The Human Resource Committee will review the city’s residency policy that it places on certain non-union employees that requires the employees to live in Waukesha County.

The committee did not discuss the specific non-department head employees that have a residency restriction. A memo states that the positions that require people to live in Waukesha County are "unique" positions.

The issue came up after Deputy Police Chief Mark Stigler brought it to the attention during the promotional process of a long-time Waukesha dispatcher to the emergency communications center supervisor position. The dispatcher, Brian Jansen, was the best candidate, Stigler said, but the residency requirement became a problem because Jansen lives in Milwaukee County but 16 minutes from the Waukesha Police Department.

The committee is recommending that the Common Council grant an exception to Jansen, especially after Human Resources Director Donna Whalen noted Jansen could move to Eagle and satisfy the Waukesha County residency requirement while living 25 minutes from the police department.

Even Stigler noted in a memo that Jansen lives closer to the police station than some areas in the city of Waukesha. Jansen told the committee he considered not even seeking the position because he would have to move.

“The residency was the only thing that was holding me back,” Jansen said.

While the committee is recommending the exception in Jansen’s case, it also will review the entire policy at its next meeting, including information from department directors and comparative data from other communities. That review will not include the department heads but Alderman Vance Skinner said he wants to look at “the whole nine yards.”

So the committee will discuss at the next meeting if it wants to divulge deeper into the residency requirement that mandates department directors live in the city of Waukesha.

“We could potentially be losing … the top talent,” Skinner said about looking at every position. “… We want the best of the best where it can be applied.”