Former officer sues Youngstown

The city continues to enforce its residency rule pending a court challenge.
STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
YOUNGSTOWN -- A former police officer is suing the city, contending he was unfairly fired for violating the residency rule requiring municipal employees to live within city limits.
Daniel Tickerhoof submitted a change-of-address card July 6 that shows his new home is in Canal Fulton in Summit County. This was two months after a state law prohibiting cities from imposing residency requirements went into effect.
Youngstown, however, continues to enforce its residency rule pending a court challenge.
The firing recommendation for Tickerhoof followed a predisciplinary hearing, held in September, after an investigation by the Internal Affairs Division. Fire Chief John J. O'Neill Jr. served as hearing officer.
Lt. Rod Foley, police department head of internal affairs, said O'Neill determined that Tickerhoof violated a civil service rule that requires him to live in the city, and the city charter that requires him to maintain the residence.
Municipal workers hired after 1988 have been required to live in the city. Tickerhoof, 32, was hired June 15, 2001.
What the suit seeks
Tickerhoof's lawsuit in U.S. Northern District Court seeks lost wages, more than 100,000 in damages and reinstatement to the force. The Youngstown Patrolman Association also is appealing his dismissal.
Mayor Jay Williams said the city anticipated the legal action but wouldn't comment because he hadn't seen the suit, which was filed Friday.
The new state law that allows city residents to live no farther away than a contiguous county took effect May 1. Since then, Williams has said employees who move will be terminated, and the city has filed a lawsuit challenging the law's constitutionality.
Mahoning County is one of three counties that filed suit against the state in May, contending the residency prohibition unconstitutionally overrides the cities' ability to govern themselves. Summit and Cuyahoga counties also have filed suit.
The mayor said he believes the new law is unconstitutional, but if it is deemed constitutional, the city will abide by it.