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B. All hearings will be conducted at Santa Ana City Hall, at dates and times to be determined by the <br />City. <br />C. A hearing officer must possess the necessary support and equipment tc pertorm his/her duties as <br />a hearing officer. At a minimum, the hearing officer must have and maintain in good working order <br />(1 } a telephone (monitored during business hours by a secretary, answering service or answering <br />machine or system); (2) a facsimile machine; (3) a personal computer, with Internet service, <br />running Windows and Microsoft Office compatible software; and (4) an electronic mail address. <br />D. A hearing officer must possess standards of neutrality and confidentiality. <br />E. A hearing officer must organize and maintain individual case files along with detailed records of <br />activity on each case, such as research, drafting of orders, decisions, and correspondence. <br />F. A hearing officer must comply with all legal and contractual timelines, including but not limited to: <br />1. rendering a final written decision, including findings of fact disposing of all issues raised <br />by the parties in a hearing not later than the 10th day following the date on which the <br />request for hearing was filed; <br />2. mailing the final written decision to the City on the date the decision is rendered; <br />3. returning individual case files to the City within 30 days of rendering a final decision. The <br />files which must be organized and maintained by the hearing officer are the property of <br />the City of Santa Ana and must be maintained in accordance with the Agency's record <br />retention schedule. It is therefore imperative that the files are returned to the Agency <br />within 30 days of the date of the issuance of the final decision. <br />4. Upon notification that the agency has received a request for a document pursuant to the <br />public information act, the relevant document must be provided to the City immediately. <br />G. The hearing officer shall prepare and submit to edher the Planning & Building Agency and/or the <br />Public Works Agency by the fifth of each month a standard invoice detailing the activities and <br />expenses by case. An invoice template will be provided. Payment for services and <br />reimbursement of expenses by the City to a hearing officer are further conditioned upon: <br />1. The reasonableness of the amount of time spent by the hearing officer on the case(s) for <br />which the hearing officer is seeking paymenUreimbursement; <br />2. The hearing officer's timely submission of reasonable and acceptable documentation <br />supporting all expenses being claimed by the hearing officer; and <br />3. The hearing officer's prompt return to the City of all file materials relating to closed cases. <br />4. Contractor's services will be billed to the nearest quarter hour. <br />Providing hearing officer services to other clients is not barred so long as the hearing officer does <br />not decline the request for hearing services more than two consecutive times; specifically, the <br />hearing officer must: <br />1. maintain the ability to respond to requests for hearings and prehearing motions wdhin 24 <br />hours; <br />2. meet all applicable time lines; and <br />3. demonstrate that such outside practice does not conflict with contractual work with the <br />City of Santa Ana. <br />J. Comply with the decision format requirements set by the City pursuant to the rules governing a <br />hearing officer's decision as per SAMC 1-21.8, 1Cr119, 17-1D5, 17-108, and 17-135. The <br />decisions of the hearing offcer must include formal findings of fact, and meet in all respects the <br />minimum requirements applicable to the decisions of executive agencies conducting contested <br />cases. <br />K. There is no guarantee as to the number of cases that will be assigned to a hearing officer. The <br />City anticipates that it will establish a list of qualified hearing officers and assign hearings all on a <br />given date based on a rotation of the names on the list. <br />