To the Editor:
Bayonne needs to address the issue of city employees who live outside of the municipality. I believe if you work for Bayonne you should also live in Bayonne. In requiring all municipal workers to live in the city in which they are employed it positively affects both the economy and quality of life of Bayonne. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as of August 2013 Bayonne’s unemployment rate is 9.9 percent, much higher than the state average of 8.5 percent. I have no doubt that among the 9.9 percent of unemployed in Bayonne we can find qualified individuals who are capable of working city jobs.
The other way in which this helps Bayonne’s economy is that municipal workers living in Bayonne are more likely to spend their money in Bayonne helping our local businesses. However, municipal workers that live outside of Bayonne spend their money outside of Bayonne wherever they may live, therefore Bayonne loses money and local businesses are negatively affected.
In using the term municipal employees, cops, firefighters, and teachers should not be excluded. The cops and firefighters who live outside of Bayonne do a quality job but as soon as their shifts are over they immediately go back to where they live. I would feel much better if all of the police officers and firefighters of Bayonne lived in Bayonne. When an officer or firefighter lives in the city they work for they are more likely to do a better job at protecting and serving the needs of the citizens of Bayonne, because it very well could be their neighborhood or family/friends of theirs who are being affected by any crime that happens.
What I would propose for the city to consider is that all municipal employees must live in the city all year round, with a minimum of having lived in Bayonne for five years at the time of getting a job with the city.
RICHARD MCCARTHY
First Ward Council candidate