In Chattanooga, if one wants to work for city government, they can live anywhere in Tennessee – all the way west in Memphis if one chooses to do so. But, oddly enough, that same person couldn’t live just south of the city limits across the state line in Rossville, Georgia.
The city is asking for the state residency requirement for its employees to be lifted, offering a referendum on the issue to voters in the ongoing municipal elections.
The Chattanooga Times strongly endorses this change for two reasons: increasing housing costs and common sense. Let’s get into the latter first.
The fact that a city employee can live in Memphis but not Rossville is beyond absurd. It’s time to rid ourselves of this nonsensical requirement. Period.
And sure, we could see the argument that it’s important for those who work in city government to live in the community, but we would argue, especially in our increasingly sprawled urban environment, that the larger metro area – which includes Dade, Catoosa and Walker counties in Georgia – is very much a part of the larger community.