Title
January 28, 2002
TO THE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE
COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA:
I am returning herewith as disapproved, Bill Number 010493-A. Council passed this bill at its session on December 20, 2001.
Bill Number 010493-A proposes to amend section 20-101 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Residence Requirements," to provide that an employee in the civil service need not be a "bona fide resident" of the City when appointed, but rather must establish and maintain bona fide residence in the City within six months after appointment. Simply put, this bill would completely eliminate the pre-employment residency requirement for civil service employment and only require that all new civil service employees establish residency in the city within six months.
It was asserted at the hearing for this bill that relaxing the residency requirement would make it both easier to attract highly qualified candidates to government service and would act as an indirect catalyst for attracting new residents to the City of Philadelphia.
However, not a shred of concrete credible evidence was presented to support either assertion. Individuals testified in support of the measure, but no witness offered tangible data to support the assertion that a residency requirement thwarts Philadelphia's efforts to hire the best and the brightest and repealing it would increase the population of the city.
Under the present requirements, any individual hired for a civil service position must be a Philadelphia resident for at least one year prior to being appointed unless a waiver is granted. This requirement is significant and its importance should not be discounted. This requirement helps Philadelphians - people who have chosen to move here or who were born here and have chosen to stay here. This requirement helps those residents who have chosen to raise their families here, who have chosen to support the City and its neighborhoods. Quite simply, t...
Click here for full text