San Diego Civil Service Commission Meeting Summary - December 5, 2025
San Diego Civil Service Commission Meeting Summary - December 5, 2025
The San Diego Civil Service Commission convened on December 5, 2025, to review appeals in closed session, vote on the consent calendar, and deliberate on specific personnel actions including salary adjustments and new classification requests. Commissioner Portillo presided, with Commissioners Freeman, Merrill, and Moore present; Commissioner Fenn was absent. The meeting addressed critical retention and recruitment challenges within the parking enforcement division, personal leave extensions, and fiscal constraints affecting hiring timelines.
Consent Calendar
- Unanimously approved minutes from the November 6, 2025, commission meeting as a routine action.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Courtney Skillman (Appellant): Spoke in support of her own request for a one-year extension of leave without pay ending January 14, 2027. She expressed that her premature born daughter requires ongoing medical care and NICU follow-ups, necessitating the extra time to ensure stability before returning to work.
- Salawi Sadana (Appellant): Expressed strong support for continuing his disciplinary appeal. He argued that he was wrongfully terminated without evidence, stating he was an outstanding employee with no prior write-ups who was fired after filing a grievance against a supervisor regarding time fraud.
Discussion Items
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Special Salary Adjustment for Parking Enforcement Officers (Item 10a):
- Staff Position: Recommended denial of the 10% special salary adjustment (SSA) request. Personnel Director David Dallagar stated that recruitment data showed no turnover problems for the PEO classification and noted that San Diego already pays higher than local agencies, despite recruiting difficulties.
- Union/Department Position: Nick Wright (MEA) and Department Command Staff expressed full support for the 10% SSA and the creation of a "Parking Enforcement Officer Trainee" classification. They argued that comparing San Diego salaries to other municipalities is inaccurate due to unique duties (e.g., vehicle towing, special events). They stated that the primary issue is retention, noting that officers are leaving for Co-Compliance Officer positions within the same city that pay more for similar work. They emphasized the financial loss to the General Fund ($600,000 per vacant officer annually) caused by high turnover.
- Commission Deliberation: Commissioners expressed concern that the standard comparative analysis failed to account for the unique complexity of the role and the significant loss of revenue. Commissioner Merrill noted that the situation involves twice the quits in the last three years and persuaded the commission to override the staff recommendation.
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Leave Without Pay Extension (Item 8):
- Applicant Position: Courtney Skillman sought a one-year leave extension to care for her medically fragile child.
- Department Position: Deputy Director Adam Jones of the Public Utilities Department expressed concern about operational challenges and budget constraints, noting three other employees in her section have left recently. He recommended modifying the request to place her on the eligible list rather than extending the leave for a full year to allow for recruitment.
- Commission Deliberation: Commissioners acknowledged the difficulty of the situation but prioritized the employee's ability to return fully focused when her child is stable.
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Dismissal of Appeal (Item 9):
- Staff Position: The City Attorney recommended dismissing the appeal of Salawi Sadana because he failed to appear at the scheduled hearing despite receiving certified mail and email notices. Staff emphasized the significant costs incurred by witnesses and court reporters for unattended hearings.
- Appellant Response: The appellant claimed he was unaware of the specific scheduling for the most recent meeting (though he received notices) and blamed previous rescheduling delays caused by the city. He requested to continue the appeal.
- Commission Deliberation: Despite the appellant's explanation, the commission adhered to the rules regarding the failure to appear after proper notice was established.
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New Classification: Digital Equity Specialist (Item 10b):
- Staff Position: Recommended approval for a new series to provide digital navigation services.
- Public/Department: Department of IT provided background on the role's function.
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New Classification: Junior Engineer Corrosion (Item 10c):
- Staff Position: Recommended approving a new entry-level classification to address high dropout rates in the engineering program caused by a lack of specific fit in the existing "Junior Engineer Electrical" series.
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Personnel Director Report (Item 11):
- Hiring Freezes & RTF Process: Personnel Director David Dallagar reported on the reinstatement of the Request to Fill (RTF) process, requiring mayoral approval for new hires due to budget deficits. He expressed that this would extend hiring timelines and increase vacancies.
- Commission Concern: Commissioners expressed support for recruitment but warned that retaining staff is equally critical. They voiced concern that a "more with less" culture and extended vacancies could degrade morale and turn the city into a "training ground" for other agencies.
Key Outcomes
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Closed Session Appeals:
- Jade Atkins (Records Management Analyst) appeal: Denied unanimously (4-0).
- Brandon L. Burns (Safety Officer) appeal: Denied due to lack of majority (2-2 tie, with Portillo and Moore voting no).
- Step & Glover (Sanitation Driver) appeal: Deferred to the next meeting (4-0, Fenn absent).
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Payroll & Classifications:
- Adopted a motion to create the "Parking Enforcement Officer Trainee" classification and approve the 10% Special Salary Adjustment for the Parking Enforcement Officer series, overriding the initial staff recommendation. The vote was unanimous (3-0, Portillo voting yes).
- Approved the creation of the "Digital Equity Specialist" classification series unanimously.
