Employees want leeway in residency requirement

Council said the law director's finding didn't allow picking and choosing.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- City officials have made it a requirement that city employees live in Trumbull County, but some employees want that rule changed, and council has discussed it.
A new state law forced the city to abandon its former policy of forcing employees to live within the city.
Council could have allowed employees to live anywhere in the state, within Trumbull County and its four adjacent counties, or strictly within Trumbull County. Council members ultimately chose to approve new legislation requiring city employees to live within Trumbull County.
The residency issue appeared on council's agenda for discussion earlier this week. Councilman Frank Migliozzi, at the meeting, said some employees had expressed concern over the issue and wanted the policy made to be more inclusive of neighboring communities.
Police Detective Greg Manente asked council to revisit the issue. He said other employees had also taken issue with the new residency requirement.
Manente said officers, as well as other city employees, should have more options when it comes to choosing an area in which to live. Incorporating at least a portion of Mahoning County would be a start, he said.
"When you stop and think about it, I think they should be a little more open minded," he said. "They can adjust this. There is nothing stopping them as a body from opening it up to Mahoning County or establishing some sort of perimeter in Mahoning County."
Three choices -- that's it
Safety Service Director Jerry Lambert said the city cannot "pick and choose" communities in which employees are permitted to live. He said the law director spelled out the city's options clearly.
"I believe you only have three choices, that is my interpretation of what the law director said -- Trumbull County, Trumbull and contiguous counties or the whole state," he said. "Our law director told us point blank those were the only three options, and we are going to stick with that."
Some members of council this week said requiring employees to remain within the county is better for the city because those employees can respond much faster in an extreme emergency situation if living closer to rather than further from the city.
Manente said he understands city leaders desire to keep employees close by for emergency situations, but, he said, employees are not paid to be on call 24 hours a day. He also said it should be taken into consideration that some areas of Mahoning County are closer to the city than certain areas of Trumbull County.
Lambert said the decision made is best for the city and will afford the city the best reaction time in the even of a major emergency.
Manente said he doesn't think many officers would leave the county or even city, but the option should be there, he said.
jgoodwin@vindy.com