The RPA Blog copied below includes the following, with which I agree:

Richmond currently has 123 vacant full-time employee (FTE) positions and six vacant part-time positions. This means that roughly one-sixth of our city government functions have been deemed inessential by city management.

These extensive vacancies need to be resolved immediately. The extent of hiring negligence reveals a disregard for the well-being of city staff. Critical government tasks cannot go entirely ignored, simply because no one has been hired to perform them. Instead, the work is shoved onto city workers who must fulfill their role and more, without extra pay, and with the thankless scrutiny of city management and residents alike. Here, the Mayor is right: morale is understandably low. 

• At the end of the day, the responsibility for recruitment and staffing ultimately falls to the city manager. It’s no secret that I have lost confidence in her ability to perform. I tried to terminate her, but the RPA City Council majority blocked it. The RPA City Council members cite, “the long-running RPA efforts to exert pressure on her and to interview community members, city staff, and department heads to figure out what’s truly needed to restore city services and recruit top talent from Richmond itself.” But that has shown no results. Things just keep getting worse.
• It is undisputed that RPA City Council members have adversely impacted the morale of the RPD, contributed to growing vacancies and impeded recruitment by their demonization of police and promoting the radical recommendations of the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force.
• With their laissez faire attitude towards quality of life issues like arrests, sideshows, street sweeping parking enforcement, and homeless encampments, the RPA City Council members have discouraged and lowered the morale of employees who want to be responsive to the public and clean up the city. City employees have become whipsawed between the RPA agenda and the desires of the majority of residents.
• Despite the RPA protestations about lack of hiring, at the October 5, 2021, City Council meeting, Council Member Martinez moved to chop the requested authorization for recruitment consultants in half, further tying the hands of the Human Resources Department.

Although not a staffing issue, the RPA Blog commented on restaurants with a left-handed jab at the Community Development Department. The RPA City Council members are not being honest about issues such as restaurants. the RPA Blog states, “When Councilmembers Jiménez and Willis led a community survey of restaurant owners in their districts to understand the impacts of COVID-19 and publicize a grant for eateries available in the American Rescue Plan Act, proprietors widely cited their years-long frustration with the thinly staffed Permitting Department, and how their inability to reach the office resulted in significant revenue loss.” Other organizations, such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Richmond Main Street Initiative conducted even more comprehensive surveys, and they found out that the reluctance of restaurants to apply for PPP grants included issues like:

• Many restaurants are family owned and take liberties with wages and taxes. They don’t want to get in a position of the government looking too closely at their books.
• Many restaurants are either owned by or employ undocumented persons. They don’t want to get in a position of the government looking too closely at their employees.
• Some restaurants actually made more money during COVID-19 and therefore did not qualify for PPP loans.
• The principle permitting issue with restaurants is Contra Costa County, not the City of Richmond. Restaurants must get two permits, one from the Contra Costa Department of Health Services and one from the City. The latter is usually quicker and easier.

In the last couple of days, HR staff has provided more information about the 123 unfilled positions. While some positions may be in the process of being filled, many are simply not being addressed. Of particular concern is the Richmond Housing Authority (RHA), which has unfilled budgeted positions since last year. On October 5, 2021, Benjamin Palmer of HUD wrote:

As you know, PHAs submit annual financial statements to HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) in electronic format utilizing a HUD-prescribed Financial Data
Schedule (FDS) through a web-based system known as the Financial Assessment Sub-system for Public Housing (FASS-PH).

The FDS includes the balance sheet along with the revenue and expense activity of each program or activity of the PHA. This FDS must be prepared in accordance
with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

PHAs must develop and maintain a system of budgeting and accounting for each project in a manner that allows for analysis of the actual revenues and expenses associated with each property.
Financial statements are the responsibility of management and not the auditor.

As mentioned on our call, with only one (1) Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employee, RHA management continues to struggle to comply with 24 CFR §990.255 to efficiently and effectively manage its public housing assets.

Additional FTE housing authority staff will enable RHA to successfully implement project-based management, project-based budgeting and project-based accounting.

The status of RHA positions provided by HR on October 5, 2021, is shown below:

There were specific questions about the Housing Authority vacancies.  Here is a snapshot of the vacancies and the status of recruitments:

Detailed information about unfilled positions provided by HR is as follows:

NOTES: 
·      this information changes frequently as we complete recruitment activities and employees are hired or promoted
·      Some vacancies are for the same job classification (e.g., 3 Maintenance Worker II positions)
·      Many current vacancies may be filled through promotion, resulting in a new vacancy.  (In 2020 calendar year, 39 employees were promoted)
·      The August 2021 unemployment rate in Contra Costa County is 6.5% and 7.5% for the State – hiring well qualified individuals is harder when the unemployment rate is lower

As of September 28th, the recruitment status of vacancies is:

        Number of Positions and Activity                                                                                  
           25*       we are presently accepting applications
           35         in the selection and interview process
           16*       a recruitment is to be opened
             5         the staffing requisitions are in the review/approval process
             5         job offers have been extended or are in reference checking
             3         had a failed recruitment (applicant declined job or no offers extended)
           23         a staffing requisition has not been submitted
            11         under review for a classification change, etc.

