An ordinance that would put the question of residency to voters on the November ballot failed to get enough votes Wednesday as Mayor Mike Houston cast the deciding no vote.
Aldermen McMenamin’s proposed ordinance drew support from several residents, including former Springfield Mayor Ozzy Langfelder, who addressed the council Wednesday.
However, Houston, also a former Mayor, says that the city has 23 different union contracts and only one has negotiated the issue of residency.
If the issue of residency was a possibility, Houston says it would cost the city money to renegotiate those contracts.
