Council Demand Stalls Easing Of Residency Law; Wants Extra Credit On Job Tests For City Denizens

Council Demand Stalls Easing Of Residency Law; Wants Extra Credit On Job Tests For City Denizens

By REUVEN BLAU

The Bloomberg administration last week said that it is opposed to giving city-dwellers five points' credit on job exams as part of its contract deal to relax the residency requirement for District Council 37's members - a stance that could jeopardize the residency break.

JOSEPH P. ADDABBO Jr.: A roadblock on residency. "We support the bill to eliminate residency requirements," said Stu Loeser, the Mayor's chief spokesman, in a Dec. 7 e-mail. "We don't support credits, which were not part of that deal."

Council Draws a Line

Key Council Members, however, have said they will not back legislation that would limit job opportunities for their constituents. "We need protection for our city residents," said Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., who heads the Civil Service and Labor Committee. "Until that issue is addressed, I don't think it deserves a hearing yet."

The dispute threatens to torpedo a key provision in DC 37's new contract allowing its members to live in six nearby state counties outside New York City - a right already extended to uniformed employees. The issue affects several other civilian unions that negotiated eased residency requirements this summer.

PAUL WASHINGTON: Link to high schools. DC 37 officials, however, do not appear concerned by the present disagreement, although it does not seem to be headed toward a resolution anytime soon.

"There is no issue," claimed Wanda Williams, DC 37's political action director during a phone interview last month. "This is part of the legislative process."

But sources have indicated the union has been lobbying the Council to move the bill forward. "I speak to them every week," Ms. Williams said, referring to Council officials. "It's a priority for them. They are committed to it."

Tie It to High Schools?

Mr. Addabbo reiterated last week that the Council would entertain a modified version of the bill which would give people living in the city some type of point credit, just as individuals currently receive if they pass the Firefighter and Police Officer exams.

Some last week suggested that the bonus be conferred only to individuals who have graduated from high schools in the city. "It's an incentive and a reward for people who have gotten their education in the city," said Capt. Paul Washington, president of the Vulcan Society, an organization of black firefighters. "It's foolproof. Everybody who we bring it up to thinks it's an excellent idea."

LILLIAN ROBERTS: Break for incumbents. Mr. Washington and others have contended that many police and Firefighter candidates lie about where they live in order to get the credit. "It's laughable," he said.

Asked about the idea, Mr. Addabbo said that he was in favor of giving "an edge" to city residents. But he added, "The unenforceability issue is not a valid issue. I don't really see that happening; there are many ways to prove a residence."

'Easy to Fake'

Mr. Washington said he hoped to persuade Mr. Addabbo that the current system doesn't work for Firefighters. "There are a lot of ways to fake residency and no ways to disprove it," Mr. Washington remarked.

Showing that candidates aren't living in the specified areas is extremely difficult and would likely involve secretly tailing suspected abusers, city officials have said. Individuals living outside the city often maintain two residences or list their parents' home within the five boroughs as their primary address.

Mr. Addabbo, however, noted that police and fire candidates must submit a utility bill or show where they voted in order to receive the residency credit. "We give out a $400 rebate based on where you live," he added, referring to the city's property-tax credit.

Those familiar with the DC 37 legislative proposal say that the measure and other similar union-backed bills are essentially one way labor organizations are coping with the real-estate boom that's made it impossible for many middle-class wage-earners to buy or rent in the city.

'Need Cheaper Housing'

"This is just a band-aid for the real problem: affordable housing," Mr. Addabbo said. "We are not curing the problem; we are masking it by telling people they can live outside the city."

Neill Coleman, a spokesman for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, said that Mayor Bloomberg has acknowledged that affordable housing is a major issue in the city. Middle-class city workers "are feeling real pressures of affordability," Mr. Coleman remarked.

He pointed out that in 2004 Mr. Bloomberg announced a New Housing Marketplace Plan, designed to create and preserve 165,000 units of affordable housing over the next 10 years. The plan, which is projected to cost $7.5 billion, is the largest effort of its kind in the nation and is estimated to provide affordable homes for 500,000 New Yorkers by 2013, according to the city. "That's more than the entire population of Atlanta," Mr. Coleman noted.

Employee Preference

Under the comprehensive plan, HPD has set aside 5 percent of the units in new developments for municipal employees. City workers can apply for interest-free mortgages, receive preferential treatment via a lottery system for the right to purchase city property at reduced prices, and get priority in other city housing programs, he added. "We are trying to restore some balance to the market," he remarked.

In addition, the AFL-CIO New York City Central Labor Council has worked to increase home ownership among unionized workers. It developed a program called ROOF - Real Ownership Opportunities for Working Families. The CLC hopes to use ROOF to stop the exodus of union members from the city.

The organization has been running workshops and seminars for labor leaders of its affiliates - which include public-sector unions like DC 37 as well as private-sector trades unions like Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The goal is to educate and inform the labor leadership as well as its members, CLC officials have said.

'Give Them Subsidies'

"If you want people to live in the city, you are going to have to give them housing subsidies," said Joshua B. Freeman, a labor historian who teaches at the City University of New York Graduate Center. "Ideally, the solution should be to make it possible for people who want to work in the city to live in the city ... it's not happening on a massive scale."

Mr. Coleman acknowledged the city's housing program will take time. "We are not trying to suggest that we've solved the problem," he remarked. "The Mayor's plan is under way, but it's not completed."

As for the DC 37 proposal, the union's executive director, Lillian Roberts, and Mayor Bloomberg highlighted changing the residency requirement at a press conference announcing the contract in July. They noted that the rule was signed into law in 1986 during the Koch administration, and was designed to add employment opportunities for local residents, bolster the city economy, and increase accountability for city workers.

The union had argued that the rising cost of real estate has since made it practically impossible for its members to purchase houses in the five boroughs.

Mr. Freeman pointed out that a city residency rule was first enacted during the Great Depression as a way to increase job opportunities for struggling residents during harsh economic times.

Currently, city workers are facing the "exploding cost of housing," he added. "The tremendous escalation of housing prices and the diminishing stock of housing pressure is more than it was before. Their options in terms of living in the city are not great."