Small town politics

[Micca]

I am contemplating taking a job in a small community. DW found a great job in a medium size city about 70 miles away, and we will find a place to live somewhere near the halfway point. During the interview process I was told that there might be some resistance to me not living in that town which could create hard feelings(My home would be 30 miles away). I was also told that I would be strongly encouraged to find a way to become involved in the community (i.e. join the Optimist club). While I don't object to helping with community causes, it makes me wonder about small town politics. Would I be thought of as an "outsider" just because I live 30 miles away in another small town?

Small town folks--what's up with that?

 

[figment52]

That is rather common around me (MI). IF your paycheck is from the city you must live in that city.

 

[newman7501]

Same thing here where we live in NY. If you get a paycheck from the town you must live in the town.

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

I have to say it's strongly encouraged here also. I think that's just how small towns operate.

TOV

 

[corie161]

I live and work in a small town (1200 people), and I work for the city. We recently hired someone that lives in a neighboring town. The fact that he didn't live in town was brought up, but it wasn't a deciding factor in him getting the job, nor do I think anyone treats him differently. It may depend on the job and just exactly how "small" the town is. People often refer to a small town, and they are talking about a town of 15,000+ people. To me that's not small.

Off the top of my head, thinking of several businesses in town there are plenty that live out of town that work in town. I know the school disctrict is often disappointed when their faculty chooses to live (and send their kids) to a neighboring town.

 

[monarchsfan16]

My town is roughly 4500 in population. The vast majority of the people that work for the town live here. There are only a couple of exceptions and those are the last couple of planning board secretaries that we've had, and possibly some cops.
However, most of the "jobs" in the town are elected positions (i.e.: selectmen, town clerk, town moderator, road agent, etc), and I can't see any outsiders actually running for any of those positions whether they're allowed to or not (not sure of the official rule). Of course most positions are also volunteer positions which may have something to do with that, but even the paid positions are made up of town residents. We also have a lot of boards in town (planning, zoning, conservation, etc), all of which are made up of town residents that are placed on the board by the selectman after an application process. All of these boards are town residents (with exception mainly of the secretary)
I think the mentality is that if you live in the town you'll understand the town's needs better.

 

[golfgal]

Most city governments work this way, big town or small town, if you collect a paycheck from the city, it is often required that you live within city limits. As far as private businesses, I don't really know of any personally that require you to live in the same town unless there is some part of your job that would require you to get to the office quickly (building maintenance if there is a problem maybe?). I know my BIL is a police officer and every town he applied to has the same policy, you have to live within city limits.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

I'll have to agree with MonarchsFan16 (she must live near me!)

It's not a requirement to live in our town of about 4000 people, but it does seem to help. When it comes to budget issues, people think if you're not from town, then you don't really care about keeping their taxes down. For us, most of the secretarial and highway positions are filled with people from town. For police and fire, not as likely (harder to find people that meet the requirements, I guess).

Good luck!
Jen