1 RESOLUTION NO. 2018-88
2 RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN 3 BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA, ESTABLISHING PROCEDURAL RULES FOR QUASI- 4 JUDICIAL HEARINGS
5 WHEREAS, on November 8, 2016, the citizens of the City of San Bernardino enacted a new City Charter; and
7 WHEREAS, Section 309 of the City Charter states that "[t]he Council shall establish by 8 ordinance... the rules of order for the conduct of proceedings by the Council..."; and 9 WHEREAS, concurrent with the passage of this Resolution, the Mayor and City Council 10 11 are enacting an Ordinance adding Section 2.58.120 to the San Bernardino Municipal Code, 12 which states that "[t]he Mayor and City Council may adopt, by Resolution, Rules of Procedure 13 for the conduct of quasi-judicial hearings", and
14 WHEREAS, the Mayor and City Council desire to ensure the orderly and efficient 15 conducting of the public's business at meetings of the Mayor and City Council. 16 17 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO AS FOLLOWS:
18 19 SECTION 1. The following Rules of Procedure for Quasi-Judicial Hearings are adopted 20 by the Mayor and City Council governing the conduct of all quasi-judicial hearings heard by the 21 Mayor and City Council or any other board or commission of the City of San Bernardino. 22 23 Rules of Procedure for Quasi-Judicial Hearings
24 Rule 1 - Hearing Procedures
25 1.01 The Presiding Officer shall announce the agenda item number and state the 26 subject of the agenda item. The Presiding Officer shall then identify that the agenda item is a quasi-judicial hearing and announce that the hearing is open.. 27 28
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1 1.02 The Presiding Officer shall direct the clerk or secretary of the body to administer the following oath to any person that desires to testify before the body on the 2 item:
3 "Any member of the public wishing to address this body on this item please stand 4 and raise your right hand."
5 The clerk or secretary of the body shall then administer the following oath:
6 "Do you solemnly affirm that the testimony you are about to give before this body 7 will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? If so, please say I 8 9 1.03 The Presiding Officer shall then request that the members of the body disclose any communications they have had under Rule 6.
10 1.04 The Presiding Officer shall then invite the City Manager, or other appropriate 11 City staff member, to report on the item including any recommendation that they might have. The City Manager, or other appropriate City staff member shall have 12 a reasonable amount of time, not to exceed fifteen (15) minutes, to report on the 13 item.
14 1.05 The Presiding Officer shall then ask other members of the body if they have any 15 questions for the City staff giving the report. At this point, the members of the body may ask clarifying questions to the City staff person who reported on the 16 item and City staff shall be given time to respond
17 1.06 The Presiding Officer shall then invite the applicant or appellant, if any, to provide evidence and testimony on the item. The applicant or appellant shall have 18 a reasonable amount of time, not to exceed fifteen (15) minutes, to provide 19 evidence and testimony.
20 1.07 The Presiding Officer shall then ask other members of the body if they have any questions for the applicant or appellant. At this point, the members of the body 21 may ask clarifying questions to the appellant or applicant and they shall be given 22 time to respond.
23 1.08 The Presiding Officer shall then invite the members of the public to provide evidence and testimony on the item. The Presiding Officer shall inquire as to 24 whether the member of the public has been sworn in and request that they state 25 their name and address for the record. Members of the public shall have a reasonable amount of time, not to exceed three (3) minutes, to provide evidence 26 and testimony.
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2 1 1.09 The Presiding Officer shall then invite the applicant or appellant, if any, to provide any rebuttal evidence and testimony. The applicant or appellant shall have 2 a reasonable amount of time, not to exceed five (5) minutes, to provide rebuttal evidence and testimony.
3 4 1.10 The Presiding Officer shall then ask other members of the body if they have any final questions for the applicant or appellant. At this point, the members of the 5 body may ask clarifying questions to the appellant or applicant and they shall be given time to respond.
