According to City Manager Tom Ambrosino, the newly approved Police and Fire residency ordinance could be implemented, though enforcement would not begin before 2021 at the earliest.
“It has to be negotiated through collective bargaining,” he said. “The firefighters are under contract until 2021, and the police are now at the state Joint Labor Management Commission. It probably won’t be able to be negotiated with either unit until 2021. We have no plans to enforce it until there is a new contract because the law is clear this is a change in the contract subject to collective bargaining.”
Last month’s Council vote on the measure was followed by an unsuccessful challenge the following week, spearheaded by Councilor Giovanni Recupero. For seven years, Recupero has championed efforts to establish a residency requirement for new police and fire department employees. Under the current plan, all new hires beginning July 31 must reside within the city limits for a five-year period following their employment.
Before the ordinance can take effect, however, the City Manager must renegotiate labor agreements with both the police and fire departments. These renegotiations would include compensation increases for all members in exchange for accepting the new residency conditions.
Ambrosino noted that the unions retain the right to reject the proposal, which would render the ordinance unenforceable if the requirement falls outside the scope of any existing contract.
“An ordinance cannot supersede a mandatory collective bargaining matter,” he said. “It is unenforceable until it shows up in a collective bargaining agreement.”