The County Board of Supervisors approves a hiring freeze.

Pressured by a projected $20 million deficit for the next fiscal year, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 on Tuesday, Oct. 15, to implement a hiring freeze for positions funded by General Fund discretionary revenue, as well as establish guidelines for developing exemptions to the freeze.

The vote came after many members of the public expressed concerns about the impacts of implementing the freeze.

“If it's funded by discretionary revenue, then we will have to evaluate the criticality of that position,” said Assistant County Administrator Officer Ezequiel Vega during his presentation to the board. “Based on that, the decision will be made to either deny or approve the request that comes from departments.”

In the coming weeks, the County Board of Supervisors will work to compile a report outlining potential departmental impacts. The target date to review those impacts, and determine where hiring freezes will be applied, is scheduled for Nov. 12.

Many unions were notified last week, on Thursday, Oct. 10, to see if they would like to “meet and confer," the formal negotiation process between the county and labor representatives that will allow employees who are affected to voice their concerns.

This announcement comes just months after the Board approved the $2 billion 2024-25 budget, and only weeks before the general election.

“There’s also the optics of looking at this nearly three weeks ahead of the time when voters in this county will be deciding on a sales tax initiative. Will this be reconsidered, if that sales tax initiative is successful?” Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau, asked supervisors.

County staff members expressed their concerns about the strains this will add to departments that are already overworked and understaffed.

“While I understand the financial needs of the county, this is sort of like taking a sledgehammer to our departments instead of taking a surgical, strategic approach,” said Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni. “Right now, I have 12 attorney vacancies in my office. It is not sustainable for our office to go into a hiring freeze where we cannot continue to seek out credible, intelligent, ethical prosecutors.” 

Five employees with the Monterey County Sheriff's Office shared concerns about being able to maintain jail staffing, as well as the implications that a potential pause can have on the local communities. 

“Everyone is crushing overtime right now,” said Sheriff's Deputy Nicholas Kennedy. “It takes so long to put someone through the hiring process, it's going to be two years from date of hire until we can get someone that the citizens can recognize out on our streets.”

The impossible task for the board will be to decide which positions are critical, weighing commitments to various public services against growing budgetary priorities in an effort to avoid major layoffs in the future.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, Oct. 16, from 6–7:30pm, the county is hosting a virtual public education forum to discuss these budgetary challenges. County leaders will discuss everything from infrastructure and road repair plans, to public safety services and other critical budget priorities. 

“I think our county would have faced challenging economic times years ago, had it not been for the federal [American Rescue Plan Act] funding that was provided to us over a span of three or four years,” said Supervisor Luis Alejo, referring to the pandemic-era funding.

“That really helped us having that federal funding, but that funding has dried up.”