There shall be a Residency Compliance Commission (“Commission”) comprising seven (7) Commissioners, five (5) to be appointed by the Mayor of Boston so long as one is a City union representative and two (2) are members of the citizens group Save Our City; the City’s Affirmative Action Officer shall serve ex-officio, and the City Council President, or such other Councillor designated from time to time by the Council President, shall serve ex-officio. The purpose of the Commission shall be to investigate and make findings, pursuant to the following provisions, relative to compliance with the Boston Residency Ordinance, CBC subsections 5-5.2, 5-5.3 (“Residency Ordinance”) and to consider whether to grant waivers in accordance with said Residency Ordinance.
All Commissioners, with the exception of the City Council President, shall serve coterminous with the Mayor and any vacancies shall be filled by the Mayor of Boston for the unexpired term. The Commissioners shall annually elect a Commission Chairperson. Commissioners shall serve without compensation and shall be classified as Special Municipal Employees for purposes of the State Ethics Law, G.L. c. 268A.
The Commission shall have the power to investigate, conduct hearings, subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance, administer oaths, take the testimony of any person under oath and in connection therewith to require the production for examination of any documents, books, papers, or evidence relating to any matter in question or under investigation by the Commission. The Commission may appoint from within or without its membership a hearing officer to conduct particular hearings. Subpoena power shall be exercised by the Chairperson of the Commission, or his or her designee, upon majority vote of the Commission. The employee who is the subject of a hearing shall be afforded notice and an opportunity to provide testimony, witnesses, documents and to have counsel present.
Should the Commission, after hearing, find that an employee, who is subject to the Residency Ordinance, does not reside within the City of Boston, the Commission shall issue its findings to the employee's Department head. The Commission shall also, with its findings, advise that the employee's failure to reside within the City of Boston constitutes a voluntary termination of employment under the Residency Ordinance and said Department head or appointing authority shall, consistent with the Residency Ordinance, notify the Treasurer to remove the employee's name from the payroll.
Semi-annually, the Commission shall provide a written report to the Mayor, who shall file a copy with the City Council. This report shall include all investigations and findings by the Commission with respect to the Residency Ordinance.
(Ord. 1994 c. 10 § 5; Ord. 2016 c. 2 § 3)