Redding eyeing more cuts to vacant city jobs to shore up budget
Redding leaders are weighing which of dozens of vacant city jobs they'll cut, if any, including six top positions and eight public safety positions. Each of the vacant jobs under scrutiny is partly or completely supported by the general fund, Interim City Manager Michael Webb said in a report about job vacancies to the Redding City Council on Nov. 3. The number of vacancies changes often as workers retire or resign, Webb said, but on Oct. 26 — the date his office compiled the report — Redding had 38 openings. The council opted on Nov. 3 to hold off on cutting vacant jobs until they hear fiscal updates in December — and after three newly elected or reelected councilpersons are seated. If the council then decides to freeze those jobs, those and other cuts made to vacant positions in October could save the city as much as $2.66 million in fiscal year 2027, said Webb. But just because a job is vacant doesn’t mean that position isn’t necessary, he said. Some of those jobs have “mission critical roles. They could be public safety. They could be tied to regulatory requirements or essential services or continuity.” And some departments' staff are
