2010-08-27 TFOULK - Laserfiche WebLink

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OLSON: Well, Mr. Chairman, I think we’ve made our previous objection memorialized in a letter to you folks in regards to having a hearings officer appointed in this matter in regards to what we perceive as a conflict of interest with the Corporation Counsel representing the Commission as well as the Planning Department, and I believe we gave those reasons in that letter. It’s our position that the Planning Department is a party to this. And they have taken a position recommending that this permit go through, I mean that’s their position. So we’ve made that objection and I just want to preserve it for the record. HOUSEL: Right. GONZALEZ: Okay, what the Chair is trying to do is make it easier for the parties to get matters taken care of without having to reconvene the whole hearings officer, Commission as a whole. The rules recognize him as the presiding officer; he is given the power and the authority to grant continuances on his own, make certain determinations according to the rule. As to the allegations of a conflict of interest, the Planning Commission is free to follow the recommendations of the Director or not follow the recommendations of the Director. And along the lines of the Office of the Corporation Counsel providing legal support to both, in this case, I am assigned as the Planning Commission as my client; my interests are to ensure that they follow the procedural matters for this hearing, and also that they conduct this hearing in a fair and impartial manner for all the parties involved, including taking public testimony. I have not spoken about this case with Ms. Self from my office – there is a Chinese wall within our office on this matter. She is assigned to represent the interest of the Planning Director alone. So I would declare for the record that as the advisor on the procedural matters for the Commission, I do not see a conflict. OLSON: Respectfully, we make that objection. We understand your position, and we don’t do it lightly, just respectfully. Thank you. GONZALEZ: No problem. Thank you. So as to the matter of the housekeeping things, we are trying to make it easier for the parties to handle this kind of issues without the whole Commission having to convene. So are there any objections from the parties that the Chair assume the presiding officer roles, so he can take care of some of the administrative functions in having this hearing. YEH: I have no objections. Tom Yeh. HOUSEL: Planning Director? LEITHEAD TODD: I just wanted to make one note here, as I just double checked with staff: We have two Commissioners whose terms expire in December. They can hold over for 90 days. So there are some issues that we may -. If we are not able to conclude this matter before the end of the year, then we are either going to have to have some holdovers, or when new Commissioners are appointed, then they’ll have to be given the entire record to review before they can weigh in on the matter. 28 EXHIBIT C