A. Any citee may contest the violation(s), or that he or she is a responsible person, by filing a request for an administrative hearing on a city approved form with the office of the city clerk - Temple City City Hall, 9701 Las Tunas Drive, Temple City, CA 91780, within ten (10) calendar days from the issuance date of a citation. If the office of the city clerk does not receive the request in the required period, the citee shall have waived the right to a hearing and the citation shall be deemed final.
B. A request for a hearing shall contain the following:
1. The citation number.
2. The name, address, telephone and any facsimile numbers, of each person contesting the citation.
3. A statement of the reason(s) why a citation is being contested.
4. The date and signature of the citee(s).
C. No filing fee shall be charged for the filing of a request for a hearing.
D. Requests for a hearing shall be accompanied by an advance deposit of the entire amount of the fine stated in the citation. Failure to deposit a fine within the required period, or the tender of a nonnegotiable check in the required period, shall render a request for an administrative hearing incomplete and untimely, in which case the citee shall have waived the right to a hearing and the citation shall be deemed final. Fines that are deposited with the city shall not accrue interest. Fines deposited shall be returned to the person tendering the fines in the event a citation is overturned.
E. A citee who is financially unable to deposit the administrative fine with his or her request for a hearing may complete a city approved application form for an advance deposit hardship waiver (hereinafter, "hardship waiver"). This form and all required accompanying records shall be tendered, along with a request for a hearing, to the office of the city clerk - Temple City City Hall, 9701 Las Tunas Drive, Temple City, CA 91780, within ten (10) calendar days from the issuance date of a citation.
F. To be considered for a hardship waiver, the application form must be complete, signed, and must be accompanied by documents that enable the city to reasonably determine the citee's present inability to deposit the fine. Documents suitable for consideration, may include, without limitation, accurate, complete and legible copies of state and federal income tax returns and all schedules for the preceding tax year; financial statements, loan applications, bank account records, income and expense records for twelve (12) months preceding submittal of the waiver form, as well as other documentation demonstrating the citee's financial hardship. The city may, at its sole discretion, request additional documents in order to determine a citee's financial ability to tender an advance deposit of the fine. Failure to submit sufficient evidence of a citee's financial inability to tender an advance deposit of the fine shall result in a denial of the hardship waiver. The city may, at a time chosen in its sole discretion and after a citation is final or confirmed, destroy or discard the documents submitted by a citee for a hardship waiver without prior notice to the citee.
G. Failure to submit a completed, signed hardship waiver form, along with sufficient records that support a claim of financial hardship, shall render the request for hearing incomplete and untimely. In this event, the citee shall have waived the right to a hearing and the citation shall be deemed final.
H. The city shall issue a written decision regarding the application for a hardship waiver. If the hardship waiver is denied, the written decision shall specify the reasons for not issuing the hardship waiver. This decision is final and nonappealable. The decision shall be served upon the person requesting the hardship waiver by first class mail.
1. Approval of a hardship waiver shall result in the city setting a hearing pursuant to section 1-4-8 of this chapter.
2. If the city determines that the citee is not entitled to a hardship waiver, he or she shall tender the full amount of the administrative fine to the office of the city clerk within ten (10) calendar days of the date the decision is deposited with the U.S. postal service. In the event the city clerk does not receive the full amount of the fine in the required period: a) the request for a hearing is rendered incomplete and untimely, b) the citee shall have waived the right to a hearing and the citation shall be deemed final, and c) a late penalty charge shall be imposed upon the administrative fine.
I. A timely request for a hearing shall not excuse a citee from the duty to immediately abate a violation of the code, nor from any other responsibility or legal consequences for a continuation or repeated occurrence(s) of a violation of the code. (Ord. 12-957)