§ 34-35. Processing complaints.

(a)

Within 30 days after the filing of an informal complaint under this article, the administrator shall make such investigations as he deems appropriate to ascertain facts and issues. If the administrator shall deem there are reasonable grounds to believe a violation has occurred and can be resolved by conciliation, he shall attempt to conciliate the matter by methods of initial conference and persuasion with all interested parties and such representatives as the parties may choose to assist them. Conciliation conferences shall be informal and nothing said or done in the course of the informal conference with the individuals to resolve the dispute may be made public or used as evidence in a subsequent proceeding by either party without the written consent of both the complainant and the respondent. The administrator or any employee of the administrator who shall make public any information in violation of this subsection shall be deemed guilty of a violation of a county ordinance and shall be subject to penalty set forth in section 34-30.

(b)

If the parties desire to conciliate, the terms of the conciliation shall be reduced to writing in the form approved by the administrator and must be signed and verified by the complainant and respondent and approved by the administrator. The conciliation agreement is for conciliation purposes only and does not constitute an admission by any party that the law has been violated.

(c)

If the administrator deems there is not probable cause to believe a particular alleged discriminatory housing practice has been committed, the administrator shall take no further action with respect to the alleged offense.

(d)

If the administrator, with respect to any matter which involves a contravention of this article (i) fails to conciliate a complaint after the parties in good faith have attempted such conciliation, or (ii) determines that the violation alleged in the complaint cannot be resolved by conciliation, he shall notify both the complainant and the respondent within 30 days of the failure or the determination, and he shall proceed as provided in section 34-34(c).

(Ord. No. 90-1, § 7, 10-22-1990)