Mayor says Carpenter meets residency requirement by renting apartment
By Alex Bloom
Parks superintendent Tim Carpenter has met the city?s residency requirement by renting an apartment near Main Street, Mayor Linda Balzotti said.
Carpenter told The Enterprise on Thursday that he is renting an apartment in the city as a ?stop-gap measure.? The disclosure from Balzotti and Carpenter came a year to the day after Carpenter started his city job, which was also the deadline for him to establish residency in the city.
Carpenter has been a city department head since last August and had one year to comply with the city?s requirement that employees live in Brockton. When hired for the $84,000-a-year job, Carpenter assured city officials he would move his family to the city in the required timeframe.
He could have faced termination had he not complied with the requirement by Thursday, according to the residency ordinance, voted in by a 3-to-1 margin in 1992. Carpenter said he got an apartment within the last week-and-a-half.
The four-member Parks Commission, which hired Carpenter, voted in July to recommend that the City Council grant Carpenter an extension on the one-year requirement. The extension request was on the agenda for the City Council?s Sept. 10 meeting of the Finance Committee, and city officials were awaiting a ruling from the Law Department whether an extension would be allowed under the residency language.
Carpenter said recently that he listed his East Bridgewater home on the market in April but has yet to receive a bid. He purchased the home in 2006. Paperwork indicates he refinanced the home in March, just before putting it on the market.
?I like my job and I want to keep my job,? Carpenter said. ?I?m in a difficult situation in terms of selling my home.?
Parks Commission Chairman Thomas Frizzell Sr. said that Carpenter has been a great addition to the city.
?I think the most important thing was that he did establish residency, and I would hope that he would live in Brockton for a long time to come,? Frizzell said.
Carpenter would not provide his address, but Frizzell said his apartment is on Newbury Street. Carpenter also did not specify the size of the apartment or the amount he is spending on rent. He did say that he will reside in the apartment.
His wife and children live in East Bridgewater.
?I will be there at some point every day ? guaranteed,? Carpenter said.
He is in line this month for a boost in his annual salary from $84,000 to more than $90,000. He drives a city-owned vehicle.
Balzotti informed the City Council on Wednesday that the city?s personnel office notified her that Carpenter is in compliance with the city?s residency requirement.
Balzotti said in an interview Thursday that in renting an apartment Carpenter ensures that he keeps his job.
?This is probably the best solution right now,? Balzotti said. ?He has established his residency in the city and he?ll work out whatever he needs to work out with his own family issues.?
Ward 3 City Councilor Dennis Eaniri said that renting an apartment in the city is better for Carpenter than continuing to live in East Bridgewater. But Eaniri said he feels he has a longer way to go to become a resident, including registering to vote in Brockton and paying taxes in the city.
?It just puts a Band-Aid on the situation,? Eaniri said.
Ward 5 City Councilor Dennis DeNapoli said he feels that the matter of Carpenter?s residency is closed.
?If he complies with the city ordinance that he?s an official resident of this city, I think it?s a done deal,? DeNapoli said.
Carpenter, DeNapoli said, is legally complying with the law, whether or not he completely moves into the city. The city?s ordinance does not detail a definition of residency.
?It?s another way of getting around the system,? DeNapoli said.
DeNapoli and Eaniri both said that city voters should revisit the law through a ballot measure ? whether to strengthen the requirement or remove it.
?The key to the residency law is who is going to go out to get the signatures and who is going to put it on the ballot?? DeNapoli said.
Alex Bloom may be reached at abloom@enterprisenews.com.READ MORE about this issue.
walking dead finale nascar bristol narwhal st louis university mario manningham mario manningham williams syndrome
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.