Residency

[benson911]

What kind, if any, residency requirements do you have to work for your FD? Is this an issue with your membership? is this an issue with yourself?

My department requires me to live within a 15 mile radius from the city center, a 15 mile circle drawn on a map represents the distance. No one has stepped outside the limits, but at least three members are right on the line.

Some communities around us require residency within the city limits, which their membership hates, and others only require the State of Ohio.

I know of some union brothers who would love to have information from any local who has eliminated or expanded their residency requirement. One community near me allowed their FF to live anywhere they wanted, after the membership showed how their pay was not high enough to afford to live in the community (and they are paid well!)



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[WRENCH]

IN NJ THERE IS NO RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT,ONLY THAT YOU LIVE IN STATE. THERE ARE A COUPLE OF EXCEPTIONS. FIRST, GENERALLY WHEN TAKING AN ENTRANCE TEST FOR EITHER CIVIL SERVICE TEST OR NON CIVIL SERVICE, MANY TOWNS SPECIFY BEING A RESIDENT AT TEST TIME AND APPOINTMENT TIME HOWEVER ONCE YOU ARE HIRED THEY CANNOT REQUIRE YOU TO STAY. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY TIMES WHEN TOWNS HAVE TRIED TO PASS LEGISLATION TO CHANGE THIS BUT AGGRESSIVE LOBBYING BY FIRE AND POLICE HAVE BEAT THIS DOWN. ALSO NOTE THAT ONLY POLICE AND FIRE ARE EXEMPT FROM RESIDENCY IN THIS STATE. ALSO IF YOU LOOK IN A DIFFERENT FORUM, FIREFIGHTER FORUM , THERE IS ALREADY A DISCUSSION IN PLACE ON THIS TOPIC

[benson911]

Sorry about the extra thread - it seemed appropriate for the Career/Paid forum.

Thanks for the response.

[Ed Shanks]

I think the thread is appropriate here, too. It's assumed that a volunteer or part-paid or call firefighter will live either in or very near his/her district, otherwise there'd be too much response time and the accompanying danger of being involved in a wreck with some clueless cranial/anal exchange recipient.

Here in Boardman, Ohio, thanks to our Civil Service Board's and township administration's decree, we must live within the boundaries of Boardman Township. We can't even live on the other side of the street on the streets that make up the boundaries!! I believe that as long as I'm where I'm supposed to be at 8 am (our shift change) they have no business telling me where to live. Especially whe I can buy twice the house for half the money a mere two miles outside of our boundaries! But, I want the job, so here I am! When I retire there'll be a nice 3-bedroom brick ranch for sale here!



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E-4-A
IAFF 1176
RKMC MAL

[Hammerhead338]

The city I work for requires us to live 5 miles from the city limits, and you have 6 months to do this after you have been hired. If you get a letter from the city administer saying its ok, you can live farther then that out, but there has to be a good reason for it. The reason for this is we are a small dept and if we get a big call it wont take the off duty so long to respond to the fire.
I agree that there is nothing wrong with your last thread, this is the place to ask those kind of questions. Be good and safe.

Joe Decker
Local 3905
Rolla MO

[akellogg]

My department is a full time paid organization. Any person hired after June 1986 is required to live within 26 air miles of our main station. The reason for the living restriction was the department was well understaffed and they needed off duty people to cover the stations during calls. We have tried to get rid of this for many years know without luck.

Just recently it became an issue again. Currently one firefighter who is required to live within the restriction is living about five miles out of the circle and a second is considering violating the restriction. The one has not been questioned yet and states when and if he is he will fight it.

We wanted to try and prevent any action so we asked our union reps to discuss the exclusion of the restriction from our contract with the City's negotiators. We used the argument of the low frequency of callbacks for large incidents, the use of newer,updated auto and mutual aid agreements and that we have lost good people in the recent past because the cost of living is lower outside the restriction . The City said all we need to do is write a side letter defining what we are requesting and they have no problem with it. What a difference 13 years makes!!!

We are currently writing the letter and it will go to council in the very near future. I don't know why the arguments worked this time but maybe this will help you.

[This message has been edited by akellogg (edited October 18, 1999).]

[WTFD730]

We have residency requirement here in Toledo,Ohio FD. All city employee's must live within the City of Toledo.

Toledo Firefighter
Local 92

[MFDffc]

We have a 10 mile residency, with our chief getting his jollys on firing a guy who did not move within 6 months of employment. The State Supreme Court handed down a ruling on a Wheeling police officer in the same boat, and the firing was upheld.
Here you must move to within 10 miles within 6 months of employment, but you are on probation for one year in which you can be terminated at just about any time, doesn't seem fair huh?

[FyredUp]

No residency at all for us. As it should be. All that matters is you are there when your shift starts.

