In a Brief we wrote in October of 2012 we noted the change in state law that altered a “shall” to a “may” in regards to the requirement that police officers working for the City of Pittsburgh “…become a bona fide resident of the city as a condition of employment”.
The change only applied to police, not all City employees, similar to how a 2001 amendment allowed Pittsburgh Public School teachers to reside outside the District but did not apply to other employees of the District.
This morning an arbitrator ruled that City police officers can live outside of City limits, as far as 25 air miles from the City-County building on Grant Street. A referendum on mandating all City employees to live in the City to be added to the Home Rule Charter passed in November (the language was already in the City code) adds murkiness to the situation; it would seem that since home rule cannot conflict with state law or the Pennsylvania Constitution that the referendum would yield.