Residency Referendum Backed By Pittsburghers

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – In addition to choosing Bill Peduto to be the next mayor of Pittsburgh, local voters also decided that city workers should live inside city limits.

Our news partners at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report that residents "overwhelmingly" backed the city's home rule charter referendum that will require city employees such as firefighters and police officers to live in the city limits.

According to the Post-Gazette, the rule has been around for more than 100 years, but the police union fought the requirement.

Mayor Elect Bill Peduto was unsure on the measure, saying last July, "Forcing people to have to live in the city doesn't do justice for morale, it doesn't make people have more of a commitment to improving the city. In some ways, it just makes them bitter."

Regardless of how resident feel however, it may have little effect, as a new state law gives police unions the right to bargain over this issue in their contracts.

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