Residency is nonsense. The real reason for it is a false notion you should spend your money and pay property tax where you work.

[E7engineer]

I work for a County fire department. There is no requirements for residency. We have firefighters that live 2-3 countys away. There is some Muncipalities that have requirments. One is thirty miles from there main station. That could mean that you could live in the next county, and still work there.

[sefd114]

On our department we have to live within the district boundaries. Most of our full-time firefighters want to have this restriction lifted.

[This message has been edited by sefd114 (edited February 01, 2000).]

[INDY FIRE]

In Indy we are suppose to live in Marion County (Indianapolis) or one of the 7 Countys bordering Marion County.

[mfgentili]

Must be a city resident to be hired and remain a resident for four years. After that you may live within 15 miles of the city limits.

[benson911]

SEFD114 - Jackson Township, Ohio Firefighters were able to get their residency restriction lifted by comparing their pay to the average housing cost in their district and it was not enough for them to afford to live there. It worked for them, try it. Collective bargaining is a wonderful thing, I would investigate setting up an IAFF Local right away. Just contact the IAFF or another local near you.

mfgentili - I'm surprised the city can restrict its applicant pool to residents of your city only. Don't they want to attract the best recruits from your whole area?

[mfgentili]

benson911,

I agree with your assessment of getting the best applicants from the area. However, a city ordinance retricts new hires to city residents and it's only our collective bargaining agreement that allows us to move after four years. We are lucky in that most city employees other than police and fire must remain residents for their entire career as a condition of employment. In order to attract qualified applicants, the city must sometimes offer annual residency waivers to some of these other employees. This means a majority, if not two thirds vote of the city council, every year. What a pain that would be. As far as attracting applicants for the fire service, we have very little problem locally. All appointments are done through statewide civil service exams and the applicants standing on the eligible list. Position on the list is determined by test score and any preferences that apply such as military veteran or being a child of a Massachusetts firefighter killed in the line of duty. Credit for previous firefighting or related training or certification is added to test scores utilizing a predetermined formula for experience. Massachusetts state law pretty much determines how we select candidates, however, communities are allowed to enact local residency requirements through home rule petition. This is an entry level position we're talking about here and I feel that the way we train and lead our new members, regardless of where they live, will determine if they will be good employees or not. We currently have a list of around 400. Another test is to be given in April, 2000 which will establish a whole new list. This happens every two years. I have posted a topic regarding this in the "Employement" section. Hope this is beneficial.

[jrj918]

on my department residency is stated as: to fill out and turn in an application you must be and must have been a resident of vanderburgh county(EVANSVILLE IN) for at least 6 months prior to submitting your application. After you get hired and i believe after your 1 year probationary period the residency changes to any of the 3 surrounding counties in INDIANA(we are bordered by kentucky to the south of us).

I think this requirement might be changing though.I have hear talk about some poeple who want to get on are fighting to change it

[Chief Taylor]

My Full-time Fire Dept: Residency is not required mainly due to the current number of local FF'rs around Town.

My Volunteer Job: residency is not required, but we have created Two programs to accomidate this. A NON-Resident and a resident Volunteer firefigher program.

[Truck 2]

The city of Lancaster, Pa. requires you to live in the city one year prior to to testing. Once your hired you may live 15 air miles from center city, most of our 86 firefighters live outside the city. The city offered us to live anywhere in the county under a new contract offer that we voted down and are still negoiating. Our3 year contract runs out Dec.31 1999

[Lieutenant Gonzo]

Personally, I think that residency requirements are a bunch of bovine scatology.
I don't think that someone in need of our services care if we live in the city or not.

I have a friend on the Boston FD that will not take the exam for promotion because he will be required to move back to Boston. He was grandfathered in when they set up a residency requirement, but they treat a promotion the same way as a new hire.

[YFD911]

I also agree that residency is garbage. The dept I work for in Youngstown Ohio has residency n the city limits. There is a bill in the State senate that would make residency requirements by municiple organizations illegal. My question however is, how does that play into a city that has a charter type govt. Does state law over rule a charter or is the charter over powering since the issue is voted by the people? Any help woould be appreciated since nobody really seems to know.

[benson911]

YFD911 - It is my understanding that municipal charters can be more restrictive than state law, but not less restrictive...so residency may be allowed by charter. I don't know what Ohio bill you refer to, can you let me know the number so I can look it up. I know the Akron Fire Department members want to know about this bill!

