(A) The Mayor shall be the appointing authority with power to appoint and remove all city employees, except as tenure and terms of employment are protected by statute, ordinance, or contract and except for employees of the Council; and all the city employees shall be removed or seriously disciplined only for good cause shown. Any city employee who has been terminated or seriously disciplined shall have the right to participate in the grievance/due process hearing procedure for termination or serious disciplinary action pursuant to division (B) below.
(B) If a city employee has been terminated or has been subjected to serious disciplinary action (disciplinary action that constitutes at least one (1) day of suspension without pay), the employee may file a Request for a Hearing in the office of the City Clerk. This request must be submitted within ten (10) days after the termination or disciplinary action.
(1) If the employee has been terminated or seriously disciplined by the Mayor, the City Council shall sit as hearing officers. If the employee has been terminated or disciplined by someone other than the Mayor, then the Mayor shall sit as Hearing Officer.
(2) The Hearing shall be held within thirty (30) days of the filing of the Request for Hearing, unless another date is set by mutual consent of all interested parties.
(3) All interested parties shall have the right to appear in person and be represented by counsel and shall have the right to introduce evidence and to subpoena, call, and examine witnesses.
(4) The Hearing shall be conducted as a due process Hearing. However, the strict adherence to the Rules of Civil Procedure shall not be required. The purpose of the hearing shall be to determine from the evidence if the cause stated for the termination or serious discipline is justified. If the cause stated for the termination or serious discipline is justified, then the decision to terminate or discipline shall be upheld; if not, then the decision shall be reversed.
(5) The decision of the Hearing Officer(s), City Council, or the Mayor, as may be appropriate under division (B)(1) above, shall be final and subject only to review by a court of competent jurisdiction, if the right of review is otherwise provided by law.
(Prior Code, § 2.20.090) (Ord. 2001-5, passed 6-20-2001; Am. Ord. 2002-5, passed 8-21-2002; Am. Ord. 2020-2, passed 2-19-2020)