an online application tracking system to ensure all candidates are systematically reviewed.
Human Resources then pre-screens all candidates to determine that each meets the minimum qualifications for the position and then organizes them from most qualified to least qualified. The most qualified candidates are then invited to a panel interview of independent reviewers, scored, and then ranked starting with the best candidate, from which an eligibility list is generated.
Human Resources will then send to the hiring authority the application materials for the top three persons on the eligibility list for a final interview and then selection. The hiring authority will then contact Human Resources informing them of the selected candidate. Human Resources then manages the negotiation process until a conditional offer is accepted or declined.
31 Challenges
The local labor market is incredibly competitive, and the pool of qualified candidates diminishes over time.
Getting candidates located outside of the local area is a challenge due to the ever- increasing traffic congestion.
The Public Employee Pension Reform Act (“PEPRA”) has disincentivized employees to remain at one public agency over a career or even remain in public sector employment.
The younger generations are not as likely as their older generation counterparts to demonstrate any loyalty to an employer, which causes them to move from one employer to another.
When evaluating candidates’ skill sets from the private sector, such skills are not always “apples to apples.”
32 Retention Efforts
Continuous analysis of positions to ensure the wages remain competitive within the market median. In Fiscal Year 2024/25, HR evaluated 42 of the City’s positions to determine if they were competitive within the market median.
Promotion of a positive workplace culture with activities like employee recognition events, employee appreciation events, training opportunities, and support.
33 Policy Changes
• The City and its employee Associations are exploring a new approach to the entire hiring process to improve efficiency, expand the pool of qualified candidates for consideration, and a “fast track” process to promote internal employees.
• Re-evaluation of the reliance upon contracted/temporary employees due to the substantially higher cost associated therewith and the tendency not to fill a vacant position in a timely manner.
• Creation of a Training & Development Program for employees to gain experience necessary to compete for a future promotional opportunity. 34 QUESTIONS?
35