[EXJAKE]

We have a limit of 15 miles from town lines but aren't bothered if we're a little over. It's all politics anyway, if the right people ask at the right time they can get anything except money
My brother and I, as well as about twenty others were born,raised, and educated in our home town but can't afford to live there.
We have proved it's not a problem to live outside town by our daily attendance and response to call backs for mutual aid and other emergencies.
Boston jakes have always lived as far away as Cape Cod and they've been doing the job for years by cooperating with each other on scheduling reliefs.
Between politics and contracts you can do it if if enough of you want it.
My town hired people from outside from a layoff list and they never went back. They still live where they used to work and work where they have never lived!

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EXJAKE

[YFD911]

Benson911 and all Ohio firefighters. The Bill that is in the Ohio State Senate is S.B. 46. If you go to the Ohio Senate web page you can browse by bill # and read the entire bill. It is supposed to be voted on in the next few months.

[Ed]

Our city was the only one for many years to have a liberal residency requirement of aprox. 9 miles from city center. This is for all represented city employees. All department heads (Chiefs, Administrators, Heads of department types) have to live in the city boarders. Recently one other department next door allows their employees to live in a boardering community.
I know of some departments that have no residency and some have absolute. Good luck, personally I think residency for anything sucks, Imagine a major corporation telling employees or the C.E.O. that they have to live in the city where the company is.
KEEP TRYING.

[D. Anderson]

We overturned our residency requirement this past year. Some of the city's representatives actually had the gall to say we would try harder on calls if we lived in the city! They also tried to say how much tax money the city would lose in the "mass exodus" that would result if the city lifted the requirement even though vacancy in the city is only 4 percent. I can only think of three people on the department moved out of the hundreds that can.

Unfortunately they still require you to be a resident of the city to try out and for your first six months of probation. We now only get about 400-600 people who try out when it used to be more than 4000 before residency. They insist this isn't affecting the quality of the people who are hired though.Right.

[26DC]

Residency requirements for either paid or volunteer firefighters, in this day of pagers, automobiles, and more, seem to be an antiqued thing that will not go away. How can city governments guarantee that the firefighter living in the city limits will be, for example, SOBER when the call for off-duty crews comes in? I used to live in Houston, and some of the guys lived as much as 100 miles away, but made it to their 6am start of shift with no problem.

I can fully see why a union contract in a small department would have the protection of calling off-duty crews before (ex.) neighboring volunteer departments, but there also should be a time limit for off-duty personnel to get there before more companies are called. A firefighter should appreciate that his distance from his station might mean his missing a call, but so does being out of town on vacation.

City governments should let residency requirements go the way of open cabs and tailboard riding. None are needed in 2000.

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Rick Reed
Do it right, do it safely, do it once.

[Dave Grice]

To Benson911, YFD911 and other OH FF's,
I heard about the current bill on the Senate's agenda, I certainly hope they are open-minded enough to change the residency requirement. My city had dropped residency completely during contract negotiations the year before I was hired. Being a ghetto community I was extrememly happy about that. You hear officials say that you are not going to do your job as well as a person that lives in the city the work, but I think that is BS. I love working for my community because of the fire load we get, plus, I just love what we do. Out of 53 members on our dept., maybe 2 actually live within the city. I really hope that it is not an issue for us in the future. Hopefully, as 2000 comes, residency will be a thing of the past for everybody. Take it easy.

[benson911]

I researched the Ohio Senate Bill on the State legislative web site and it is now in committee in the house after passing the Senate. The problem is going to be its constitutionality. It may go against the rights of charter cities to set their own laws. I'll keep you posted, or you can look it up yourselves at ...
http://www.lsc.state.oh.us/analyses/index.html

Look up Senate bill # 46

[YFD911]

To All Ohio Firefighters,

I spoke to my local senator this afternoon. Senate bill 46 is stalled in committee at this time because there are not enough votes from REPUBLICAN senators. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, have everyone you know put pen to paper and let your local representative know how important this bill is to you. This bill was written as to over rule city charters and any other local govt. So if you live in a area with a city charter it will mean nothing if this bill passes. So the more letters that go in the better. Especially to republican senators.

[Dave Grice]

I'll get word to all those I know to get going with this. Thanks gor info. about Bill 46.

[Pizan]

Residency is out of date with Automatic aid and Mutual aid who needs residency. I hate it. We got 5 miles last contract and we are going to abolish with this contract even if we have to go to Arb. The city of Cicero, Illinois just won interest arb over residnecy. The Arbitrator ruled it is not the firefihgters problem to solve economic downfalls of the town by living in it. Also why should our famalies be denied a right that is shared by everyone in the US except those incarcerated in prison. With that type of ruling I don't see how any town in Illinois cannot beat residency. I do beleive that you should be able to live anywhere you want. Especially if your school district is bad or your town has a lot of crime, drugs, and gangs. Why should I have to subject my child to the realities of an economically depressed town. Especially when I can move 15 miles away and have an excellent school district and nice clean town. Also, still provide the same level of care to the community.