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As San Benito County officials prepare next year’s budget, the Board of Supervisors received a report on May 26 on vacancies across county departments, showing the number of unfilled positions dropped from more than 103 to 76 in the past year.
Interim Human Resources Manager Elvia Barocio told the supervisors the decrease was the result of cutting 11 positions and eliminating what she called “vacancy budgeting,” a practice in which departments projected salaries for positions that often remained unfilled.
Supervisors praised the change, which they said helped to balance the current fiscal year’s budget.
“There’s a lot of hard work that went into getting a more stable budget going forward,” Supervisor Kollin Kosmicki said. “We’re in a better place than we were last year.”
The budget hearings have not yet started and are expected to begin in June after the primary election in which Supervisors Angela Curro and Mindy Sotelo are up for re-election while Supervisor Ignacio Velazquez is facing a recall. By this time last year, the supervisors had held two special budget hearings.
County employees are organized into bargaining units that negotiate contracts on their behalf. The only unit with an increase in vacant positions in the last year was the Deputy Sheriff’s Association. Barocio said this was because four deputies resigned in April and May, some went to other agencies, and another moved out of the state.
The largest bargaining unit is Service Employees International Union Local 521, which represents 294 county employees. Chapter president Christina Cardenas said 55 of the 398 positions her unit represented in 2025 were eliminated. The union has 32 fewer employees than last year, and 51 positions remain unfilled, which Cardenas said impacts the county’s ability to deliver essential services.
“The union’s efforts in working with the county’s budget have been a sacrifice to our members by accepting a one-year salary freeze,” Cardenas said. “It has hurt the families they support in this growing, expensive economy, especially with the outside impact of increasing gas prices and cost of living.”
She added that the risk of burnout among county staff is at an “all-time high,” which she said is concerning given the ongoing hiring freeze the county began last year as it worked to balance the budget.
County officials have said one of the biggest staffing challenges is competing with wealthier neighboring counties like Monterey, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara, which pay more and are within commuting distance.
County Executive Officer Esperanza Colio Warren said the county is working to train its own employees and encourage internal promotions to prevent staff from leaving.
“What we need to do is to start training our own workforce not only in the county, but also in the Hollister area,” Coilo Warren said. “So we can recruit in our community so they can stay with us and do not leave.”
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