Sacramento County Workforce Diversity Committee Meeting - August 28, 2024
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Sacramento County Workforce Diversity Committee Meeting - August 28, 2024
The meeting was called to order at 3:30 PM by the acting chairperson. Roll call was taken with several members present; absences of Amanda, Lieutenant Hodgkins, and Martin were approved (with one abstention). Minutes from July 22, 2024, were approved (with one abstention). A guest, Monica, introduced herself as an interested observer. The meeting focused on reviewing annual workforce statistics reports for multiple county departments, with discussion on representation, recruitment challenges, and complaint data. Guest speaker Troy, Director of Community Development, provided an overview of his department and its hiring difficulties.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Monica introduced herself and expressed interest in learning about and supporting the committee's work.
Discussion Items
- Guest Speaker: Troy (Director of Community Development) : Troy described the department (400+ FTEs across five divisions, including planning, building permits, engineering, code enforcement). He noted that positions like construction and building inspectors require journey-level trade experience, which narrows the applicant pool. The department is working with DPS to revise job specifications and is reaching out to professional associations (e.g., Hispanic Engineers Association, Women in Transportation) and local colleges (e.g., Cosumnes River College). Patrick Hunter asked about vacancy rates; Troy replied that planning has about a 28% vacancy rate and promised to provide specific numbers for other divisions.
- Department of Finance (2024 workforce stats) : Presented by staff. In 2024, Finance had 216 employees: 63.4% minority and 61.6% female. Breakdown by job category, hires/terminations, promotions, and five EEO complaints (two complaints with multiple allegations) were reviewed. No questions asked.
- Animal Care Services (2023 workforce stats) : In 2023, the department had 51 employees: 35.3% minority and 76.5% female. Patrick Hunter noted that minority representation was lower than the 2020 census benchmarks and asked about recruitment initiatives. The department representative (unnamed) stated that recruitment follows standard county processes plus active social media posts (Facebook, Instagram) for animal care positions. She added that animal control officer positions are especially hard to fill; the department has 67 FTEs currently, with about 61 filled.
- Sheriff's Department (2023 and 2024 workforce stats) : In 2024, the Sheriff's Department had 2,002 employees: 41.2% minority and 31.8% female. Protective services accounted for the largest job category. The department reported five EEO complaints in both 2023 and 2024. Several committee members (including the chair) expressed doubt that only five complaints existed among 1,800+ employees, suggesting that internal affairs may handle a broader range of complaints not captured in EEO data. The committee requested a representative from the Sheriff's Department to attend a future meeting to explain their complaint process.
- Airport (2023 and 2024 workforce stats) : In 2024, the Airport had 322 employees: 53.7% minority and 29.5% female. Service maintenance was the largest job category. Questions arose about the difference between filled and allocated positions. Staff referenced a dashboard showing 370 total positions and 21 vacancies.
- Probation Department (2023 and 2024 workforce stats) : In 2024, Probation had 644 employees: 65.1% minority and 51.7% female. Protective services dominated the workforce. Patrick Hunter recalled that Probation’s former committee member (Marlon) stated the department aims to mirror the demographics of the population it serves. The committee noted Probation had only one EEO complaint in 2024 and discussed how its model could be replicated elsewhere.
Key Outcomes
- The committee approved member absences and the July 22 meeting minutes.
- Troy (Community Development) was asked to provide detailed vacancy data by division via email.
- The committee formally requested a representative from the Sheriff’s Department to speak at a future meeting about how EEO and other complaints are investigated and documented.
- Upcoming meetings: September 23, 2024, will feature presentations from Stephanie Jackson (DEI office) and Chad Ren (Finance Director).
- A motion to adjourn was made and seconded; the meeting ended after discussion of budget positions.
Meeting Transcript
Do you have quorum? Richard? Yes. So we do have forum. Start the meeting? Yeah. I call the meeting to order at 3 30. I'm acting chairperson today. And his absent. So please be patient with me if I miss anything, please correct me along the way. Can we do roll call? Yes. Jennifer. Thank you. Annette? Present. And Amanda and Lieutenant Hodgkins are not joining today as well as Martin. Um Patrick? Thank you. And oh hang's not here yet. Um doesn't look like Paula's online yet. And Russia is here. Thank you. And so we have Cora. Thank you. Do we have any guest introductions? There is Monica. Monica, do you want to introduce yourself? Monica's online. Hi. Hello. My name's Monica. I um am interested in joining in on these meetings and just learning as much as I can and supporting how I can, but I'm excited to be in this meeting with everyone today. So hello. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Monica. And then for the agenda is the approval of member absences. Do we have any absolute proof that we need to approve? We do. Amanda, Lieutenant Hodgkins, and Martin all notified us ahead of time. So I need a motion to approve. Who is first? I'm sorry. Okay. I need a pen that worked. And you want to do a roll call or all in favor? All in favor. I don't mean to be a pain, but I can't find any pen that worked. Thank you. So we're on item number three, approval of the meeting minutes.
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