Bill Broadening Sanit Residency Rights Enacted Places San Workers On Same Footing As Cops, Fire

Bill Broadening Sanit Residency Rights Enacted; Places SanWorkers On Same Footing As Cops, Fire

Governor Pataki Dec. 21 signed a bill relaxing city residency requirements for veteran Sanitation Workers, expanding the suburban counties in which they can live to include the same areas open to other city uniformed workers.

HARRY NESPOLI: Parity, affordability issues. The Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association had been lobbying for the measure for over 20 years. It specifically applies to employees with five years on the job.

'Very Important Gain'

"This is very important to my members," said USA President Harry Nespoli. "What good is staying in the city if you can't buy a home? All this does is give us the opportunity that other uniformed forces have."

The city's correction officers, cops, and firefighters must live within the five boroughs or in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Nassau or Suffolk counties. Sanitation Workers had been restricted to living in the city or Nassau or Westchester counties.

"You probably will see a mass exodus within five years," Mr. Nespoli remarked. He noted that the department hired 2,000 new Sanitation Workers over the past two years. "My members have been retiring rapidly," he observed. "The job takes a toll on the guys out there on the street."

Insiders said several months ago that the city had not taken a position on the legislation, which it had previously lobbied against. During his weekly radio address Aug. 19, Mayor Bloomberg said that the city would review the residency policy, which applies to the majority of city workers hired after July 30, 1986. But the Bloomberg administration Aug. 9 had sent a letter to Governor Pataki opposing the bill, arguing that the residency requirement did not impede recruitment.

"I don't think any of these things should be up to the State Legislature," Mr. Bloomberg said on his WABC/770 AM radio show Dec. 23. "It should be the city negotiating with its union, and the state should stay out of it whether it's medical benefits, pension benefits, where you can live, or any of those kinds of things."

The residency rule was signed into law during the Koch administration, and was designed to add employment opportunities for local residents, bolster the city economy, and increase accountability for city workers.

Rising Housing Costs

Since that time, the union argued, the cost of real estate has made it practically impossible for its members to purchase houses in the required areas. "The average working person doesn't have the bulk of money to put down for a house in the city limits," Mr. Nespoli said.

The USA endorsed Mr. Bloomberg's successful campaign for re-election, but Mr. Nespoli said he never discussed the issue before issuing his support. "I didn't talk to the Mayor at all about this," he remarked. "All I know is that he opposed it before when we had it up there."

The union president added, "I just think that reality set in with some of the politicians. Nobody can dispute the fact that the real-estate market has exploded to where the average worker can't afford it."

SanWorkers Parity

The measure was sponsored by State Senator Vincent L. Leibell, who represents Putnam County. He stands to gain an influx of residents to his district with the rule relaxed. But Robert Farley, a legislative director for the Senator, told this newspaper in September that this was not why he supported the measure. "He's carried it because he believes that Sanitation Workers, who do a lot of good for the citizens, should have parity and should not be disadvantaged," Mr. Farley said.

The city will not be financially affected by the legislation because Sanitation Workers who move out would still be required to pay taxes on their income earned in the city. The city's residency rules are different for every title. Exemptions to the rule have been made for 175 "hard-to-recruit" titles, including many high-tech and engineering positions.

The rule is also difficult to enforce. Proving that employees are violating the requirement, city officials have said, would likely involve secretly tailing suspected abusers. Workers living outside the city sometimes maintain two residences or list their parents' home as their primary address.