Motion #2
To: The Cle Elum City Council
From: Larry Stauffer
2661 Lower Peoh Point Rd.
Cle Elum, WA 98922
Presented at the City Council meeting November 8, 2021
RE: Hearing Examiner selection and direction
It is the role of the City Council to set and adopt policies for the city and it is the Mayor’s role to administer or carry out those policies. The Planning Commission recently proposed and the City Council approved Ordinance 1609. The ordinance, in part, authorized a professional Hearings Examiner to conduct certain public hearings, make decisions on certain land use permits, hear appeals of administrative decisions, and to make recommendations to the City Council.
It is now up to the City Council to set and adopt the following:
- A Request for Proposal (RFP) for parties interested in the position of Cle Elum Hearing Examiner (to be published Statewide);
- Selection Criteria and Process for Applicant Review; and
- Rules of Procedure, setting the guidelines by which the Hearing Examiner will perform his/her duties.
The city attorney works for the city and as such it is the city attorney’s job to advise all city officials; that includes the City Council. The Mayor cannot prohibit the Council from accessing the city attorney for advice.
The City Council should direct the city attorney and/or the Mayor to prepare and propose the language related to the Request for Proposal, Selection Criteria and Process for Applicant Review, and Rules of Procedure as it relates to the Hearing Examiner. The public should be allowed to review each of the documents in advance of any Council vote on the matter. The Council shall then vote to accept, modify, or reject the proposed language presented by the city attorney and Mayor.
Ultimately, the Hearing Examiner works for the City Council, in that they present recommendations to the Council for their consideration. It is imperative then, that the City Council has a voice in the individual chosen for the job. Therefore, the Process for Applicant review should include provisions allowing the Council and the public, access to the respondents’ applications’ prior to the Mayor’s recommendation to Council.
I request that the City Council make a motion and vote affirmatively as follows:
Motion
That the Mayor and City Attorney prepare for Council review the following documents as it relates to the position of Hearing Examiner contemplated in Ordinance 1609.
- A Request for Proposal (RFP) for parties interested in the position of Cle Elum Hearing Examiner (to be published State wide);
- Selection Criteria and Process for Applicant Review; and
- Rules of Procedure, setting the guidelines by which the hearing examiner will perform his/her duties.