A. The Hearing Examiner shall not conduct or participate in any hearing or decision in which the Hearing Examiner has a direct or indirect personal interest which might exert such influence upon the Hearing Examiner that might interfere with his or her decision making process. Any actual or potential conflict of interest shall be disclosed to the parties immediately upon discovery of such conflict. The hearing shall then be conducted by the Hearing Examiner Pro-Tem.

B. Participants in the land use regulatory process have the right, insofar as possible, to have the Hearing Examiner free from personal interest or pre-hearing contacts on land use regulatory matters considered by him or her. It is recognized that there is a countervailing public right to free access to public officials on any matter. If such personal or pre-hearing interest contact impairs the Hearing Examiner’s ability to act on the matter, such person shall so state and shall abstain therefrom to the end that the proceeding is fair and has the appearance of fairness. (Ord. 2144, 12/9/03; Ord. 1427, 1990)