(a) If, after an inspection or investigation, a fire official issues a citation pursuant to Section 1620.08, he or she shall, within a reasonable time after such inspection or investigation, notify the responsible person, by certified mail, of the penalty, if any, proposed to be assessed under Section 1620.99. The fire official shall, within a reasonable time, schedule a hearing on the citation and notify the responsible person of the time and place of the hearing. The hearing shall be conducted by the Mayor. The hearing shall be held not sooner than seven days after receipt of the notice by the responsible person and not later than thirty days after such receipt. The fire official may schedule a prehearing conference before the Solicitor, during which the responsible person shall be given the opportunity to show cause why the hearing should be postponed or cancelled. The Solicitor and the responsible person may agree to extend the date of the hearing beyond the thirty-day limitation.
(Ord. 20-1988. Passed 4-25-88.)
(b) The Mayor shall receive any relevant evidence that the responsible person, his or her attorney, the fire official who issued the citation, and any other person who, in the discretion of the Mayor, has an interest in the subject matter of the hearing, may offer. The Mayor shall affirm, modify or dismiss the citation or the assessed penalty, or may extend the time period for abatement if such period is found to be unreasonably short considering the nature of the violation and the time period necessary to abate the violation. Testimony received at the hearing shall be under oath and shall be reduced to writing.
(c) The hearing is a quasi-judicial proceeding, and the decision of the Mayor is a final order from which a person aggrieved may appeal to the Court of Common Pleas.
(d) The Mayor may administer an oath to any person appearing as a witness before him or her at any hearing pursuant to this section. No witness shall refuse to be sworn, refuse to testify or disobey an order of the Mayor to appear as a witness or to produce a book, paper or document concerning the subject of the citation. Whoever violates the preceding sentence shall be guilty of contemptuous conduct after being summoned by the Mayor to appear before him or her to give testimony in relating to the subject of the citation.
(e) The Mayor is hereby granted the power to assess civil penalties as hereinafter set forth.
(Ord. 28-1987. Passed 5-11-87.)