PWSA Employees Asked To Prove City Residency

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A letter was sent out last week to more than 200 Pittsburgh Water and Sewer employees.

All of them were asked to prove they live in the city, told to provide mortgage payment booklets, gas, electric and phone bills.

"If after investigation, the authority finds that an employee is or has been in violation of the domicile requirement, employment with the authority will be terminated."

"I'm not a big fan of the residency requirement policies," City Councilman Patrick Dowd, also a member of the PWSA Board, said.

Dowd says he would change the policy if he could and may ask the board to do so.

"The authority shouldn't be in the business of firing folks," he said. "We have a lot of work to do at the authority and we need to make sure that work gets done."

Sources close to the investigation tell KDKA Investigator Marty Griffin the PWSA may have a difficult time enforcing this policy.

The former executive director of the organization actually lived in Westmoreland County and kept an apartment in the city of Pittsburgh during the week.

"It's reasonable for us to think about lifting some of these requirements," Dowd said.

Union leaders agree and fired off a terse letter to the PWSA saying: "[We are] instructing our members not to divulge to PWSA this request for information," threatening legal action if necessary.

PWSA called the request a records keeping issue and would not comment on reports as many as 30 employees could face termination for living outside the city.

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