Joliet removes residency requirement for firefighters

The city of Joliet is removing residency requirements from union contracts to attract more job applicants, Mayor Terry D’Arcy said Tuesday.

“We’re having a hard time hiring people for our city,” D’Arcy said before he and City Council members voted unanimously for a firefighters contract. “We’re having a hard time helping people move into the city.”

The mayor said the requirement that city workers live in Joliet is running up against a low housing inventory that makes it difficult for new employees to find a house in Joliet.

“These are real-world problems,” he said, adding that the city is “in kind of a crazy spot” because of a short supply of houses on the market.

The contract approved Tuesday with the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 44, which represents rank-and-file firefighters, eliminates the city residency requirement.

The contract is the first of six being negotiated with city unions. Others likely will include the loosened residency requirement.

The new contract gives firefighters the option of living anywhere within a 50-mile radius of the Joliet intersection of Jefferson Street and Essington Road.

Several council members emphasized that the new residency rule was sought by city administration and not the union.

“Some of our residents were asking, ‘Why don’t they want to live here?’” council member Juan Moreno said.

“The union didn’t demand this, and they didn’t ask for it,” council member Larry Hug said. “It was asked for by the management side for whatever reason.”

Hug and Moreno said they did not like the removal of the residency requirement but would vote for the contract.

The contract also provides 3.25% annual pay raises retroactively for 2025 and through 2028.

The pay increases come for what Hug described as “top-tier” jobs.

A large portion of city employees have an annual pay of more than $100,000 a year, and firefighter jobs are among the highest paid.

Council member Sherri Reardon, however, said, “They’re not coming in at a large salary.”

“It’s not easy to move a young couple into the city who are just starting a job,” Reardon said.

Resident Damon Zdunich, an unsuccessful candidate for the City Council in the April 1 election, urged the council to table a vote on the contract, saying public opinion is on the side of a city residency requirement.

“Go back to negotiations and include the public on this decision,” Zdunich said. “A lot of the public doesn’t like it.”