The City Council has determined that it is in the best interests of the City to establish impartial procedures for the appeal of adversarial or prosecutorial proceedings, whereby any person may appeal the decision of a City official in such proceedings.
(Ord. 167 § 1, 2007)
The procedures established by this chapter shall be applicable to those proceedings in this Code which specifically reference this chapter. In addition, and notwithstanding anything to the contrary within this Code or any other procedures provided for in this Code, City officials may elect to have this chapter apply to any other proceeding. Such election may be made by the City official at the time he or she renders a decision which is subject to appeal.
(Ord. 167 § 1, 2007)
The City shall hire through a process of issuing requests for qualifications, and shall maintain a panel of, qualified attorneys and qualified City Managers to serve as Hearing Officers for matters appealed according to the procedures set forth in this chapter. "Qualified attorney" means an attorney at law having been admitted to practice before the courts of this State for at least five years prior to his/her appointment. "Qualified City Manager" means a person who has at least five years experience serving as a City Manager. Hearing Officers shall be assigned to matters on a rotating basis to assure fair and impartial review and analysis of issues on appeal. As an alternative to assigning a Hearing Officer from the panel on a rotating basis, the City may contract with the State Office of Administrative Hearings to furnish a Hearing Officer for any appeal hearing. The City shall have no role in the selection or assignment of Hearing Officers for any given appeal, provided that this shall not prevent the City from selecting qualified attorneys and qualified City Managers to serve on the City's panel of Hearing Officers.
(Ord. 167 § 1, 2007)
The City and appellant shall each be responsible for paying one-half (½) of the fees and costs charged by the Hearing Officer, unless and except to the extent that a specific provision of this Code provides otherwise.
(Ord. 167 § 1, 2007)
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prohibit any person from seeking prompt judicial review of a decision of a City official regarding an activity protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, as applicable. The City shall comply with all requirements provided for by the California Government Code, Code of Civil Procedure, or other applicable laws, rules or regulations necessary for prompt judicial review.
(Ord. 167 § 1, 2007)
A. 
Notice of Appeal—Fee. Except for matters requiring prompt judicial review as described in Section 1.12.050, any person objecting to the administrative decision of a City official may, within 10 days, appeal by filing a written Notice of Appeal ("notice") with the City Clerk, stating the grounds for why such decision is not proper and thus being contested. Any appeal shall be limited to such written grounds. Payment of the relevant fee for appeal, which may be established by City Council resolution, and the amount of any fine the imposition of which is being appealed, must be deposited with the notice. Any hearing fee shall not exceed the reasonable cost to the City of a hearing, and shall include one-half (½) of the fees and costs charged by the Hearing Officer, as provided for in Section 1.12.040.
B. 
Hearing Officer Assignment—Hearing Date. The City Clerk shall forward the appeal for assignment to the next Hearing Officer in the rotation from the panel of qualified Hearing Officers maintained by the City, or shall contract with the State Office of Administrative Hearings, as provided for in Section 1.12.030. The Hearing Officer so assigned shall schedule a date for hearing within 10 days after the date of referral of the appeal by the City Clerk; provided, however, that the Hearing Officer may take more than 10 calendar days if he or she reasonably determines that additional time is necessary or upon the mutual agreement of the parties. The hearing shall be held not more than 30 days from time of referral by the City Clerk to the Hearing Officer; provided, however, that the Hearing Officer may schedule the hearing more than 30 calendar days out if he or she reasonably determines that additional time is necessary or upon the mutual agreement of the parties. At least 10 days prior to the date of the hearing on the appeal, the Hearing Officer shall notify the appellant and City official of the time, date and place for the appeal hearing. To the extent that specific State or City ordinances set forth additional notice provisions, the Hearing Officer shall also comply with such provisions. In addition, the Hearing Officer may continue the hearing date from time to time as he or she determines is reasonably necessary to allow a full and fair adjudication of the issues.
C. 
Stay of Decision. With respect to appeals regarding an activity protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, a properly filed notice stays the City official's decision until the Hearing Officer renders a decision on the appeal. With respect to all other appeals, nothing in this chapter shall impair a person's right to seek temporary relief from a court of competent jurisdiction pending the Hearing Officer's decision on the appeal; provided, however, that without a court order the City official's decision shall not be stayed and nothing in this Code shall be interpreted to require or support such temporary relief.
