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(a) The hearing officer shall prepare a written summary of findings and conclusions based exclusively on the evidence presented at the hearing and shall make appropriate recommendations based upon his or her findings and conclusions. The summary of findings and conclusions shall state the policies, regulations, or laws upon which the hearing officer’s recommendations are based. Recorded testimony and exhibits, together with all papers and requests filed in the proceeding, and the hearing officer’s findings, conclusions, and recommendations will constitute the exclusive record for decision by the hearing authority, and will be available to the claimant at a place accessible to him or his representative at any reasonable time for a period not to exceed 2 years or until all litigation involving the decision is terminated. Nonrecorded or confidential information which the claimant does not have the opportunity to hear or see shall not be made a part of the hearing record nor used in a decision on the appeal. Hearings shall be transcribed if requested by the claimant, if ordered by the hearing officer, or for purposes of judicial review. All costs of transcription shall be borne by the Mayor.
(b) The hearing officer shall submit his or her written findings, conclusions, and recommendations, which shall at the same time be directly transmitted to the claimant, or his or her representative, with an explanation that such written findings, conclusions, and recommendations have been submitted to the Mayor’s agent and do not constitute the final decision of the Mayor’s agent.
(c) If the hearing officer recommends that the action of the Mayor’s agent be sustained, the claimant shall be notified that he or she has 10 days after he or she receives the findings, conclusions, and recommendations in which to submit to the hearing officer any newly-discovered evidence he or she has in support of his or her position, and any objections, corrections, or exceptions he has to the findings and recommendations, and any brief that he or she or his or her counsel or representative may desire to submit. Newly-discovered evidence and objections, corrections, or exceptions submitted by the claimant within the 10-day period shall be reviewed and considered by the hearing officer who shall submit a supplemental recommendation to the Mayor’s agent to sustain or not to sustain the action of the Mayor. The hearing officer may, in his or her discretion, reconvene the hearing for the purpose of taking further evidence. When the hearing officer recommends that the action of the Mayor not be sustained, the hearing record when completed shall be forwarded immediately for the decision of the Mayor’s agent.