Updated at 4:37 p.m. to correct the spelling of Samantha Reagen's name. After weighing in on a compensation analysis they said fell short of expectations, county supervisors learned that Del Norte’s overall vacancy rate is 25%. Out of a total of 482 positions countywide, 121 are empty, Human Resources Director Kerri Vue said last week. This represents a significant staffing shortage that is more pronounced in the Social Services and Behavioral Health branches of the Department of Health and Human Services as well as the District Attorney, Probation and Sheriff’s Offices, she said. “We also see several smaller, yet important, single vacancies across various departments such as the administrative office, animal control, the assessor and the auditor-controller,” she said. “All these numbers are smaller, [but] each vacancy represents a critical gap in a specific function, potentially impacting efficacy and the ability to meet department objectives.” Vue presented these statistics to supervisors last Tuesday after a compensation analysis prepared by Gallagher showed that, overall, Del Norte County workers’ base salaries were 10% below the market median. In response, Del Norte County Employees Association SEIU 1021 President Norma Williams said the dearth in filled positions is largely the result of low take home pay, a lack of affordable housing, medical providers, shopping options and other amenities. Representatives of the Mid Management bargaining group stated that Vue’s presentation showed inconsistent data. They also argued that they’re working in a situation that is “not equitable and is bad for morale” since SEIU 1021 workers in some positions earn as much or more than mid-level managers. “Our group has not received a cost of living adjustment in 2025 while other groups have received an increase,” said Samantha Reagan Reagen, vice president of the Mid Management bargaining group, which prepared a joint letter in response to Vue’s presentation. “We last negotiated our MOU with the county [with] the understanding that the salary study would be done and implemented by the end of our extension, which was June of 2025. The cost of living has steadily increased and yet wages have not kept pace.” Vue’s presentation and the public hearing county supervisors held last week are part of an amendment to the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, which took effect on Jan. 1. Assembly Bill 2561 requires public agencies to present their vacancy rate as well as their recruitment and retention efforts at a public hearing at least once per fiscal year. The agency’s employee associations are also permitted to present at the public hearing. According to Vue, the metrics she presented represent the calendar year from September 2024 to August 2025. She also said that despite the 25% vacancy rate, Del Norte County hired 138 new employees over the past year, which represents a 25% increase over the previous calendar year. Eighty-six employees left Del Norte County between September 2024 and August 2025, Vue said. This is a 20% reduction from the 108 employees who left the county the previous calendar year, she said. “This positive trend indicates a marked improvement in employee retention overall and it suggests that our efforts are yielding tangible results,” she said. “Lowering turnover not only stabilizes our work force, but reduces costs associated with recruitment and training new staff.” Del Norte also received a total of 1,657 new applications between September 2024 and August 2025, Vue said. Of the county’s three main bargaining groups, the vacancy rate is greatest in SEIU 1021 at 33.99%, according to Vue’s presentation. Sheriff’s Employees Association came in second with a vacancy rate of 16.13% and the Mid Management Group’s vacancy rate was 7.58%, according to Vue’s presentation. As far as the county’s departments, the Social Services Branch had the most vacancies with 24 empty SEIU positions and two empty Mid Management positions, according to Vue’s presentation. Behavioral Health had 24 vacant SEIU positions and one vacant Mid Management position and Public Health had 10 vacant SEIU 1021 positions. There are nine vacant SEIU 1021 positions in the Del Norte County Probation Department and one vacant Mid Management position. There are seven vacant SEIU 1021 positions in the District Attorney’s Office and eight vacancies within the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office’s jail unit. Those eight employees are represented by the Sheriff’s Employees Association. According to Reagan’s letter, however, the list of Mid Management members the bargaining group was asked to review included two employees that were not part of the group. Of the 59 Mid Management group positions, seven are vacant, she said. In the Mid Management Group’s letter, the authors refer to a 2% salary increase SEIU employees received in September 2024 and an additional 5% increase its members received in March 2025. Historically, Mid Management employees have received an additional week of vacation time compared to SEIU employees, according to the letter, however “with the recent increase in vacation for line staff, that benefit has been erased.” The Mid Management Group also points out that the Board of Supervisors has hired entry-level employees at steps higher in the salary range. “These things hurt morale across our entire group, which affects every department,” Reagan said, reading from the letter. “Through each round of negotiations, our group feels the benefits of being in the Mid Management Group have continued to decrease.” Williams used the 10 minutes SEIU 1021 was given to respond to Vue’s presentation by also speaking to the compensation analysis Gallagher consultants Kari Mercer and Georg Krammer discussed with supervisors earlier on Tuesday. Though the Gallagher report showed that overall compensation in Del Norte County was 2.1% above the market median, Williams noted that it’s take-home pay that the association’s membership is concerned with. She gave supervisors a list of SEIU positions that have below-market wages — including a Behavioral Health program coordinator whose salary is 36.6% below market median — and argued that the county's failure to offer a livable wage is why there’s a staffing shortage. Williams added that supervisors should be just as concerned about the number of people who don’t make it through the hiring process as the vacancy rate itself. According to her, 75 people failed to show up for scheduled job interviews while 78 candidates withdrew their job applications. “The numbers given to SEIU as of [Sept. 5] tell a somewhat different story,” Williams said. “Six-hundred and fifteen applications accepted interviews out of which 64 withdrew, 20 no responses and 20 no shows. Even out of the 129 who accepted offers, 64 withdrew. These figures, however, do not tell you how many voluntarily left during their probationary period either because of the low take-home wage and/or the inability to find affordable housing to meet those salaries among other high costs.” Donna Rushing, a 20-year employee, said she’d hate to have to leave Del Norte to find other work at this point in her career. There was a time when she and other Mid Management employees would receive personalized recognition, including presentation dinners. There was also a time when employees had to jump through hoops to work for the county. Rushing said she hoped the county could bargain with the Mid Management Group in good faith and show that they’re respected. “I am one of your loyal employees,” she said. “I worked my way up and I showed my loyalty, so I hope you guys can show it back.” d992435b-69b2-4b21-b440-7470a68e3a8fDownload