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Council waives residency requirement for mechanic and laborer positions after staffing concerns
Summary
The Utica Common Council introduced and adopted ordinances to waive residency requirements for automotive mechanic and laborer positions, with the Department of Public Works citing recent resignations and hiring challenges.
The Utica Common Council voted to introduce and adopt ordinances waiving a city residency requirement for two municipal positions—an automotive mechanic and a laborer—after the Department of Public Works reported recent staffing losses and recruitment challenges.
Mark Sokolowski, the city’s Department of Public Works commissioner, told the council that two employees resigned in the previous 10 days and that the department would not be able to maintain operations going into the fall and winter season with current staffing. “Yes. So I have had 2 people resigning the last 10 days. One's a mechanic and one's a laborer. So right now, I have 4 labors going into the fall and winter season. We cannot survive with 4 mechanics going into that season,” Sokolowski said. He said candidates were willing to relocate to the city within months and asked the council to waive the residency rule to expedite hiring.
A council member asked about timeframes for required commercial driver licenses (CDLs) for some hires; Sokolowski replied that CDL completion varied by candidate and training, saying it “could be anything from 2 months, 6 months, and all depending on” the individual’s progress and in-house training capacity. Another council member later said the city had placed ads for months without finding a qualified mechanic.
Council members introduced the two ordinances, and the motions were recorded as adopted with nine affirmative votes for each: the ordinance waiving residency for an automotive mechanic and the ordinance waiving residency for a laborer. The transcript does not show amendments to either ordinance or additional conditions attached to the waivers.
The meeting record indicates follow-up staffing and training tasks remain with the Department of Public Works; the transcript does not specify whether the waivers are temporary or permanent, or any sunset dates, nor whether the waivers apply to future hires beyond the immediate vacancies.
