MORGANTOWN – If Morgantown City Council wants to push forward with a charter change allowing the body to waive residency requirements for the city manager position, it’ll likely need to put it before the voters.
Currently, the charter says the city manager doesn’t have to be a city resident at the time of appointment, but “must reside in the city while in office.”
Under the proposed change, the manager “may reside outside the City while in office only with the approval of Council.”
On Oct. 1, the body approved the change 6-1 on first reading with Councilor Brian Butcher voting in the minority. Early this week the vote went 4-3 to approve with Butcher, Louise Michael and Danielle Trumble voting against.
Even so, the ordinance probably won’t take effect.
There are two ways to amend a city charter.
One, you can put the proposed changes before the city’s voters.
Or, you can pass the changes by ordinance, but only if no objections are received during a public hearing on the issue.
“I just want to say I’m opposed to this,” Dan Horbachewski said, explaining such specialized jobs regularly require relocating.
“If the Morgantown City Manager resides within the city they help govern, they get to experience the effects that their decisions have on the city that they live in,” he said.
After a lengthy procedural discussion, it was explained that the objections described in state code must be written objections, so Horbachewski handed his comments to the city clerk.
Attorney Ryan Simonton said the ordinance will only take effect if Horbachewski withdraws his objection within the next 10 days.
“Otherwise, it will not go into effect and council will have the option to either abandon the amendment or place it on the April ballot,” Simonton explained.
While the majority of council supported the flexibility to allow a manager to live beyond the city’s boundaries, they all said they would prefer that individual not only live in the city but be active in the community.
“I think we all agree we want someone who is an integral part of our community, whether they live beyond the line or not,” Mayor Joe Abu-Ghannam said.
Deputy Mayor Jenny Selin said the change would simply provide council with options.
“It’s because people are real people with real lives. So, having that flexibility seemed wise in the long run to be able to look at a situation and see what would work for getting us the best manager we can find,” she said.
This is not a new topic of conversation for this council.
The residency requirement took center stage in September 2022 when council was forced to investigate “concerns” about whether current City Manager Kim Haws was living in Morgantown.
A short time later, it was explained that guidelines had been added to Haws’ contract spelling out the city’s expectations regarding residency.
Haws was hired by Morgantown City Council in November 2020. He announced in September that he intends to retire at some point “in the near future.”
Assistant City Manager Emily Muzzarelli, who’s served as interim manager in the past and would seem to be the frontrunner for the position should she want it, does not live in the city.
