Response to City Council removing Mesquite residency requirement, as reported in article by Barbara Ellestad, “Residency Requirement to be Removed,” Mesquite Local News – March 28, 2019
I’m not good at writing my thoughts and opinions, but I’m going to try. What the City Council voted on about our first responders (Fire & Police officers) being able to move outside the Mesquite 15 mile limit is a stupid idea. Living in St. George, Utah, or Las Vegas, why? So their wives can be closer to shopping & entertainment? We can get good qualified people to apply outside of the so called “poor gene pool” of Mesquite (shame on you to say that). There are many police officers that would love to move to a wonderful small town, to raise there children here. We just have to put ourselves out there. Present our little town for the opportunity that is here.
The paychecks our First Responders (police & fire) earn from Mesquite (taxpayers) would then be spent outside of our city, in Utah or Las Vegas grocery stores, hardware stores, hair salons, etc. What will happen to our business? ALSO, how long will he have to wait for an OFFICER DOWN when he needs HELP?! We are not immune to a possible school shooting, not things we want to think about. What are the City Council thinking? Please Excuse my spelling and format of this letter, I think I might be one of the poor gene pool.
Sabine Reid
Mesquite
Disclaimer:
All editorials, Letters to the Editor, columns and comments are the sole opinions of the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of Mesquite Local News.
When we think of community policing and police-citizen relationships, wouldn’t officers who live down the street, with kids in Mesquite schools have stronger ties to his neighbors in Mesquite vs. an officer who commutes? A prospective employee that does not wish to live here is just taking a job and will flip when a similar position opens closer to home.
Retail leakage to St. George is an economic problem for Mesquite, it hampers development. Sending taxpayer funded payroll directly to Utah or Las Vegas only exacerbates this problem.
What kind of kool-aid are you drinking. People who commute to work have the same pride and compassion to work in Mesquite than the rest of us. Money ain’t leaving the city. Those commuters still have to fill up on gas and eat lunch. Plus last I check we live in the US not the USSR. People should have the freedom to live where ever they please.
I, too, am appalled at some of the comments made by Councilwoman Black and Councilman Rapson, as reported in MLN on March 28th, regarding our “gene pool” here in Mesquite. Who are these people to say such things!!? In the neighborhood where I live, the kids around me are super smart, industrious, motivated, and work hard at school and after school. The kids are all kind and respectful – I am sure Mesquite can find good candidates for first responders in any of our youth! Are there mentor programs for such things? If not, we should tell the police chief and the fire chief to get going on that! But to say Mesquite is not a breeding ground for qualified candidates (Black), or that they cannot keep drawing from the same gene pool and get quality help (Rapson), well, that is beyond being a terrible thing to say about our youth here in Mesquite, and sets a horrible example for all, not to mention being totally demotivating for our youth to continue to live in our wonderful little town once they start their own families! Shame on you!
I remember that the City fired the Fire Chief for not living in the City.
I think they made valid points from what I see only relatives get jobs for the city. They block any new blood from coming in. It’s time to diversify our city employee pool with non relatives.