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Grievance Against the the Citizen Involvement Committee (GC 18-01) and the Barclay Hills Neighborhood Association-Mumm, Holladay (GC 17-04)
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RECOMMENDED ACTION (Motion): Staff recommends the Grievance Committee review the grievances as identified within this report.
BACKGROUND:
On November 28, 2017 the City received a Grievance (GC 17-04) for the Citizen Involvement Committee (CIC) against the Barclay Hills Neighborhood Association, Betty Mumm and Dan Holladay. The aggrieved party also indicated in the submitted Grievance that they requested that all members of the CIC be recused from the Grievance Committee. At the March 5, 2018 CIC meeting, this complaint was put on hold until the CIC received direction from the aggrieved party to no longer request recusal of all members of the CIC.
On April 2, 2018, a second Grievance (GC 18-01), from the same party, was submitted to the CIC. This Grievance was in response to the previous grievance (GC 17-04) being put on hold and asserts that the CIC is not following the Grievance process set forth in OCMC 2.30.060. As both Grievances are linked, the staff forwarding both submittals (GC 17-04 & GC 18-01) for review. At the May 7, 2018 CIC Meeting, the CIC voted to create a Grievance Committee to process both Grievances (GC 17-04 & GC 18-01). On June 4, 2018, the Grievance Committee (GC) convened and signed a letter recommending the parties seek to reconcile their differences through mediation. Ms. Sierra, the complainant for both Grievances, submitted an email to staff on July 2, 2018 to request that the CIC continue the grievance process.
The Grievance Committee will proceed as identified in Chapter 2.30.060 of the Oregon City Municipal Code. The grievances and all supporting materials and evidence submitted may be inspected at no charge and copies may be obtained at a reasonable cost at the Planning Division office. Any interested party may testify at the hearing(s) or submit written comments to the Community Development Director on the grievance at or prior to the hearing until the Grievance Committee closes the record. The committee is to report its progress to the CIC at each CIC meeting.
Until a recommendation of the Grievance Committee is made, the Grievance Committee will convene monthly, on the first Monday of each month before a scheduled CIC Meeting. A majority of the committee members will constitute a quorum. The meeting will be open to the public and video recorded but not posted online. At each meeting, the Grievance Committee Chair shall call for any ex-parte contacts, conflicts of interest or bias from the Grievance Committee. Testimony will be heard in the following order at each meeting while the record is open:
1. The person/group who submitted the grievance shall be allotted a maximum of 15 minutes to identify and explain the grievance and provide any other information.
2. The person/group named in the grievance shall be allotted a maximum of 15 minutes to speak about the grievance.
3. Any member of the public in favor of the grievance shall be allotted a maximum of 3 minutes to speak about the grievance.
4. Any member of the public in opposition of the grievance shall be allotted a maximum of 3 minutes to speak about the grievance.
5. The person or group who submitted the grievance will be allotted a maximum of 15 minutes for rebuttal.
The Grievance Committee is permitted to ask questions of those testifying once they have completed their testimony. The questions do not count against the time of the person testifying.
After the testimony has concluded the Grievance Committee will close the hearing and deliberate on the matter and determine their recommendation to the full CIC. Any Grievance Committee action will be determined by a majority vote of those present and voting. Once a recommendation is made, the Grievance Committee shall write a report identifying each grievance, a recommendation for each grievance and findings of why that recommendation is being made.
The Grievance Committee will convene a follow-up meeting and vote on a final report before submitting the recommendation to the CIC.
The CIC will hear the GC recommendation and vote on a final decision. The CIC process will be limited to the information contained within the record from the Grievance Committee process. No new information may be submitted. The CIC will conduct hearings and accept testimony in the same process as identified above for the Grievance Committee. Any member who is a party to, or is directly impacted by, the grievance or the recommendation, must recuse themselves from voting. The CIC will provide a written decision with each grievance, a decision for each grievance and findings of why that decision is being made. This may include accepting the Grievance Committee recommendation or amending the recommendation as necessary. The written report will be reviewed by the City Attorney, or designee to identify if there are sufficient findings of why the decision is being made. The CIC will vote on the final recommendation.
The CIC decision will be mailed and emailed to all parties who have submitted a legible address. The CIC decision is final unless called up for review by the City Commission. The CIC decision may not be appealed to the City Commission.
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