During Monday night’s session, the Chelsea City Council approved a measure by a 9-1 vote requesting that City Solicitor Cheryl Fisher Watson prepare a new ordinance. The proposed rule would mandate a five-year residency requirement for newly hired members of both the Police Department and Fire Department.
Councillor Giovanni Recupero brought this proposal forward once again at the Council meeting, continuing a push he has maintained for more than five years. The matter had generated considerable anticipation among council members in the weeks leading up to Monday’s vote.
Under Recupero’s proposal, any person hired by either the Police or Fire Department would need to reside in Chelsea for five years following their hire date.
No such residency requirements currently exist. Recupero has spent years working to develop and pass such an ordinance.
The order presented on Monday requested only that the Solicitor draft the ordinance for the Council to consider at its next meeting.
“For many, many years I’ve been trying to have people who work here live here,” he said. “Other cities do this. We should too. The residents like us love our city. It’s not to say they don’t love the City, but there’s a little extra care when you live here…Life is not what you want. Life is what it is. If you want to work here, you live here.”
Observers were particularly interested in the position of newly elected Councillor Bob Bishop, who was encountering this issue for the first time. His stance proved unambiguous in support of the residency requirement.
“I’m very upset on payday in Chelsea because three-fourths of our paychecks go to Saugus or Lynnfield. We don’t get an economic bang for that buck because that money of ours isn’t circulating in Chelsea. If you’re hired in Chelsea as a firefighter or police officer and you don’t want to live here, then don’t take the job. Someone else will. I think it’s a good thing to have police and fire live here.”
The sole dissenting vote came from Councillor Roy Avellaneda, who expressed the view that the Council should prioritize different issues.
“I’d rather focus my energy on making Chelsea a better place to live than a place to be forced to live,” he said.
Councillor Judith Garcia was absent and did not participate in the voting.
City Solicitor Fisher Watson raised potential conflicts with existing collective bargaining agreements and indicated uncertainty about her ability to produce such an ordinance.
Recupero countered that no such conflict would arise and that the ordinance could be drafted and reviewed. According to Recupero, once the Council enacts the ordinance, responsibility for negotiating collective bargaining terms that incorporate the new residency requirement for new hires falls to the City Manager.