*12 Police Officer positions were coded as “a recruitment is to be opened”; however, the City is currently accepting applications for Police Officer and these 12 positions are reflected in the “we are presently accepting applications” line.

The 23 positions in which a department has not submitted a staffing requisition:

             4         positions in Employment & Training
             5         positions in Fire
             1         position in Information Technology
             1         position in Library
             2         positions in Planning & Building
             4         positions in Police^
             1         position in Port
             1         position in Public Works
             1         position in Rent Control
             1         position at the Housing Authority
             2         positions in Water Resource Recovery

^3 positions necessitate a meet/confer process

The 16 positions in which a recruitment is to be opened warrants further explanation:

             5         positions will open this week
             3         positions have current eligible lists which will be reviewed by departments
             2         positions are on hold while the department & HR develop a performance test
             1         position is in the selection and interview process
             5         positions need a recruitment plan

Lastly, I was asked how long each vacancy has existed.  This information is presently not collected as part of the staffing requisition approval process.  About three weeks ago, staff from Finance, Human Resources and Information Technology began a process improvement project of looking at our staffing requisition approval process and I will ask that they consider including for future requisitions adding a field for when the vacancy occurred.

I am available by cell at (707) 479-9231 if there are any questions.
 

-Marc Fox

The RPA Blog:

Where Is Everybody? Don't Ask The Mayor

On September 23, Councilmember Claudia Jiménez asked City Staff to provide her, along with the rest of Council and Mayor Tom Butt, a full list of vacant positions in Richmond’s city government. The vacancies chart returned to Councilwoman Jiménez confirms what Richmond residents already knew: our city is inexcusably understaffed.

Vacancies are both fulltime and part-time positions that have already been budgeted for in this fiscal year. The money has already been set aside for these future employees. When the positions remain unfilled by the City Manager, the cash budgeted for these positions stays tied up; it cannot be moved elsewhere without formal budget amendments or until the next year’s fiscal budget is approved. 

Richmond currently has 123 vacant full-time employee (FTE) positions and six vacant part-time positions. This means that roughly one-sixth of our city government functions have been deemed inessential by city management.

Mayor Butt appears more interested in political mudslinging than in contending with the formidable issue of an understaffed city government. He claims that the progressive majority on City Council has prevented recruitment, vaguely citing such causes as “a penchant to launch extensive and expensive investigations of City employees with little justification” for deterring applicants from applying. 

The timeline tells a different story from the Mayor’s claims about the current City Council.

For one, these vacant positions have gone unadvertised for months, often over a year. There is no way for people to know these positions are available; there is no way for people to apply to applications that don’t exist. To claim that “the public service grapevine” discourages potential applicants is sheer speculation, as there have been few opportunities to apply anywhere in the first place.   

The vacancies issue has plagued the Tom Butt administration. The Richmond Housing Authority, which manages affordable, public housing in Richmond, has six vacant full-time positions of the budgeted seven; this has been the case for 18 months. The Finance Department, which oversees the fiscal functions of our city, has over 20% of its budgeted positions unfilled. Interim directors have remained at the head of multiple departments, some for over a year.

When Councilmembers Jiménez and Willis led a community survey of restaurant owners in their districts to understand the impacts of COVID-19 and publicize a grant for eateries available in the American Rescue Plan Act, proprietors widely cited their years-long frustration with the thinly staffed Permitting Department, and how their inability to reach the office resulted in significant revenue loss. 

To blame the progressive majority for this understaffing is, in short, a lethargic attempt to sloppily explain what’s gone on under the Mayor’s nose for years. 

These extensive vacancies need to be resolved immediately. The extent of hiring negligence reveals a disregard for the well-being of city staff. Critical government tasks cannot go entirely ignored, simply because no one has been hired to perform them. Instead, the work is shoved onto city workers who must fulfill their role and more, without extra pay, and with the thankless scrutiny of city management and residents alike. Here, the Mayor is right: morale is understandably low. 

Now that this issue has been brought to the Mayor’s attention thanks to Councilmember Jiménez, the Mayor needs to redirect his ire into productive work for Richmond. Hiring is orchestrated by City Manager Laura Snideman, and the Mayor can join the long-running RPA efforts to exert pressure on her and to interview community members, city staff, and department heads to figure out what’s truly needed to restore city services and recruit top talent from Richmond itself.