- Approved the creation of the "Junior Engineer Corrosion" classification series unanimously.
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Personal Actions:
- Granted Courtney Skillman a one-year Special Leave Without Pay ending January 14, 2027 (Unanimous).
- Granted the motion to dismiss Salawi Sadana's disciplinary appeal unanimously.
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Administrative Directives:
- Commission instructed Staff to include standing items or clear statuses for ongoing policies (e.g., Fingerprinting AR) in future reports and to document responses to department requests in the minutes.
- Personnel Director directed that all Request to Fill (RTF) requests be submitted to chain of command and Mayor within 48 hours.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome to the civil service commission meeting. I'm Commissioner President Nico Portillo. We're going to do a roll call to confirm commissioner attendance. When I call your name, please see present. Commissioner Freeman. President. Commissioner Mayor. Commissioner Moore. Commissioner Fenn is absent. If you're attending has been noticed. Also joining us today our personal personnel director, David Dallagar, assistant to a personnel director and assistant personnel director and senior deputy city attorney David Carmen and the assistant to the personnel director, Sabah. There are three items on this afternoon's closed agenda. And Brandon L Bird approving their conviction record disqualification for the position of safety office. And is there anyone who wishes to make a public comment on an item on the closed session agenda? We will take the personal public comment first and move to the public comment. No public comment. Commissioner Freeman. Commissioner Merrill. Commissioner Moore. Present. Commissioner is absent. Thank you. Your ambitious denoted joining us today. Our personnel director, David Dallager, assistant personnel director, and Rahina Bahn, Senior Deputy City Attorney Dave Cardiff and assistant to the personnel director. Sabal meeting. All right. Commissioner Freeman. This could be by written by the oh okay. All right. You can't miss no you you need two. Oh, I need two. President Ratio received four votes for presidents to continue on. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. Do we have any um anybody who wants to make a motion or uh uh what do you call it? Um select anybody. I'll move to nominate four to continue. I'll second that. Thank you. Um like everybody to nominate four to continue I'll second that yeah with the four votes to continue on as I vote records it uh thank you I do have actually this just appear to right now um appoint reporter uh um we can't have secret votes right like that's a that's just a written vote so they want to be written no how everybody voted they can but it happens to be analogous no problem but it's not it's not received okay no yes that would be super illegal being the brown ass that's true for the venture for give you okay um item three report from closed session solar uh items for closed session public employment appeal of employment disqualifications pursuant to California government code section five four nine five seven v1 number one jade atkins appealing the rejection of their application for the position of records management analyst motion to deny the appeal cost four to zero with commissioner item two brandon l Burns appealing their conviction record disqualification for the position of safety officer motion to grant the appeal vote was two to two with commissioner portillo and commissioner more voting no the motion fails for lack of majority the appeal is denied public employment appeal of disciplinary appeal pursuant to California government code section 54957 v1 step and glover appealing their termination for the position of sanitation driver two motion uh motion to trail the matter for the next meeting passed four to zero with commissioner fan absent thank you we will now move on to non agenda of the comment is there anybody who wishes to make a public comment on an item not public agenda which is in the pro view of the civil services anybody Brandon anybody uh no public comment on zone okay thank you we'll move on to the consent agenda would anybody like to make these motion to approve the consent agenda items four through seven which includes the minutes from November 6 2025 commission meet to approve I'll second we now have a motion and a second is there any discussion okay we'll go ahead and take a vote public comment sorry public comment um we'll go ahead and take a vote uh please yes no or abstain uh commissioner freeman yes commissioner merryl yes commissioner more yes and I am a yes uh passes me now um what I wanted to do if it's okay with everybody um bring up uh move item 10 3 uh for uh move it up to um right now so we can discuss it right now if there uh I understand there's uh badges in the item up so they can get going no objection okay uh go ahead um good afternoon commissioners Jennifer Lama's you know with staff item 10 is the final set of staff recommendations on special salary adjustments title changes the creation of move tree classifications and classification deletions as we articulate our memo to you staff reviewed these requests based on the criteria described in charter section 130 on September 4th 2025 the commission directed staff to study salary proposals for the fiscal year 2027 salary ordinance today we are making recommendations on three proposals staff and the requesters are available in case the commission has any questions sub item three is a request from the police department and MEA to create a new entry level parking enforcement recruitment classification and a special salary adjustment of 10% for the parking enforcement officer classification series based on turnover and recruiting problems. Staff recommends creating a separate classification of parking enforcement officer training, which is currently an option title off the special event traffic controller one classification to remain at the current monthly salary of approximately $4,884. Staff also recommends that the personnel manual index code D3 be updated to allow the new classification of parking enforcement officer trainee to underfill the parking enforcement officer one classification. However, staff recommends denial of the request for a special salary adjustment. A staff has reviewed the recruitment data and finds that although the city is experiencing a recruiting problem with the parking enforcement officer two classification. The city of San Diego pays more than local agencies. No turnover problems were found. Their requesters have submitted a rebuttal for their requests, which has been provided to NEA is here to make you aware of their concerns, and I'm happy to answer any questions to make.
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