TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Scott Garrison, Human Resources Administrator
SUBJECT:
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Annual Status Report on Vacancies for compliance with AB 2561
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RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
recommendation
That the City Council:
1. Conduct the Public Hearing
2. Approve the Annual Status Report on Vacancies
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SUMMARY:
The purpose of this report is to present an update on position vacancies as of June 2026 in compliance with Assembly Bill (AB) 2561 - Local public employees; vacant positions.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION:
The City Council previously approved the Annual Status Report on Vacancies at the June 3, 2025, City Council Meeting.
DISCUSSION:
On September 22, 2024, AB 2561 was signed 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. AB 2561 imposed three requirements on local agencies: (1) at least once each fiscal year, an agency’s governing board must hold a public hearing and receive the agency’s report on the status of vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts; (2) during the hearing, the agency must identify any necessary changes to policies, procedures, and recruitment activities that may lead to hiring obstacles; and, (3) the agency must allow the recognized employee organization for a bargaining unit to make a presentation at the hearing.
Tonight’s report on vacancies is for the 2025/26 fiscal year, covering July 2025 to June 2026.
The City had 20 vacancies this fiscal year, down from 32 in the previous year. 7 will carry over into next fiscal year with 3 of those positions slated to be filled with candidates in the hiring process. The remaining 4 vacancies left unfilled are for Police Sergeant, Police Dispatcher and 2 Police Officer positions. The City continues its efforts to recruit and fill those vacancies as the budget allows.
10 of the 20 vacancies were in Police, of which 3 of those vacancies had carried over from 2024.
The City has attempted to address the difficulties in hiring police staff this past year by authorizing a $40,000 hiring bonus for Sergeant, which has assisted in filling a vacancy in this classification.
The City also ran two successful recruitments for Police Officer Trainee, which is a sponsorship program to the Police Academy. We plan on filling 2 Officer vacancies with graduates from our sponsorship program at the Academy this year.
Other challenging positions to fill included the Police Community Services Officer (CSO) Homeless Liaison Officer (HLO) and Communications Dispatcher, some requiring multiple recruitment and interviewing efforts to select the right candidates.
All other recruitments were successful, and the vacancies filled in a timely manner.
The City filled 8 of the vacancies with external applicants. 5 vacancies were filled with internal applicants.
AB 2561 also requires that during the hearing, the agency must identify any necessary changes to policies, procedures, and recruitment activities that may lead to hiring obstacles. Staff have not identified any necessary changes to policies and procedures that may present obstacles in the hiring process beyond budgetary concerns. The City continues to take steps in support of recruitment and retention.
Finally, staff reached out to all 5 recognized employee organizations at the City of Red Bluff inviting them to attend tonight's Public Hearing.
CITY FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this status update. Staff will continue with efforts towards filling the remaining vacancies with available resources.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Annual Report on Vacancies & Recruitment FY2025.26