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CCHR's tester staffing levels and hiring plans
0:12:42
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Council Member Williams inquires about CCHR's current tester staffing levels and plans for hiring additional testers. Commissioner Palma reveals that CCHR has three testers and hasn't posted to hire more, focusing instead on filling attorney positions.
- CCHR currently has three testers, unchanged from the previous year
- No specific plans or timeline for hiring additional testers
- Commission is prioritizing filling attorney positions over tester positions
Nantasha Williams
0:12:42
Thank you.
0:12:46
I'm gonna start with headcount and thanks for being here again.
0:12:50
So you mentioned well I read, don't think you mentioned it, but CCHR uses testers to determine an entity's compliance with the human rights law.
0:13:01
As of 01/21/2025, CCHR had three testers and according to a document you sent to council finance, how many testers do currently have?
Annabel Palma
0:13:16
Thank you madam chair for your question.
0:13:18
We currently in in our testing unit, we currently have three three testers.
0:13:24
Okay.
Nantasha Williams
0:13:26
Last year when you testified, you said that you were attempting to hire more testers.
0:13:30
However, the number of testers remain the same from the end of fiscal twenty twenty four to mid fiscal twenty twenty five.
0:13:37
Are you still attempting to hire additional testers?
0:13:40
Have there been any challenges in hiring additional testers?
Annabel Palma
0:13:46
We have not posted we have not posted to hire testers as of yet.
Nantasha Williams
0:13:53
But is that a interest of the commission?
Annabel Palma
0:13:55
It's always an interest of the commission to grow the commission so we definitely are exploring options for us to increase our staff.
Nantasha Williams
0:14:03
Okay.
0:14:04
What is the salary for a tester?
Mariela Salazar
0:14:11
Our testers are in a particular civil service title that off the top of my head I don't know the exact salary band but they do get paid by the hour.
0:14:21
I can get that information for council finance after.
Nantasha Williams
0:14:25
Okay and is there a reason why you haven't posted to hire new testers if you are interested in getting new testers?
Annabel Palma
0:14:35
No particular reason, we have been focused on ensuring that we are able to fill our attorney lines.
0:14:43
Okay and from your vantage point, what
Nantasha Williams
0:14:44
would you say the ideal number of testers would be?
0:14:47
Like if you had a wish list, how many testers would your commission have?
0:14:54
I
Annabel Palma
0:14:57
would I mean there's no magic number for us to fulfill our mandate.
0:15:02
Right?
0:15:02
Obviously, we've had this conversation before.
0:15:05
We can if we have more resources, we will we can do more with more.
0:15:11
We don't have a magic number to be I can't tell you a specific number of testers.
0:15:16
Obviously, the the mandate that we have to fulfill doesn't only depend on the testers but the work that LEB does that overall.