by Kristin Casale
Associate Editor
Stow -- The city charter states some department heads and their assistants must live in Stow, but City Council is weighing whether that requirement should remain in place.
According to Clerk of Council Bonnie Emahiser, the charter states "all department heads and executive managerial employees" are required to live in Stow.
This requirement applies to the service director, the assistant service director, the city engineer, the assistant city engineer, the assistant finance director, the police chief, the fire chief and the manager of information systems.
Emahiser said the finance director and law director also are required to reside in Stow, but that requirement stems from those positions being elected by voters.
Council President Janet D'Antonio said she wants Council to consider placing a charter amendment on the November ballot that would remove the residency requirements because she believes they are hindering the city from replacing employee vacancies in a timely manner.
Service Director Dano Koehler said he has had trouble finding an assistant service director position, a job that has been vacant since Thom Sheridan left the post in February, in part, because of the residency requirement for the position.
"We're going to wind up [hiring] somebody [from another city], and they're going to have to wind up moving," said Koehler.
D'Antonio sympathized with Koehler.
"We had an instance years ago with a fire chief who lived in Munroe Falls who had to move to Stow," she said. "They were actually further away [from City Hall] in Stow than they were in Munroe Falls."
Councilmember Ron Alexander said he supports residency requirements for department heads, calling them a "huge plus."
"I've always felt folks who live in the city are more responsive [to residents' concerns]," he said.
However, Alexander said, he believes the residency requirements must be re-evaluated because they are "becoming a problem."
"Because of the nature of the real estate market, it's making things very difficult to sell homes," he said.
Mayor Karen Fritschel said she believes removing residency requirements just for assistant department heads would be effective.
"It's causing us some problems with getting the number of applicants we think we need," she said of the assistant service director search, stating they plan to start a new search shortly.
Alexander said Council will discuss the issue during the next few months, but the topic has yet to be assigned to a specific meeting date.
E-mail: kcasale@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-686-3917