NEVADA CITY, Calif. June 11, 2026 – A short City Council meeting in Nevada City on Wednesday with a public hearing on staffing as the main item, preceded by some personnel changes.
On City Manager Carrie Wright’s 100th day with the city, she thanked finance consultant Stephen Erlandson for his three years of service to the city and being the architect of the city’s 2026/27 budget. Wright introduced two new hires, a retired annuitant to help with communications and public record requests on an as-needed basis, and Assistant City Manager Courtney Christy who will focus on creating and amplifying internal systems and controls. Wright said Christy’s focus will be “Making sure teams have what they need to be able to do their jobs efficiently, help build the team up and making sure we’re checking all those boxes from a regulatory compliance side.”
School district requests grant funding to be reallocated back to its original purpose
Nevada City School District Superintendent John Baggett asked the council to consider redirecting the Prop 64 grant funding back to the Seven Hills field. The City and the School District originally applied for grant funding to build out amenities and the field at Seven Hills. Then, the City pivoted and allocated the funds to the construction of a skatepark. That project was put on hold after considerable hurdles emerged.
The School District completed phase 1 of the planned improvements on their own. The field and track were successfully completed, but the restroom facilities, snack shack, and ADA improvements were not included in the initial phase. Completion of Phase 2 would fulfill the original grant objectives while enhancing the facility for students, families, and the broader community, according to the school district.
“If there are conversations we need to have in the future about community parks, I would love to have that discussion with the council or with the city manager. Carrie and I have worked collaboratively together on some of this as well as your staff, [City Engineer] Brian McAllister has been really helpful in designing that property up on the field and looking at it for some next steps to improve our field. So thank you for the collaboration and I urge you to consider redirecting those funds back to the original intent so we can have that collaboration together,” Baggett concluded.
Report on vacancies
A 2025 State law, AB 2561, requires local governments to conduct a public hearing to present the status of vacancies, recruitment, and retention efforts during a public hearing before the agency’s governing body at least once per fiscal year prior to the adoption of the next fiscal year’s budget. Local governments also need to identify any necessary changes to policies, procedures, and recruitment activities that may lead to obstacles in the hiring process. The law attempts to address the job vacancies in local government which can adversely affect public service delivery and employee workload, according to the staff report.
Nevada City’s annual average percentage of vacancies (i.e., regular, full-time equivalent) is 6.25%. As of June 1, 2026, within the City’s bargaining units with recognized employee organizations, they were are all under the 20% vacancy rate, with the exception of the Nevada City Police Officers Association. The staff report states, “Two Police Officer positions are currently vacant. One vacancy is planned to be filled by a Police Officer Trainee I who will be attending the Police Academy beginning in July 2026.”
Councilmember Fleming asked how long it normally takes for an applicant to complete their training and become a sworn police officer.
Chief Dan Foss explained the various stages of the process, “It’s about a three month process for background checks. The academy is about six months, then it is a minimum of about a four month FTO (Field Training Officer) program. Somebody as a senior officer will train them in the street. They’re riding with them 24/7. You know, they’re never allowed to be on their own and they get in the field training. So it’s about a year-long process just to get that individual. in the car by themselves and you have that extra number on the street. It is a huge investment.”
Speaking of the current vacancies, Fleming asked, “How is that affecting coverage? And are we doing more overtime? Is there any gaps in service?”
Foss said, “We’re very aware how taxing that is and we’re monitoring it. It can be stressful for the guys, but I do want to stress for the community there is no gap in service whatsoever. We can be a little bit thinner, but our response time is still pretty much the same, which is under… three minutes, I think. So we’re still responding very rapidly to all calls for service. Our sergeants are covering some of the calls. Our lieutenant’s covering as much as he can, some of the calls. And if need be, I guess I’ll be covering some of the calls if I remember how to do it. But it’s like riding a bike, right?” [chuckles all around]
Budget adoption at the next meeting
The public hearing and adoption of the 2026/27 budget for Nevada City is scheduled for the June 24, 2026 meeting. City Council meetings start at 6:30 pm and you can attend in person or watch the live stream on the Nevada City YouTube channel.