WEST POINT, Miss. (AP) - The city of West Point has eliminated a requirement that all local employees live in Clay County.
The Commercial Dispatch reports (https://bit.ly/OE54YP ) the 3-2 decision by the board of selectmen came Tuesday after a discussion over employee loyalty to the West Point community and the need to fill job positions that have been long vacate.
The board said department heads will still be required to live in Clay County.
The action removes from the employee handbook a requirement that city employees must move into the county within six months of being hired.
Board members said priority on job openings should be given to the most qualified candidates who already live in West Point or want to move there, but the exclusivity of the policy disqualified good job candidates who lived near but not inside the county.
“We have vacancies that have gone unfilled for quite some time and we’re in a competitive job market where other communities are pulling resources from us. We’ve got people living here and working in other communities because they allow it. I want that skill set here,” said board member Keith McBrayer.
Police Chief Tim Brinkley was one of several department heads who said he would hire according to board policy, but he had also lost qualified candidates to the residency requirement.
“We have run into some challenges finding qualified applicants in the county even after advertising,” Brinkley said.
Public Works Director Dwight Prisock said he’d been looking for a lineman for four years.
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Information from: The Commercial Dispatch, https://www.cdispatch.com
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