Letters to the Editor
Will Compromise on Residency

To the Editor:

Twenty-one years ago, residency rules were put in place to help make sure city residents could find work in city jobs. That was a different time then, when the city was broke and rents were cheap. Today, the people are broke and rents and home prices have gone through the roof. Today, working people - I am referring to Local 983 tow truck operators, Park Rangers, Traffic Enforcement Agents, High Pressure Plant Tenders and others - are truly being squeezed.

From my window in DC 37 I can see construction workers building a 20-story luxury condo tower where none of my members will ever be able to afford an apartment. The rich are very rich, and the middle class is taking it on the chin.

Twenty-one years ago, a residency rule for city workers may have made sense as a way to keep workers in the city and to insure that city jobs went to city workers. But today, it no longer makes sense. It's time for the City Council to see this reality and allow union members, the backbone of this city, to be able to freely choose where to live. Many of my members are desperate to move out of the city to save money, but they want to keep their city jobs. Right now, because of residency requirements, this is impossible.

The city needs to allow working people more options. If city workers want to move to cheaper areas, let them do it. I know that the Council is considering various options, and I am in favor of the option that restricts city workers the least. And if the Council wants city workers to serve a short probationary period as city residents before being able to move outside of the five boroughs, I could endorse that as a compromise that is much better than no action whatsoever. We must get this deal done, even if we have to compromise to do it.

The City Council must make a step to help city workers maintain their quality of life. The future of our great civil service middle-class is at stake.

MARK ROSENTHAL, President, Local 983, District Council 37