§ 2-149. Complaint procedure.

(a)

All complaints against city councilmembers shall be filed with the ethics committee. The ethics committee may require that oral complaints, and complaints illegibly or informally drawn, be reduced to a memorandum of complaint in such form as may be prescribed by the city council.

(b)

Upon receipt of a complaint in proper form, the ethics committee shall review it to determine whether the complaint is unjustified, frivolous, patently unfounded or fails to state facts sufficient to invoke the city council's disciplinary jurisdiction.

(c)

The ethics committee shall be empowered to collect evidence and information concerning any complaint and to add the findings and results of its investigation to the file containing such complaint. The ethics committee shall be empowered to conduct probable cause investigations, take evidence and hold hearings where provided in the rules.

(d)

Upon completion of its investigation of a complaint, the ethics committee shall be empowered to dismiss those complaints which are unjustified, frivolous, patently unfounded, or which fail to state facts sufficient to invoke the city council's disciplinary jurisdiction; provided, however, that a rejection of such complaint by the ethics committee shall not deprive the complaining party of any action he might otherwise have at law or in equity against the respondent government servant.

(e)

The ethics committee shall be empowered to adopt forms for formal complaints, subpoenas, notices, applications for reinstatement and any other written instrument necessary or desirable under these rules.

(Ord. No. 2001-008, § 1(13-81), 8-6-2001)