Hermes to State: Leave Greendale's Residency Requirement Alone

When the Wisconsin State Legislature’s Joint Committee of Finance makes its way to Greendale for a public hearing Thursday, you can expect Village President John Hermes to take his turn at the microphone.

Hermes plans to ask legislators to reconsider the inclusion by Gov. Scott Walker in his biennial budget a provision that ends residency requirements for public workers.

The provision, which was recently backed by Mahlon Mitchell, head of the state’s firefighters’ union, would give public workers across the state the freedom to live wherever they choose.

But Hermes said Greendale’s residency requirements are important. The Village does not require public workers to live within the Village, but they do have to live within a 15-mile radius of Greendale.

The provision, “brings two concerns to Greendale,” Hermes told the Village Board on Tuesday. “Number one is our response time from employees. … We need to have response from the employees that are off-duty, especially in emergency and urgent situations.

“That not only applies to police and fire, but the public works department, the health department.”

Hermes said his second concern is that the provision is policy placed within budget consideration.

“That should not happen in the state legislature,” he said.

Hermes’ opinion is shared by many municipal leaders, especially those in Milwaukee County. At the next Intergovernmental Cooperation Council of Milwaukee County Meeting, to be held at 1:20 p.m. April 8, at The Polish Center of Wisconsin in Franklin, municipal leaders are expected to sign a resolution that urges the State Legislature to remove the provision.