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Mayor Fires Akron Firefighter

Posted on: Thursday, 13 April 2006, 09:00 CDT

By John Higgins, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

Apr. 13--Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic has fired an Akron firefighter -- one of a handful of women in the department -- for failing to move into the city within a year of her hire date.

Brenda Wagner, 33, is renting an apartment in the city, but city officials believe she really is still living in Brimfield Township with her husband and grade-school-age children.

The city charter requires all city employees to live in Akron and gives them a year from their hire date to move. The city reminded Wagner of that obligation with three letters as the deadline approached.

Wagner has requested a mayor's hearing next month to appeal Plusquellic's decision.

Such firings are rare. The most recent firing of a city worker for failing to comply with the residency requirement had been in 1994 when Akron police Officer Mary Geiger lost her job, said Jim Masturzo, deputy mayor for labor relations.

Geiger and her husband, an Akron police detective who was hired before the residency requirement took effect, had moved to a new house in Tallmadge 500 feet out of Akron because their children were getting threatened at school.

In January, Gov. Bob Taft signed Senate Bill 82, which outlaws most municipal residency requirements, but the law doesn't take effect until May 1 and wouldn't cover Wagner.

Wagner's lawyer, Lawrence Whitney, said Wagner is not contesting the validity of the requirement and believes she has satisfied it.

Whitney said Wagner and her husband are separated, but she has returned to the Brimfield home on occasion to watch the children when her husband is working.

"It's hard on a mother of two young children," Whitney said. "This residency requirement is a difficult thing to comply with, and she's doing her best to comply with it, and I think she technically did comply."

She was supposed to become an Akron resident by Feb. 14 of this year. Her firing was effective March 21.

Whitney said he is gathering bills sent to her apartment, a landlord's statement and other evidence that she resides there.

Masturzo declined to comment further on the firing because of the upcoming mayor's hearing.

The city monitors new hires and sends warning letters. Firefighters and police officers are required to notify the city of changes of address. The city doesn't routinely audit current employees except when periodic mailings are returned as undeliverable.

"The mailings are the real proof, when you get something back, and they're not at that address," Masturzo said.

Voters have overwhelmingly supported the residency requirement in the city charter, approving the initial requirement in 1978 and supporting it again in 1995.

Plusquellic has been an unapologetic supporter of the residency requirement. He reminded city workers in a letter Jan. 18 that the city charter still requires residency regardless of Senate Bill 82, and anyone who moves out of the city will be fired.

John Higgins can be reached at 330-996-3792 or 1-800-777-7232 or jhiggins@thebeaconjournal.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

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Source: Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)

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