Flash! Planner living in the suburbs ... film at 11!

[Dan]

From the Saturday, 1 November 2003 Buffalo News:

Whistle-blowers allege violations of residency law
By BRIAN MEYER
News Staff Reporter
11/1/2003

The push to shrink Buffalo's payroll is prompting whistle-blowers to lodge allegations that dozens of employees are violating a residency law by sneaking to suburban homes each night.

[snip]

"They're squealing on each other," said Louis R. Giardina, the city's director of employee relations. "There are anonymous letters floating all over the place.

[snip]

"Some of (the offenders) are politically connected people, if you know what I mean," said one employee who submitted her residency certification form this week. But city officials insist they're eager to pursue charges against violators in cases where there's enough evidence. Giardina said he wouldn't be surprised if a "few" report technicians live in the suburbs.

[snip]

Officials said there is one pending case in which a formal challenge has been filed against an employee. The city is alleging that William Grillo, a principal planner, does not live in the city. Grillo declined to comment Friday. A formal hearing is expected to be scheduled soon.

[Jeff]

Sounds just like City of Philadelphia

[SkeLeton]

LOL... (cliché warning) Here in Chile... There are several mayors that don't live in their respective cities. Most cases are in the multi-comune cities (which are only few cases), like Santiago, Valparaíso and Concepción.

The greater Santiago is subdivided into about 50 different comunes, each with it's own mayor, and they don't have residency restriction. So we have cases like the Mayor of the comune of Renca (a low wealth comune in Santiago), that can live in Providencia (a mid-high wealth comune in Santiago).
I'm all in favor of residency restriction, at least for mayors and high comunal officials.


Note: comunes are our smallest territorial subdivision, and it would be a somewhat county in the US.
Example: I live in the comune of Valdivia, which depends from the City Hall in Valdivia, but the Comune is larger than the city itself, I could live in the rural seaside near Valdivia, and still be inside the comune of Valdivia.

[Chet]

If I had to live in the community I work in, Id have to quit. Its too freakin expensive on a planners salary. Oh wait, you're talking Buffalo.... nevamind.

[Rumpy Tunanator]

Read article this morning and most of those in question worked for the police telecommunications dept., but none the less a planner getting busted sure makes me want to choke the people down at shittty hall.
With the new director of Strategic Planning Tim Wanamaker (speeling badd) already cutting jobs left and right, I'm sure this guy is next (suburbanite). Oh and most of the jobs he cut in the planning dept. where not planners jobs, but administative bull crap, apparently there were only 3 people who where in the dept. that are planners, while the other 95 did who knows what.

[JNA]

From the article

Complicating matters is the fact that the city has been without a residency investigator for more than 14 months. What's more, high turnover in the position has undermined enforcement efforts. Four people have held the position since it was created six years ago.

who would want that job anyway,
it sound so much like "Big Brother".

[H]

Living somewhere elses would most likely be the norm here in South Florida (from planners I have met and deal with).

It is very common for someone to work for one local municipality and live in the county (‘burbs) or another municipality.

I used to be against this (as posted on other threads), but now understand it. Planning is just a job and nothing more to many planners. And as long as they do the job well, it is no one else’s concern where they go home to or what they do after working hours.

I wish all planners cared as much about their locality as the ones seem to here on Cyburbia, but unfortunately they don’t. And then others care, but live somewhere else out of their personal needs and requirements. This is unavoidable in many cases.

So is summation, the tattle tailing is childish and the requirement is absurd.

[MaineMan]

The "City Manager" (i.e. mayor) of my fair town doesn't live in town - he commutes a half hour each way! There is a law on the book stating that the mayor has to live in town, but he somehow gets away with it by owning unoccupied residential property in town...!

And this in Maine, bastion of home rule and home of the phrase "you're from away"!

At any rate, he's doing a pretty good job, so pretty much nobody complains.

[ludes98]

They recently found a an elected Judge here trying the owning property in the district thing. Trying to remove him because he actually has to reside there. Most cities here do not require residency.