D. 
Rights of Hearing Officer. The Hearing Officer is authorized to issue subpoenas, to administer oaths and to conduct the hearing on the appeal. At such hearing, the appellant and the City official may present evidence relevant to the decision of the City official. The Hearing Officer shall have authority to receive evidence and shall rule on the admissibility of evidence and on questions of law. At the hearing, any person may present evidence in opposition to or in support of appellant's case.
E. 
Recording of Appeal Hearing. All hearings shall be recorded by a video or audio device. Any party to the appeal hearing may also, at its own expense, use a court reporter to record the proceeding. If a court reporter is not used, the City will make the video or audio tapes of the hearing available to any party. The City may charge a reasonable fee for reproducing the tapes. If a court reporter is used, a party to the hearing may obtain a copy of the transcript upon payment of any applicable fees or costs charged by the court reporter. The City may destroy such tapes or transcripts following the time during which any and all appeals of the administrative citation are required to be made pursuant to this chapter or following the time during which such tapes or transcripts are required to be retained by the City pursuant to State law, whichever is later.
F. 
Evidentiary Rules. The hearing need not be conducted in accordance with the technical rules of evidence. Each party shall have the right to call and examine witnesses, to introduce exhibits and to cross-examine opposing witnesses who have testified under direct examination. The Hearing Officer may call and examine any witness. Hearsay evidence may be used for the purpose of supplementing or explaining any direct evidence, but shall not be sufficient in itself to support a finding, unless it would be admissible over objection in a civil action. The rules of privilege are applicable to the extent they are permitted in civil actions. Any relevant evidence may be admitted if it is the type on which reasonable persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of their affairs, regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rule which might make admission of such evidence improper over objection in civil actions. Oral evidence may be taken on oath or affirmation. Irrelevant collateral, undue or repetitious evidence shall be excluded.
G. 
Hearing Officer Decision. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Hearing Officer may uphold, modify or reverse, in any manner he or she deems justified pursuant to the evidence presented, the decision of the City official which is the subject of the appeal. The decision shall not, however, conflict with any substantive provisions of the applicable chapter(s) of this Code. The Hearing Officer shall, within five calendar days of the conclusion of the hearing, file with the City Clerk his or her written decision, along with written findings of fact and conclusions of law, and shall provide a copy of the decision to all parties; provided, however, that the Hearing Officer may take more than five calendar days if he or she reasonably determines that additional time is necessary or upon the mutual agreement of the parties. If any party is represented by an attorney, the attorney shall be served. The decision of the Hearing Officer is final when filed with the City Clerk. The Hearing Officer shall also submit the original copies of the record to the City Clerk.
H. 
Failure to Request Hearing. Failure to timely submit the notice and make the deposit required by subsection A of this section shall constitute a failure by the person who was entitled to appeal to exhaust his or her administrative remedies.
(Ord. 167 § 1, 2007)
A. 
Any person who intends to request an appeal hearing and who is financially unable to make the advance deposit of any applicable fine and appeal fee may file a request for an advance deposit hardship waiver form, available from the Finance Department. The Director of Finance ("Director") shall be authorized to establish a reasonable policy, including criteria, for determining financial ability to pay the applicable fine and appeal fee.
B. 
The request shall be filed with the Finance Department within five days of the date of the issuance of the decision subject to appeal.
C. 
The requirement of depositing the full amount of the fine and appeal fee shall be stayed unless or until the Director of Finance ("Director") makes a determination not to issue the advance deposit hardship waiver.
D. 
The Director may waive the requirement for advance deposit only if the cited party submits to the Director a declaration under penalty of perjury supported by evidence that shows to the Director's reasonable satisfaction that such party is financially unable to deposit the total amount of the fine and appeal fee in advance of the hearing.
E. 
If the Director determines not to issue an advance deposit hardship waiver, the cited party shall remit the fine and appeal fee to the City within five days of the date of that decision or 15 days from the date of issuance of the decision subject to the appeal, whichever is later.
F. 
The Director shall list his/her reasons for granting or not granting an advance deposit hardship waiver in writing and serve it on the cited party. The Director's decision shall be final.
(Ord. 167 § 1, 2007)