Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki has allowed an ordinance requiring employees to live in the city for five years after being hired to go in effect while saying that some council members intimidated opponents.
After struggling to find local residents to fill positions, the city had not been enforcing the ordinance and earlier getting the Delaware General Assembly the power to set residency requirements.
That led to competing pieces of legislation to loosen requirements followed by some council members reversing course and voting to keep the current ordinance.
So far, there has been no formal response from the City Council.
Purzycki said that, during recent public sessions of the council regarding residency reform, some members of the council allowed and encouraged angry crowds to speak for hours to suppress the discussion about why a residency requirement reduces the effectiveness of city government. Purzycki also said the effort by members of the council to intimidate and badger fellow council members who supported reform was an embarrassment to the city government.
Mayors can sign, veto, or allow council legislation to become law ten days after passage. Purzycki opted to not sign or veto the legislation.
Purzycki said his administration preferred that the council lift residency altogether or support a compromise that would have expanded the residency boundary to all of New Castle County. City jobs have gone unfilled, sometimes for a year or more, he said.
He pointed to the lack of candidates in positions such as lawyers, traffic engineers, and water chemists. He also noted that some positions are appointed and not subject to civil service protections, making a move to the city less attractive.
Also the current police academy currently has only seven participants, well below the normal 25. This comes as a wave of retirements loom at the department, leading to a potential public safety crisis, Purzycki stated.
Purzycki concluded with the following:
“Opponents of the effort to reform residency should look deep inside for the real motivation for their opposition. It is a lack of confidence in Wilmington as a place where people want to live rather than one where people are required to live. It is in not facing the uncomfortable recognition that some of our unemployed residents don’t even want these jobs. We believe deeply in our city residents and their ability to compete, but we also know that we need certain hard-to-find skilled personnel to run our city government. It is a shame that some members of the City Council, blinded by petty politics, do not see efficient governance as a worthwhile priority. The public can be assured that, in spite of the lack of understanding on the part of some members of council as to how government functions, my administration will continue to make this government operate as efficiently as possible.”
