To the editor,
Lynn has the best people and they should be given preference in hiring. But there are positions that are hard to fill where Lynn applicants don’t have specialized skills such as plumbing and electrical inspectors.
In these cases, Lynn should be able to hire the best, and not be held back by a residency requirement that does not apply to 71 percent of Lynn’s workforce. The city is left to hire contractors, which is an expensive way to get work done. We should also double our efforts to educate and apprentice Lynn students for the skills we need.
The big unions have bargained out residency. That leaves the smaller unions at a disadvantage. Teachers are exempt and teaching jobs are hard to fill. How much harder would it be with a residency barrier?
There are other barriers to hiring, but the residency requirement is one of them. Starting salaries, lack of diversity, work conditions, crumbling schools, hiring criteria, and nepotism are all barriers that should be addressed.
These are separate problems and should not hold up removing the residency barrier, now. Hire the best to move Lynn forward.
Jim Moser
Lynn
