Meet and Confer - November 10, 2026

The City of San Marcos firefighters’ Meet and Confer on November 10, 2026, covered compensation, employment terms, and fire department staffing and training. Management reported that finance had completed its review and forecasting of labor funding requests, but the parties had not reviewed the results and no funding commitments had been made. The parties discussed proposed changes to vacation-leave payouts, intended in part to manage the city’s long-term liability; no final decision was reported. Local civil-service rule revisions and an internal modified-duty proposal were also discussed, with no final changes or policy decisions made. Management plans to review funding and related proposals on November 19, and a subsequent meeting was scheduled for December 7, subject to possible rescheduling.

The parties also discussed opening assistant chief hiring to qualified internal and external applicants through a competitive process, with labor seeking an association role in that process; no agreement was reached. On paramedic training, they considered the cost of sending employees to school—about $1,700 per person in tuition, excluding wages and backfill costs—and debated whether participation should be voluntary and whether to pause some planned enrollments. The parties agreed to review the current roster, confirm employees’ interest and what costs have been committed, and continue discussions after receiving additional operational data and consulting the medical director. No votes, contract awards, or final spending decisions were identified.