Council Set to Approve Proposal To Bring Back Local Residency Requirement for Department Heads

The City Council is set to vote on final approval of a proposal that would bring back the requirement that city department heads be residents of New Britain.

The proposed ordinance (local law), which was introduced by the Council Majority Leader, Ald. Carlo Carlozzi, Jr. (D-5), and Ald. Aram Ayalon (D-3), would reinstate the requirement that city department heads be or become residents of New Britain within one year after the conclusion of their hiring probationary period.

“For many years, all department heads in City Hall were required to live in the City of New Britain,” said Carlozzi. “The feeling was that if they lived in the city they were more vested in the community.”

However, Carlozzi said, “Little by little that requirement was removed and now we have department heads that live a half hour or more from the city.”

The restored ordinance would apply the requirement to live in New Britain to the positions of, “fire chief, police chief, and any successor director of public works, director of support services, director of recreation and community services, finance director, director of economic development, director of health and building services, director of community development, director of human resources.”

The remaining city department head positions consist of elected officials and the city corporation counsel, who are already required to be New Britain residents.

“It is important that department chairs live in New Britain where the people they serve reside,” said Ayalon when the ordinance was proposed. “I see no difference between them and the Police Chief or the Fire Chief – both are required to be New Britain residents.”

“While other cities and towns still require department heads to live in the city,” said Carlozzi, “after a period of time, the current thinking in New Britain city hall is that it is too much to ask someone to move into the city in order for them to become a department head.”

The new ordinance would reverse changes to the city ordinances made by the 2015-2017 City Council that removed requirements that the heads of city departments live in New Britain. The Council, in that term of office, had a twelve to three Republican majority. The current Council has a nine to six Democratic majority.

In October of 2016, the then-Republican-dominated City Council exempted the Human Resources Director position from the residency requirement. The motion to approve that proposal was opposed by Carlozzi, as well as Ald. Emmanuel Sanchez (D-AL), who was then a Third Ward Council member.

Then, in February of 2017, the same City Council exempted every department head position, except the police chief, fire chief and public works director from the local residency requirement.

“Almost all department heads make over six figures,” said Carlozzi. “Despite that one Alderman said at a recent council committee meeting that we are underpaying our department heads. We have been fortunate to have been served by very dedicated department heads, but as these positions become vacant in the future, we should reinstate the residency requirement.”

For all but the fire and police chiefs, the residency requirement in the proposal appears to apply only to future department heads.

Carlozzi and Ayalon’s new proposed ordinance is on the agenda for a final vote at the August 8, 2018 City Council meeting.

If approved, the proposal would go to the desk of Republican Mayor Erin Stewart, who could approve the measure or veto it. If Stewart vetoes it, the Council has the power to approve it over her objection. However, the vote to “override” a veto requires the approval of ten of the fifteen members of the Council, giving the six Republicans the power to deny the ten votes required.

“We need to take pride in living in our city and it needs to be promoted in City Hall,” Carlozzi added. “We pay a highly competitive salary, great benefits and it is not too much to ask someone that after two years on the job, they should be proud to not only work in the city but live in the city and experience everything that New Britain has to offer.”