(a) A request for an appeal hearing must be submitted to the responsible department, in writing, within ten working days of the service of the responsible department’s notice issued pursuant to § 41.1711. The request shall contain the address to which the notice of hearing shall be sent. If no request for an appeal hearing is submitted, or no request for an appeal is submitted in compliance with this Subdivision, then the appellant will be deemed to have waived its right to an appeal hearing and the decision of the responsible department shall be final.
(b) The responsible department shall appoint a hearing officer to hear the appeal. The responsible department shall provide written notice of the appeal hearing to the appellant. Upon the written request of the appellant and if good cause is found, the responsible department or the hearing officer may postpone the hearing date. If the appellant does not confirm in advance that it will appear at the appeal hearing or if the appellant fails to appear at the appeal hearing, the appellant will be deemed to have waived its right to an appeal hearing and the decision of the responsible department shall be final.
(c) The hearing need not be conducted according to technical rules relating to evidence. Any relevant evidence shall be admitted if it is the sort of evidence on which responsible persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of serious affairs, regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rule which might make improper the admission of the evidence over objection in civil actions. Hearsay evidence may be used for the purpose of supplementing or explaining other evidence, but shall not be sufficient in itself to support a finding unless it would be admissible over objection in civil actions. The rules of privilege shall be effective to the extent that they are otherwise required by statute to be recognized at the hearing. Irrelevant and unduly repetitious evidence shall be excluded.
(d) The responsible department shall present its case first. The appellant shall present thereafter. Each party may be represented by counsel, examine and cross-examine witnesses, and, after completion of both parties’ presentation of evidence, make a closing oral argument or, if requested by the hearing officer, submit a written post-hearing brief. The decision of the hearing officer shall be final.
(Ord. 4240, passed - -2014; Am. Ord. 4380, passed - -2020)