The residency requirement for Fire Chief Josh Graham was to be in effect within six months of his hiring, which is up this month. Apparently, Graham requested an extension of that waiver, and most of council seemed to be in agreement to grant it.

Councilman Bob Bialkowski was the only one to question whether the chief used a city vehicle to drive to his home in Wyoming County, and Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr. said yes, as is the case for department heads.

When asked by The Batavian why the city was granting a waiver extension, Jankowski said that it was temporary.

“Until the situation changes. I can’t discuss the reasoning as to why,” he said. “I have no concerns, and if you come to work on time and you’re on-call and you’re here in a reasonable amount of time, I don’t have a problem with that.”

Council had at one time discussed widening the circle of territory for where city department heads could live and maintain residency requirements, Jankowski said. Other city officials have been granted such extensions of living outside of the city, including former and current police chiefs and assistant city managers, including the most recent one, Erik Fix, who lives in Le Roy.

Jankowski said he felt that as long as people made it to work on time and didn’t mind a longer commute and dealing with bad weather, it was ok with him.

But others disagreed, so they now take such situations on a case-by-case basis, he said.

By no means will there be a carte blanche residency waiver system, he said. This is just one of those individual cases, and council wants to work with a valuable employee, he said.

“He’s doing a great job,” Jankowski said of the fire chief.

File photo of Eugene Jankowski Jr. by Joanne Beck.

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) today scoffed at politicians on the Social Services Committee, many of whom are from New York City, who voted unanimously to block Hawley's bipartisan legislation (A.2251) that would institute a 90-day residence requirement before someone is eligible for welfare benefits in New York.

Republicans voted unanimously to report the bill to the floor for a full vote before the house.

“New York’s bloated welfare system has driven our state into fiscal ruin, causing a multi-billion dollar deficit that will likely fall on the middle class," Hawley said. "It is policies like these that perpetuate our reputation as the cradle to the grave capital of the nation, and attracts more visitors looking for a handout.

“In perilous fiscal times like these when we should be passing bills to root out fraud, waste and abuse in our social service system so that we can afford to help those who have fallen into unfortunate circumstances, instead of expanding an already wasteful system."