The Salem City Council has rejected putting a residency requirement into effect for new city employees on a three to two vote. Mayor Nic Farley who cast the deciding vote feels the issue may need to be readdressed in the future.
“In principle I think it was the right idea to do the residency requirement, but right now with the hiring crunch that we are in I didn’t think it was prudent to move forward at this time and place a restriction on it. I understand councilman Morton and other people in the communities desire to do so, but I just didn’t want to put any restrictions on hiring right now. This might be something that comes forward again at a later date.”
Councilman Craig Morton made the motion to require all future city employees to live within 30 miles of downtown Salem and received a second from Jim Koehler. Morton noted he had never lived in a city where employees were not required to live within the city limits, including when he was growing up in Salem. Jim Koehler seconded the motion feeling requiring a city worker to live within 30 miles was not asking too much.
Councilman Amy Troutt and Royce Bringwald voted with Farley to reject the proposal. Bringwald feels it is a non issue if employees are doing their jobs, while Troutt was concerned about limiting candidates in a tight job market. City Manager Rex Barbee shared that concern in encouraging the city council not to take the action.
“I think that in today’s market when you are trying to get key people in key positions then it may not necessarily apply so much to somebody who is a new hire for the Street Department, but if you are talking about trying to move someone into the Department Head situation like that I think its a detriment to have a residency requirement for that. So I am glad to see we are not enforcing it at this time.”
Morton first brought up the issue in concern about both the Police Chief and Public Works Director living outside Marion County. The Fraternal Order of Police contract already requires police officers to live within a 30 mile radius.
Some key public works employees also must live within a certain distance of the city.
