Northglenn upheld requirements last week that would require its city manager to reside within city limits.

Council struck down an amendment during its Oct. 22 public meeting by a 5-3 vote that would have allowed the hiring of city manager residing outside of the city’s limits, if that person “resides at a reasonable daily commuting distance by automobile.”

Mayor Joyce Downing and council members Mayor Pro Tem Susan Clyne, Ward III, and Leslie Carrico, Ward II, voted in favor of keeping the residency requirement.

Voters approved a ballot measure in 2008 that amended Section 6.1 of the city’s home rule charter, allowing council members to establish city manager residency requirements by creating an ordinance. The ordinance, adopted in March 2009, requires the future city managers to reside within the city’s limits within a year of his or her appointment.

The rule was made shortly after current city manager Bill Simmons was hired by the city in November 2008. He currently does not reside within the city’s limits.

“I don’t approve of residency requirements, but I think there were a significant amount of people who voted for it,” Clyne said before she cast her vote. “Despite what I think, I guess I should represent what people voted for and what they want, so I would vote for it in its current format.”

Wayne Dodge and Carol Dodge, Ward I; Joe Brown and Marci Whitman, Ward II; and Kim Snetzinger, Ward IV voted against the measure. Ward IV representative Gene Wieneke was absent from the meeting and did not vote on the measure.

“I’m not forced to live in the city in which I work, why should I force someone else to do the same? I know I wouldn’t like it if I was told where I had to live,” Snetzinger said. “If they already reside in the Denver metro why should we force them to move?  I don’t think that we should.  If they are coming from outside the metro, there may not be housing that they like. It all goes back to the freedom of choice for me.”

Snetzinger said she will ask for an alternate ordinance to be brought forward at the next regular council meeting that does not require the city manager to live in the city.

Council is currently looking for a new city manager to replace Simmons, who is retiring Dec. 31.