To: Board of Supervisors
From: Sheriff
Agenda Section: Consent
Vote Requirement: Majority
SUBJECT:
title
Exception to Hiring Freeze for Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) Administrative Secretary Position
end
RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Approve an exception to the hiring freeze for 1.0 FTE Administrative Secretary (Class 0164) for fiscal year (FY) 2024-25.
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STRATEGIC PLAN:
This action supports the following areas of your Board’s Strategic Plan.
Area of Focus: Core Services/Other
Strategic Plan Category: 3003 - Enhance employee recruitment and retention
DISCUSSION:
On June 4, 2024, your Board approved a hiring freeze for FY 2024-25 for any budget unit that was granted an Additional Request for General Fund Allocation (ARGFA). HCSO’s budget 1100-221 Sheriff Operations received an ARGFA and therefore is subject to the hiring freeze.
Due to budget concerns, HCSO has deallocated 37 positions department wide over the last 2 budget cycles. Of those 37 positions, 3 were Administrative Secretaries. For FY 2024-25, HCSO has 8.0 FTE Administrative Secretary positions allocated in Budget Unit 1100-221 Sheriff Operations. They are assigned to the below divisions/locations.
As of August 19, 2024, one of the Administrative Secretaries in the Records Division has promoted to Emergency Communications Dispatcher leaving a vacancy in the Records Division. The Records Division located at HCSO’s Main Station at the County Courthouse is the busiest HCSO location open to the public. In addition to handling all duties related to the Records Division they also back-up the Civil Division that only has 1.0 Sr. Legal Office Services position. The Administrative Secretaries are responsible for the majority of the data entry and reporting needed to stay in compliance with the Department of Justice, Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, and Standard and Training for Corrections. Although HCSO has reduced its public hours on Fridays, the efficiency gained by that closure is not enough to reduce an FTE. HCSO has evaluated its civilian staffing and further reductions to the Administrative Secretary classification are not possible without further reduction in services to the public. For this reason, HCSO is requesting an exception to the hiring freeze to recruit an Administrative Secretary to avoid reduction of services to the public.
Should your Board not approve this exception to the hiring freeze for 1.0 FTE Administrative Secretary, then the alternative is to close the Garberville or McKinleyville Station to the public and move that Administrative Secretary to the Records Division at Main Station at the Courthouse to support that busy location. The Garberville Station is the least busy station in terms of the public coming to the office for assistance, however it is also the only station in Southern Humboldt. Closing the Garberville Station to the public would mean residents would have to travel to Eureka for records services. McKinleyville Station is busier but is closer to the HCSO Main Station. Neither alternative is ideal. Should your Board not approve this exception to the hiring freeze, then staff seek your direction as to which outstation to close to the public in order to support Main Station.
SOURCE OF FUNDING:
General Fund (1100)
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Should your Board approve the exception to the hiring freeze, there would be no negative financial impact in FY 2024-25 as the position that HCSO is requesting a hiring freeze exception was funded in this fiscal year at a Step B. It is possible that the replacement candidate would be a lower step and/or lower health insurance rate which would result in a savings. Should your Board not approve the exception and effectively freeze this 1.0 FTE Administrative Secretary position, it would result in a cost savings of $77,698/annually.
STAFFING IMPACT:
There is no negative staff impact for approving this action. HCSO is not requesting any additional positions. Should your Board not approve this action, then it would result in 1.0 FTE Administrative Secretary from either Garberville or McKinleyville being relocated to Eureka.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
None
ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
Your Board could deny this request for an exception to the hiring freeze for the 1.0 FTE Administrative Secretary position. However, this is not recommended as it would result in closing either the Garberville Station or McKinleyville Station to the public and relocate that Administrative Secretary to the Main Station at the Courthouse in Eureka.
ATTACHMENTS:
None
PREVIOUS ACTION/REFERRAL:
Meeting of: June 4, 2024
File No.: 24-902