A. Absent unusual circumstances, within five business days of receipt of written notice implementing disciplinary action, the employee may file a notice of appeal by giving written notice of appeal to the city clerk. A time for an appeal hearing before the city manager shall be established which shall be not less than ten business days nor more than thirty business days from the date of filing of the appeal unless the employee and the city manager agree to some other date. All interested parties shall be informed in writing of the date, time and place of the hearing at least five business days prior to the hearing.

B. The city manager or a designee shall be the hearing officer for appeals unless the city manager determines that he or she has been substantially involved with or embroiled in the disciplinary proceedings and cannot be neutral, either with or without a written request from the employee, the city manager may in his or her sole discretion designate another hearing officer to hear the appeal. In situations where the affected employee is a department head or member of the city manager’s direct staff, an alternate hearing officer shall be designated by the city manager to hear the appeal.

C. In instances involving termination, if the city manager, in his or her sole discretion, determines that an independent hearing officer should be appointed, the city manager shall select a nonemployee of the town to conduct the hearing. That hearing shall comply with the provisions of this article insofar as possible.

D. All appeal hearings shall be closed to the public unless the appellant requests that it be open to the public. The appellant shall be present at the hearing.

E. The hearing shall be informal in nature and not be conducted in accordance with technical rules of evidence and procedure; however, hearings shall be conducted in a manner most conducive to determining the truth in a fair and appropriate manner. Each party shall have the right to be represented by counsel or other person, to call and examine witnesses, to introduce evidence, to cross-examine opposing witnesses, and to impeach opposing witnesses and rebut any information they may present. Any relevant evidence may be admitted if it is the sort of evidence upon which responsible persons are accustomed to rely in conduct of serious affairs, regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rules which might make improper the admission of such evidence over objection in civil actions. Hearsay evidence may be used for the purpose of supplementing or explaining any direct evidence but shall not be sufficient in and of itself to support a finding unless it would be admissible over objection in a civil action. The rules of privilege shall be recognized as in civil actions, and irrelevant and unduly repetitious evidence may be excluded. Decisions made by the hearing officer shall not be invalided by any informality in the proceedings.

F. The hearing officer shall rule on the admission or exclusion of evidence, and may rely upon legal counsel for assistance where necessary.

G. Oral evidence shall be taken only on oath or affirmation under penalty of perjury.

H. The hearing shall proceed in the following order unless the hearing officer for special reason directs otherwise:

I. During the examination of witnesses all other witnesses, except a representative of each party, shall be excluded from the hearing.

J. The hearing officer may grant a continuance prior to the commencement of the hearing or during the hearing for any reason believed to be important to reaching a fair and proper decision.

K. The decision of the hearing officer is final and conclusive in all cases except where the affected employee is a department head.

L. The decision of the hearing officer may be presented to the superior court for judicial review pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure Section 1094.6, and any such review shall be filed within the time limits set forth therein.

M. If any of the provisions of this article conflict with the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights (Government Code Sections 3300 through 3311), the provisions of that Act shall prevail for public safety officers as defined in Government Code Section 3301.

N. The city manager may establish any necessary administrative procedures required to carry out the intent of this article and to ensure a uniform, fair, and appropriate process.

O. The city council shall have sole authority for the discipline of its appointed officers, and shall follow the provisions of this article insofar as possible. (Ord. 597 § 2 (part), 2012)