Look who made a return to city council chambers Tuesday. Joe McMenamin (pictured), the former alderman, talked about the city’s residency requirement for all employees but police, who won in arbitration the right to live outside the city.
“The city did not have a residency requirement until 1976,” McMenamin said. “At that time our commission form of government passed a residency requirement. At that time, we had 1,400 city employees, and, according to the SJ-R at the time, 87 lived outside the city limit.”
Mayor Misty Buscher wants to put a moratorium on the residency requirement.
“We’re having a hard time getting our workforce full, and we’ve lost workers who cannot find housing, because the housing market is so tight,” the mayor told WTAX News after Tuesday’s meeting. “After the pandemic, a lot of our older workers decided to retire, and there aren’t the same amount of younger workers filling those spots.
“It’s not just a Springfield problem; it’s a nationwide problem.”
Buscher would not say how long the moratorium should last. The council will vote on the proposal at its next meeting – November 7.