Supervisors press Public Works on high vacancies, plan working group to speed hiring

SAN FRANCISCO — The Government Audit and Oversight Committee on Feb. 3 pressed Department of Public Works officials over prolonged hiring timelines and a persistent vacancy problem that supervisors said is degrading street services across the city.

Supervisor Safaie (name appears in the record with variant spellings Safaei/Safai/Safaie), who sponsored the hearing, said the department reported “about 500 plus positions” vacant citywide and that “over 300 plus of them are in your operations division,” leaving crews stretched thin and slowing responses to calls for service. “That is significant to the delivery of service in our city,” the sponsor said.

The committee heard from Interim DPW Director Carla Short, Deputy Director Bruce Robertson and City Administrator human-resources staff about the causes of the shortfall and possible fixes. Robertson gave the most detailed snapshot of the operations bureau, saying the bureau had 257 vacant positions — a vacancy rate he put at 33.8% — and that 45 of those positions are project-funded; he also noted temporary corridor hires were on payroll but not included in the vacancy totals. “Based on the report as of this morning I see 257 vacant positions … 33.8% of all operations positions,” Robertson said.

Human-resources staff described the civil-service recruitment process for laborer classifications as time-consuming. One HR presenter said assembling a permanent eligible list for the recent laborers recruitment “took about 9 months to put together,” and that, once an eligible list exists, appointments move faster. HR also described tools used to shorten hiring, including exempt hires, periodic practical exams, continuous testing for some classes and “hiring-in-a-day” pilots for certain appointments.

Supervisors pointed to earlier work to accelerate nurse hiring during the pandemic — a process leaders said was condensed from roughly nine months to about 90 days — and urged DPW, the City Administrator’s Office and the Department of Human Resources to adopt similar measures for key operations classifications. “We were able to take a 9-month average process and condense it down to 90 days or less,” Supervisor Safaie said, urging a working group modeled on the nurse hiring effort.

Laborers Local 261 representative Teresa Foglio Ramirez told the committee unions stand ready to partner on pipelines and dispatch or apprenticeship models to supply trained workers. She described past city–union apprenticeship efforts and urged “partner[ing] and connect[ing] job seeker to skills and training” while preserving merit rules. “If the city is serious about staffing, let's partner and connect job seeker to skills and training and enter a qualified and dedicated workforce,” she said.

City HR officials cautioned that permanent civil-service appointments remain governed by Civil Service Commission rules and that any changes need to respect open, competitive requirements; they proposed continuous testing and more frequent practical-exam schedules as one way to keep eligible lists populated.

Public commenters urged faster hiring and clearer career pathways for corridor workers; one caller identified as a corridor worker said they were seeking opportunities to advance beyond temporary assignments. Another caller urged a broader hearing on citywide DHR processes and raised questions about recent high-level job postings during an organizational split.

Outcome and next steps
The sponsor said he will form a cross‑agency working group — inviting DPW, the City Administrator’s Office, the Department of Human Resources and representative labor — to pursue expedited hiring strategies and to report back in a few months. The committee voted to continue the matter to the call of the chair for future follow up.

Why it matters
Public Works’ operations staff deliver street cleaning, graffiti abatement, tree care and other frontline services used daily by residents and businesses. Managers and supervisors told the committee that operating with roughly one-third of funded positions vacant strains existing crews, reduces service responsiveness and increases pressure on remaining staff.

Numbers and caveats
DPW presented a snapshot showing 257 vacancies in the operations bureau and an operations vacancy rate of 33.8% (the department also reported an internal number of 29.8% in a related data run). Officials said some positions are intentionally left vacant because they are project‑funded or temporary; Robertson said 45 of the listed positions are project-funded and that short-term corridor hires are not counted in the vacancy total. Where figures appeared inconsistent in the record, this article reports the numbers as presented by DPW to the committee.