22-07-2025
City grants some department heads exemption to residency law
Jul. 21—WATERTOWN — The City Council voted Monday night to exempt the current city manager, city engineer, and the superintendent of public works from a law that would have required the department heads to move into the city.
"I appreciated the support and I'm going to continue to serve the city residents to my best possible ability," City Manager Eric Wagenaar said after the meeting.
In a 4-1 vote, the only opposition was from Councilwoman Lisa A. Ruggiero.
Under contract, Wagenaar was given until June 29, 2024, to make the move, with a possible six-month extension until last December. The City Council discussed the issue during an executive session but no action was taken.
Mayor Sarah V. C. Pierce said she understands that there is frustration that the residency provision of Wagenaar's contract was not fulfilled, while adding Wagenaar's experience would be difficult to replace.
"Over the past year and a half we've seen the city manager really do an exemplary job for the city," she said. "I think that his experience and connections to the community would be extremely hard to replicate."
The mayor said the city is facing a number of issues it is making progress on.
"To not grant an exemption would essentially stall that progress and I don't think that we can afford to do that at this point in time," she said.
Pierce also said that there should be talks about ways to encourage more city employees to live in Watertown.
"The next time those positions come open, what can we do to encourage the next person who takes that job to live in the city, or how can we give preference to people who live in the city for those positions," she said.
While saying it wasn't an easy decision, Pierce added that she thinks it's in the city's best interest that they continue on the path they're on. "I think that this is important to move forward with this," she said.
Ruggiero said she received a phone call from Assemblyman Scott A. Gray, who suggested doing "home rule" legislation.
A home rule law "makes the local government a full partner with the state in the shared responsibility for providing services to the people," according to the state's website.
City attorney Kristen Smith said if they passed the local law, it wouldn't stop the council from doing home rule legislation.
Council member Clifford G. Olney III, in explaining his vote, said that he has heard people say they are doing a "workaround" to state law, which states that officers must live in their municipality.
But he doesn't see it that way, instead calling it a "patch to a situation that wasn't addressed initially."
Olney claims that what they did previously by allowing the city manager to have six months and then a potential additional half-year to move into the city, was a workaround because the council did not have a law in place permitting Wagenaar, and other city officers, to live outside the city.
"What we would be doing this time is cleaning up that issue for this particular time with these three individuals but not doing anything about the next manager, the next department head... We would be faced with this again," he said.
Olney said he would be open to putting the grace period they gave Wagenaar into law.
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