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Consider approving an agreement with the City of Vallejo to provide supplemental general law enforcement services; and Delegate authority to the County Administrator, or designee, to execute a side letter to the Memorandum of Understanding between the County of Solano and the Solano County Deputy Sheriff’s Association (DSA), Units 3 and 4, and authorize any related, non-substantive amendments consistent with its intent
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Published Notice Required? Yes_______ No ___X____
Public Hearing Required? Yes _ No ___X____
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Sheriff recommends that the Board of Supervisors:
1. Consider approving an agreement with the City of Vallejo to provide supplemental general law enforcement services; and
2. Delegate authority to the County Administrator, or designee, to execute a side letter to the Memorandum of Understanding between the County of Solano and the Solano County Deputy Sheriff’s Association (DSA), Units 3 and 4, and authorize any related, non-substantive amendments consistent with its intent.
SUMMARY:
On May 6, 2025, the Sheriff’s Office (Sheriff) provided the Board of Supervisors (Board) with an informational presentation on its ability to provide temporary law enforcement assistance to the City of Vallejo (Vallejo) and requested direction on whether to proceed with contract discussions to provide such services. The Board authorized the Sheriff to proceed with contract negotiations with Vallejo based on a previously provided term sheet, contingent on three conditions.
Staff returned to the Board on June 24, 2025, recommend against approving the proposed contract due to unresolved labor, staffing, and procurement issues that made the contract not feasible in the available timeframe. The item was continued to July 22, 2025.
On July 22, 2025, the Board received an update indicating that the meet-and-confer process with the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association (DSA) remained unresolved. At that time, the Board delegated authority to the County Administrator, with concurrence from County Counsel and General Services, to approve exemptions to the County Contracting and Purchasing Policy, as needed, to expedite purchases related to the agreement. Follow-up discussions indicate this can be accomplished.
On August 12, 2025 the Board received another update and directed staff to continue the meet-and-confer process with the DSA, with the goal of returning to the Board by August 26, 2025. However, the update was deferred to September 23, 2025, to allow additional time for the meet-and-confer process. The meet-and-confer process has now been completed and the DSA voted to approve a proposed side letter with the County; therefore, staff requests that the Board approve the agreement with the City of Vallejo to provide supplemental general law enforcement services and approve the proposed side letter to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the County and the DSA.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The Sheriff, County Counsel, CAO’s Office, and Human Resources have dedicated significant time and resources to develop the proposed service model, obtain the legislation necessary to backfill staff to provide services to Vallejo, drafting and negotiating the contract, and working through the meet-and-confer process.
Estimated costs and payments under the agreement include:
• Start-up costs: $1,439,695
• Liability, reserve, and insurance: $1,932,700
• Service cost (January 4, 2026 to January 2, 2027): $7,860,148
The Sheriff will invoice Vallejo monthly based on actual expenses incurred by the Sheriff’s Office in providing these services. All estimated costs and revenues will be recognized and appropriated by the Board at a future Board meeting and in FY2026/27 Sheriff’s Operating Budget.
The cost associated with preparing the agenda item is nominal and absorbed by the department’s FY2025/26 Working Budget.
DISCUSSION:
Update
Since the August 12, 2025 Board meeting, Human Resources and the DSA have continued the meet-and-confer process. This process has finalized and the DSA voted to approve a proposed side letter to the MOU with the County.
Background
In July 2023, the Vallejo City Council declared a local emergency due to a critical shortage of police personnel. Sworn staffing fell to unsustainable levels, severely affecting patrol coverage and response times. Vallejo formally requested assistance from the Sheriff’s Office in November 2023.
At that time, the Sheriff advised that insufficient staffing precluded immediate support. As a legislative solution, the Sheriff worked with Senator Bill Dodd to introduce Senate Bill (SB) 1379, which exempts up to 20 retired annuitants from the CalPERS 960-hour limit, enabling the Sheriff to backfill internal courtroom and dispatch functions and redeploy active personnel to support Vallejo. SB 1379 was signed into law in September 2024 and will sunset on January 1, 2027.
In December 2024, the Sheriff submitted a term sheet to Vallejo (Attachment A) outlining the key terms and conditions necessary to proceed with a formal services contract, subject to approval by the Board. The term sheet addressed essential elements such as operational scope of services, staffing levels, insurance and liability provisions, and cost responsibilities. It also identified three critical preconditions for advancing to contract execution: (1) approval of a finalized agreement by July 1, 2025; (2) written confirmation from the DOJ that its settlement agreement with Vallejo would not apply to the Sheriff; and (3) agreement from the County’s applicable employee bargaining units.
On March 6, 2025, the Vallejo City Council received an update on VPD staffing levels and the Sheriff’s term sheet. Vallejo staff requested direction from the Council on the Sheriff’s proposed service model. Councilmembers submitted follow-up questions regarding the term sheet on March 21, 2025, to which the Sheriff responded on April 1, 2025. At its April 8, 2025 meeting, the City Council approved funding for a contract with the Sheriff and directed Vallejo staff to begin contract discussions. Subsequently, on May 6, 2025, the Board authorized the Sheriff to proceed with contract negotiations. On June 17, 2025, the Vallejo City Council approved the agreement (Attachment B).
On June 16, 2025, Solano County Counsel received an email from the DOJ stating that the only parties to the settlement agreement are the Attorney General, the City of Vallejo and the Vallejo Police Department - the Solano County Sheriff is not a party to the Agreement.
On June 17, 2025, the DSA submitted a letter to the Board formally opposing the proposed contract. In doing so, the DSA identified a range of potential impacts, thereby triggering the County’s obligation under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act to meet and confer in good faith with the DSA about those impacts.
On June 25, 2025, Human Resources (HR) issued notices to Law Enforcement Management Association (LEMA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the Deputy Sheriff’s Association (DSA) regarding the proposed contract. SEIU and the DSA requested to meet-and-confer regarding potential impacts to their represented employees, but LEMA did not.
On July 3, 2025, HR, SEIU, and Sheriff’s staff met to discuss the contract. That process was successfully completed.
On July 9, 2025, HR, the DSA, and Sheriff’s staff met to discuss the contract and potential impacts. HR, the DSA, and Sheriff’s staff have continued to meet regularly to discuss the contract and potential impacts and the outstanding issues have been resolved. On September 16, 2025 the DSA members voted to approve the proposed side letter agreement (Attachment C) between the County and the DSA.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board of Supervisors could choose:
1. To direct staff to consider developing alternative service delivery models or programs and return to the Board at a future date as necessary.
2. To not approve the contract and the Sheriff’s Office would not provide supplemental general law enforcement services.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
County Counsel and the County Administrator’s Office, in coordination with the Sheriff’s Office, participated in drafting and negotiating the agreement. Human Resources, in coordination with the Sheriff’s Office, participated in the meet-and-confer process.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION