The following citizen complaint procedures, adopted by the city,
are intended to provide a timely written response to all complaints
and grievances made against the city community development program
efforts:
(1)
A
person who has a comment or complaint about the services funded or
to be funded by a block grant administered by the city may submit
such comment or complaint in writing to the mayor, who is responsible
for administering the block grant program.
(2)
The
mayor shall, within five workdays of receiving the comments or complaints,
conduct an investigation into same, determine an appropriate response
to same and so advise the person who made said comments or complaints,
in writing. If for any reason this cannot be done, the mayor will,
within five working days of receiving the comment or complaint, advise
the person making the comment or complaint, in writing, why the response
cannot be provided within five working days of receiving the comment
or complaint and when a response can be expected.
(3)
The
mayor shall notify the person who made said comments or complaints,
in writing, of the final results of any investigation conducted. Unless
unusual circumstances interfere, all investigative action and reports
documenting the findings of same should be accomplished prior to the
20th working day after the comments or complaints were originally
received. Should this final response be delayed, the person making
the comments or complaints must be so advised in writing, to include
the problems being encountered and a new date for final resolution
of the comment or complaint.
(4)
A
copy of the above outlined comment and/or complaint procedures can
be obtained at the city hall between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30
p.m., Monday through Friday (except holidays).
(Ordinance 2003-304 adopted 11/10/03; Ordinance adopting Code)
(a)
The
city, in conjunction with its member citizen advisory committee and
other local residents, has developed and adopted the following official
plan for citizen participation.
(b)
Recognizing
the validity and value of citizen input into the political and governmental
process, the plan has been structured to provide adequate opportunity
for each and every resident to participate in an advisory capacity
through an established process. Such participation shall include involvement
in all three stages of community development:
(c)
To
insure and encourage as high a level of citizen participation as possible,
the city pledges to provide its residents:
(Ordinance 220 adopted 10/23/79)
All residents and other concerned parties shall be given full
and complete access to all information pertaining to the city’s
community development program with one exception. No information compiled
on an individual’s financial or social position shall be publicly
divulged or made available to other than city staff, city councilmen
and federal officials acting in an official capacity, an officer of
the court or the duly authorized agent of the individual in question.
All such information shall be available for review at the city office
from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays
and normal lunch hours. Copies of requested data may be made available
on request at a nominal charge and with twenty-four (24) hours’
notice.
(Ordinance 220 adopted 10/23/79)
All attempts will be made to provide for an equitable balance
of income levels on the citizen advisory committee. Where merited,
the city council and/or the citizen advisory committee may appoint
or charge to be formulated a special task force of low/moderate income
persons forspecific projects and questions of concern. (Equitable
balance herein refers to a committee membership ratio similar to city-wide
income composition ratios.)
(Ordinance 220 adopted 10/23/79)
This plan prohibits discrimination in the citizen participation
process based on income level, age, sex, health and/or ethnic origin.
Charges of discrimination in any of the above areas relating to the
community development program should be forwarded to the mayor. Should
satisfactory response not be received, the complainant should then
present his/her case to the city council. Should unsatisfactory response
occur at the city council, the complainant should address his/her
concern to the director of the HUD area office or to the Equal Opportunity
Division of the HUD area office.
(Ordinance 220 adopted 10/23/79)
(a)
In
addition to publishing notices of public meetings and hearings of
the citizens advisory committee, the city will provide appropriate
press releases for inclusion in local papers and shall provide speakers
knowledgeable on local community development programs to address civic
clubs, schools, churches, and other local citizen interest groups.
(b)
In
addition, special notices of public meetings will be mailed to any
of the above groups indicating an interest in receiving such materials.
(Ordinance 220 adopted 10/23/79)
Citizens will be encouraged and provided an opportunity to participate
in all aspects of the local community development effort including
but not limited to:
(1)
Development
of the three-year community development program.
(2)
Establishment
of community project priorities.
(3)
Setting
housing goals and establishment of a viable housing assistance plan.
(4)
Development
of the annual community development program.
(5)
Preparation
of grant requests and program applications.
(6)
Assessment
of performance and preparation of performance reports.
(7)
Development
of program amendments and selection of local option activities.
(Ordinance 220 adopted 10/23/79)
(a)
Submission to city.
(1)
Any resident may at any time address a view or proposal to the city.
When possible, it is encouraged but not mandatory that such submission
be written. The submission should be made to the city mayor, who will
provide a staff response within twenty (20) working days.
(2)
In addition, the mayor and/or city planner and/or city administrator
will present the submission to the citizen advisory committee at its
next regularly scheduled meeting for discussion. If the citizen advisory
committee disagrees with the staff response the issue will be forwarded
to the city council at which time, if a conclusion is reached different
from the staff’s response, the submitter shall be so notified
in writing.
(3)
In no case shall the full processing of an issue exceed 45 days.
(b)
Submission of objections to HUD.
Objections to application
approval may be made to HUD on the following grounds:
(1)
The applicant’s description of needs and objectives is plainly
inconsistent with available facts and data; or the activities to be
undertaken are plainly inappropriate to meeting the needs and objectives
identified by the applicant; or the application does not comply with
the requirements of this division or other applicable law; or the
application proposes activities which are otherwise ineligible under
this division.
(2)
Such objections should include both an identification of the requirements
not met, and in the case of objections made on the grounds that the
description of needs and objectives is plainly inconsistent with significant,
generally available facts and data, the data upon which the persons
rely. Although HUD will consider objections submitted at any time,
such objections should be submitted within 30 days of the publication
of the notice that the application has been submitted to HUD. In order
to ensure that objections submitted will be considered during the
review process, HUD will not approve an application until at least
35 days after receipt of the application.
(Ordinance 220 adopted 10/23/79; Ordinance adopting Code)
As opposed to submission of views and proposals above, complaints
will be addressed to the city mayor, who will provide a written response
within twenty (20) working days. Complaints not satisfied with the
staff response may request inclusion on the next regular scheduled
council agenda of their concerns.
(Ordinance 220 adopted 10/23/79)
(a)
The
city under this plan shall provide to any citizen or citizen interest
group sufficient technical assistance on a request to enable the interested
party to fully participate in the program. Such assistance shall be
requested in writing through the city office and/or such office and/or
staff member as designated by the mayor and such request to be submitted
during normal business hours and shall include:
(1)
Adequate information: The city shall provide for full public access
to program information and affirmative efforts to make adequate information
available to citizens, especially to those of low and moderate income,
and to those residing in lower-income or blighted neighborhoods. At
the time the applicant begins planning for the next program year,
the following program information shall be provided to citizens:
(A)
The total amount of community development block grant funds available
to the city for community development and housing activities, including
planning and administrative activities.
(B)
The range of activities that may be undertaken with these funds and
the kind of activities previously funded in the community.
(C)
The processes to be followed in drawing up and approving the local
application and the schedule of meetings and hearings.
(D)
The role of citizens in the program, as provided under this section.
(E)
A summary of other important program requirements.
(2)
The city shall provide for full and timely disclosure of its program
records and information consistent with applicable state and local
laws regarding personal privacy and obligations of confidentiality.
Documents relevant to the program shall be made available at the city’s
office during normal working hours for citizen review upon request
(either written or oral). Such documents include the following:
(A)
All mailings and promotional material.
(B)
Records of hearings.
(C)
All key documents, including all prior applications, letters of approval,
grant agreements, the citizen participation plan, performance reports,
evaluation reports, other reports required by HUD, and the proposed
and approved application for the current year.
(D)
Copies of the regulations and issuances governing the program.
(E)
Documents regarding other important program requirements, such as
contracting procedures, environmental policies, fair housing and other
equal opportunity requirements, relocation provisions, and the A-95
review process.
(b)
When
the application is submitted to HUD upon completion of clearinghouse
reviews, the city shall publish a notice in a newspaper of general
circulation stating that the application has been submitted and is
available to interested parties upon request and describing the requirements
on citizen objections to applications.
(c)
The
city shall make copies of the citizen participation plan, the proposed
and approved application, and the annual performance report available
at locations conveniently located for persons affected by the by the
program and accessible to the handicapped.
(Ordinance 220 adopted 10/23/79)
(a)
The
city shall hold two pre-submission public hearings prior to the submission
of grant applications to a federal entity and at least one performance
hearing.
(b)
The
hearings are to provide an opportunity for input of citizen views.
While all hearings are to occur prior to submission of each application,
it is further stipulated that the performance hearing be held between
30 to 60 days prior to the application’s submission.
(c)
Notices
shall comply with state law and:
(1)
Be published in easily readable type.
(2)
Be published in a non-legal section of the paper.
(3)
Be published in a paper of general circulation.
(4)
Be published 10 days and/or the normal published date of the local
paper prior to the meeting days provided such date is at least 3 days
prior to the meeting/hearing.
(5)
Shall include the date, time, place, procedures and topics to be
discussed.
(Ordinance 220 adopted 10/23/79)
No printed material will be prepared in other than the English
language. However, if bilingual assistance is needed by an individual,
the city will aid in obtaining a person fluent in that language to
assist the resident.
(Ordinance 220 adopted 10/23/79)
The following [sic] bylaws have been developed and adopted to
provide an official mechanism for citizen input. Such bylaws and structure
in no way limit any resident’s rights or opportunity to participate
in his local government but only assure that a minimum degree of participation
will always be available to the city’s elected officials in
the decision-making process.
(Ordinance 220 adopted 10/23/79)
(a)
The
citizen participation process involves residents in all program amendments,
changes in program beneficiaries, changes in the location of approved
activities and in the selection of contingency and local option activities.
(b)
Public
hearings are held on all amendments submitted to HUD for approval.
(Ordinance 220 adopted 10/23/79)
