DINUBA – Continued vacancies and high turnover rates within Dinuba’s public safety departments have union representatives urging the city council to act.
As required by a new state law that went into effect this year, the Dinuba City Council held a public hearing on May 27 to report and address vacancies in budgeted staff positions. The city’s overall vacancy rate as of May 1 was 6.6%, reflecting 10 vacancies out of 151 budgeted positions. Of those 10 vacancies, eight are within the fire department.
“The city of Dinuba fire department’s current staffing situation is dire,” said Ryan Wilson, fire captain and Dinuba Firefighters’ Association representative. “The turnover rate of our membership has resulted in a non-sustainable staffing level. While the Dinuba firefighters do not hold any discontent for our past members that moved on, … it has left the Dinuba Fire Department with a hole that struggles to fill on a very continuous basis.”
Vacancies reported at the public hearing included the eight within the Dinuba Firefighters’ Association (DFA), one within the Dinuba City Employees’ Association and one within the Dinuba Police Officers’ Association (DPOA). Cities must now report their vacancy rates at least once every fiscal year prior to adopting their budgets after the passage of Assembly Bill 2561 last year.
While the Employees’ Association vacancy rate was just 1.7%, with 58 budgeted positions, and the DPOA vacancy rate was 2.3%, with 43 budgeted positions, the DFA recorded a vacancy rate of 24.2%, with 33 budgeted positions.
Wilson, speaking during the public hearing, shared additional data and back stories related to that vacancy rate. He said that since May 2022, the association has lost 16 members to other agencies, not counting retirees or members who were promoted to a managerial position outside of the association.
“Luckily, the ambulances were in town on the night of the Haden fire,” Wilson said. “Otherwise, these numbers would be reflected in civilian casualties; that is simply math.”
Competitive pay
On top of reporting vacancy rates, AB 2561 requires cities to publish additional recruitment and retention information if they have any employee groups with a vacancy rate above 20%. This includes the specific positions that have vacancies, the number of job applications the city has received for those positions and the average time it takes to fill the position.
Four different positions within the fire department have vacancies. The engineer/paramedic and firefighter/paramedic positions have one vacancy each, and the firefighter/EMT and single-role paramedic positions have three vacancies each.
Dinuba reported a low of just three applicants for the engineer/paramedic position and a high of 45 applicants for the single-role paramedic position. The average time taken to hire for the open roles has spanned from 45 days for the engineer/paramedic to 104 days for the single-role paramedic.
“The lack of applicants really does not come as a surprise when you consider that a firefighter for the city of Visalia makes more than a fire captain does for the city, a two rank difference,” Wilson said.
According to the city of Visalia’s salary schedule for fiscal year 2024-25, single-role firefighters can make between $80,500 and $101,000 annually. A fire captain in Dinuba can earn between $91,000 and $110,000 annually, according to the city of Dinuba’s 2024-25 salary schedule.
Also in Dinuba, where single-role firefighters are not included as a full-time employee position, firefighter/EMTs can earn between $65,000 and $79,000 annually and firefighter/paramedics can earn between $75,400 and $91,700. The firefighter/paramedic role in Visalia earns between $88,800 and $111,500 annually, and the fire captain role can earn between $104,000 and $130,600 annually.
Wilson noted that an internal survey of the association’s members showed that 78% are actively looking to leave the department for better paying agencies.
Recruitment, retention needs
The city’s current agreement with the DFA, as well as the DPOA, ends on June 30. During negotiations last year, the associations agreed to one-time stipends and uniform allowance increases in lieu of pay raises while the city addresses a loss of sales tax revenue. Now, Wilson and representatives from the DPOA have asked the council to act on these issues to ensure they have safe and steady staffing levels.
Although the police officers’ association does not have as high a vacancy rate as the firefighters’ association, representatives said they have had issues with high turnover and a lack of longevity with the department. They largely credit this to pay ranges, as well as signing bonuses and other incentives.
“What’s important for, I think, Dinuba is that we look at the longevity portion to recruit and retain people that want to stay here, that want to make the community better and keep growing with it, and we’ve lacked in that process,” DPOA Representative Thomas Higgins said.
Recruitment efforts listed by the city to address the vacancy rates include increased compensation for the single-role paramedic position, modification of staffing models to address nationwide shortages of firefighter/paramedics and proactive community engagement efforts to raise awareness of employment opportunities.
Wilson said the firefighters applaud Chief Greg Chastain and his administrative staff for their efforts to mitigate some of the ongoing recruitment problems, such as creating single-role EMT and single-role paramedic positions in light of shortages of the combined firefighter/paramedic positions.
Still, the association felt that it has an obligation to exercise “our only tool we have in our toolbox to help resolve this issue,” he said.
“We know that you want a fire department that your citizens – and that we – deserve. We know that you have a moral, ethical and fiduciary responsibility to make sure that can be done in a responsible manner,” Wilson said. “We hope that you take time to listen to our needs and our wants and understand that we want to be able to provide the best service possible for the citizens.”
Council members could not respond at length to the comments, but said they would do their best to address the concerns.
“Thank you everyone for coming. We definitely hear you and we see you, and we are going to do what we can to hopefully give you something that should help,” Councilmember Maribel Reynosa said.
