Daly City presents mandated AB 2561 report on vacancies, recruitment and retention

At the May 26 meeting Human Resources Director Natalie Sakau presented the city’s required Assembly Bill 2561 report (Gov. Code §3502.3) summarizing vacancies, recruitment and retention activity for fiscal year 2026.

Key numbers: Daly City has 366 budgeted full‑time positions (excludes unrepresented/executive staff). Between July 1, 2025 and April 30, 2026 the city recorded 22 positions created as vacancies; five of those were filled during the period and 17 remained open as of April 30. The average calendar days to fill an open external recruitment was reported as 46 days; internal‑only recruitments averaged 33 days. The average percent of vacancies at month‑end was 3.01% (highest 4.64%, lowest 0.27%).

Recruitment and retention steps: Sakau said the city uses CalOpps for all postings, supplements outreach with social media and local community events, and has expanded targeted programs: a water/wastewater operator training pipeline, internships, bilingual pay/longevity for specialized staff and a police recruitment team that engages candidates at community and pre‑academy events. Chief Cameron Christensen described police hiring complexities — background checks, academy attrition and a roughly year‑long timeframe from application to solo patrol for new officers — and highlighted community‑based recruiting and the creation of civilian and support roles to offset officer workload.

Why it matters: The presentation fulfills the new statute’s annual reporting requirement and gives the council a snapshot of staffing pressures and efforts to shorten hire cycles. Sakau said no bargaining unit exceeded the 20% vacancy threshold for positions created in FY26; some units exceeded 20% only when counting total currently open positions. Council asked for continued focus on operator pipelines, community college partnerships and exit interviews (currently voluntary) to understand reasons for turnover.