(a) The following General Revenue Sharing Grievance Procedure is hereby adopted:
Any person who feels that, because of handicap, he or she has been discriminated against by the City, by being denied benefits of, by being excluded from participation in, or by otherwise being discriminated against in, any program or activity of the City, may have his or her grievance considered in the following manner:
(1) Step 1. Such person shall file a written complaint of the alleged discrimination with the Mayor, through the responsible employee appointed by the Mayor as the contact person concerning the handicapped and named in a public notice.
(2) Step 2. The Mayor shall, within five days of receipt of the complaint, rule whether or not the complainant has or has not been discriminated against because of a handicap. Upon rendering his or her decision, the Mayor shall notify the complainant of his or her finding by written letter, to be sent within ten days of the filing of the complaint. If it is found that discrimination has taken place, due to the individual's handicap, the Mayor shall also include in the written letter his or her suggestion on how to remedy the discrimination and transmit the same to Council at its next regular meeting.
(3) Step 3. If the complainant disagrees with the Mayor's ruling and/or recommendation, he or she may file an appeal with Council, through the Clerk of Council, by filing a copy of the original complaint and the Mayor's ruling and/or recommendation.
(4) Step 4. At the next regular Council meeting, after the appeal has been filed with Council, Council shall set a date for a hearing on the complaint. Such hearing shall be not sooner than the next regular Council meeting and not later than the second regular Council meeting which is held after the complaint has been received by Council. Council shall notify the complainant by certified letter or notice of the time and date of hearing.
(5) Step 5. Council shall render its decision within thirty days of the hearing and shall notify the Mayor and the complainant of such decision. It shall take a two-thirds majority vote of the members elected thereto for Council to override the Mayor's decision as to whether discrimination did or did not take place. In any event, Council shall decide the remedy to be taken.
(b) The Administrative Secretary to the Safety-Service Director is hereby designated as the responsible employee appointed by the Mayor as the contact person concerning the handicapped and General Revenue Sharing Grievance Procedure.
(Ord. 131-84. Passed 9-20-84; Ord. 132-88. Passed 4-7-88.)