Brief

The Mayor has requested an exemption from civil service requirements to fill a Deputy City Engineer II position in the Bureau of Engineering. The request was submitted May 14, 2026, and is currently pending review by the Personnel and Hiring Committee. Exemptions typically allow hiring outside standard competitive examination processes.

Full summary

Mayor Karen Bass has forwarded a Bureau of Engineering request to exempt one Deputy City Engineer II position from civil service requirements under City Charter Section 1001(b), which allows up to 150 such exemptions citywide. With 130 already approved and one previously pending, this request would bring the total to 132. The Mayor reviewed the request alongside the Personnel Department before transmitting it to the City Council for final approval. The Deputy City Engineer II role is a senior executive position with broad responsibilities. The person in this role may stand in for the City Engineer in meetings and negotiations with the Mayor's Office, City Council, the Board of Public Works, and the Municipal Facilities Oversight Committee, and can run the Bureau in the City Engineer's absence. The position also supervises professional engineers and architects at the Principal and Division Head level and coordinates operational matters across the Bureau. Minimum qualifications include at least four years of engineering or architectural experience at the Principal Civil Engineer or Principal Architect level, a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering or Architecture, and current registration as a Professional Engineer with the California State Board. The justification for the civil service exemption is that it gives the Bureau flexibility to recruit and select the most qualified candidate with the specialized expertise the role demands, rather than being constrained by standard competitive examination procedures. The Mayor noted that if the position is not filled within six months of her approval, that approval may lapse. The file was referred to the Personnel and Hiring Committee on May 14, 2026, where it currently sits awaiting a hearing and recommendation to the full Council. No committee hearing date has been set as of the last recorded activity.

Activity (2)

• 2026-05-14 Mayor document(s) referred to Personnel and Hiring Committee.
• 2026-05-14 Document submitted by Mayor, dated May 14, 2026.

Documents (1)

• 2026-05-14 Report from Mayor · report