6 7 1.11 The Presiding Officer shall then announce that the hearing is closed and invite a motion for the body to consider. The Presiding Officer shall announce the name 8 of the member of the body who makes the motion. The Presiding Officer shall then invite a second to the motion and announce the name of the member of the 9 body who seconds the motion.
10 1.12 The Presiding Officer shall then invite members of the body to discuss the 11 motion. If there is no desired discussion, or after the discussion has ended, the Presiding Officer shall then announce that the body will vote on the motion. If 12 there has been no discussion or only brief discussion, the vote should proceed 13 immediately. If there has been substantial discussion, the Presiding Officer shall ask the clerk or secretary of the body to read the motion before the vote is taken. 14 1.13 The body shall memorialize the decision in writing. 15 16 Rule 2 - Hearings Are Informal; Rules of Evidence 17 Quasi-judicial hearings before the Mayor and City Council or other boards and commissions of the City of San Bernardino are intended to be informal in nature and accessible 18 to members of the public. Formal rules of evidence and discovery do not apply. 19 Rule 3 - Records of Proceedings
20 The secretary or clerk of the body shall record all quasi-judicial hearings by audio and/or 21 video recording device, as available.
22 Rule 4 - Time Limits
23 Notwithstanding the time limits contained in Rule 1 above, the Presiding Officer shall 24 give City staff providing the report on the item and the applicant or appellant bringing the matter 25 he Presidingdy suet, an or to prional tividence and testimony, and may, at the discretion of 26 27
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1 Rule 5 - Oaths; Identification
2 Any person wishing to provide testimony during a quasi-judicial hearing may do so without the oath described in these Rules being administered or providing their name and 3 address. The body may determine both the weight and credibility given to unsworn or 4 anonymous testimony.
5 Rule 6 - Communications
6 6.01 Members of the body may receive information relevant to the item through communications with the applicant or appellant, the public, or City staff members.
These communications are known as "ex parte communications" and are substantive oral or written communications concerning quasi-judicial matters that occur outside of the quasi-judicial hearing. Such communications raise due 9 process concerns for the parties involved in the hearing. When members of the 10 body have had ex parte communications relevant to the quasi-judicial hearing, the member of the body shall disclose the communication and the substance of the 11 information received at the beginning of the hearing. 12 6.02 While the hearing is before the body, there shall be no communication, direct or 13 indirect, regarding any issue in the proceeding, to the members of the body, without notice and an opportunity for all persons present at the hearing to 14 participate in the communication.
15 6.03 Ex parte communications after the hearing has closed and before the final 16 decision is rendered are prohibited because there is no opportunity for rebuttal. 17 Rule 7 - Attention
18 The members of the body shall be attentive to the evidence and testimony being 19 presented.
20 Rule 8 - Identification of Quasi-Judicial Matters on the Agenda 21 The City Manager, in conjunction with the City Attorney, will identify agenda items 22 involving quasi-judicial decisions on the agenda for the body. This identification is intended to inform the body, interested parties, and the public that these Rules will apply to the item, but the 23 failure to identify an item shall not be cause for continuance. 24 |II
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1 RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN
BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA, ESTABLISHING PROCEDURAL RULES FOR QUASI- 2 JUDICIAL HEARINGS
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted by the Mayor and City 4 Council of the City of San Bernardino at a Joint Regular Meeting thereof, held on the 21 day of March 5 2018, by the following vote, to wit:
6 Council Members: AYES NAYS ABSTAIN ABSENT
7 8 MARQUEZ X (S)
BARRIOS
10 VALDIVIA X (M)
11 SHORETT
12 13 NICKEL
14 RICHARD
15 MULVIHILL
16 Mergenflanne
17 Georgeann Hanna, CMC, City Cler
18 19 The foregoing Resolution is hereby approved this 21" day of March 2018. 20 21
City of San Bernardino
22 Approved as to form:
23 Gary D. Saenz, City Attorney
24 By:_ fanfar fr
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