City hires firm for hearing examiner

Three attorneys who compose the firm TRT Hearings have taken on the duties of hearing examiner for the city of Edmonds.

Principals LeAnna Toweill, Sharon Rice and Julie Taylor will rotate conducting hearings typically held at 3 p.m. the first and third Thursdays of the month in the Council Chambers of the Public Safety Complex. The next scheduled hearing is May 3.

The firm replaces longtime examiner Ron McConnell who resigned last year but agreed to stay on until a replacement was hired.

Under the four-year contract, TRT is being paid $3,500 per month for the first two years and $3,600 a month for the second two years.

The team has experience serving jurisdictions throughout the Puget Sound area and eastern Washington. Soon they will set up new hearing examiner systems in Fife and Skamania County, according to Rice.

“The fact that three of us rotate provides the appearance and reality of enhanced neutrality,” said Rice, noting she is aware of several other firms that rotate examiners. The multiple-examiner system, she added, is ” … just a different way of doing things.”

The hearing examiner system was established by the Washington legislature under RCW 35A.63.170. Hearing examiners, appointed by city councils and county boards of commissioners, are to make unbiased decisions on each application and appeal before them.

Jurisdictions have wiggle room within state law to tailor hearing-examiner duties to their particular needs. In Edmonds, the hearing examiner reviews land-use applications and issues including street-map changes, conditional use permits, variances, shoreline permits and preliminary plats for formal subdivisions.

“Our role is to review the facts of each application against the ordinances and policies adopted by the city,” Rice explained. “We are careful not to do our own policy-making in the decisions that we issue.”

Edmonds Mayor Gary Haakenson said he was ” … thrilled that (the TRT principals) are concerned with making sure the general public — those not versed in confusing code language — will understand the issues in plain understandable language. Yet at the same time they themselves understand the code and can speak in ‘developers’ language’ as well.”