Approved Minutes of March 2, 2024 Board Retreat

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MINUTES-Draft ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH RETREAT March 2, 2024 • Dr. Stuebe asked who is responsible for drafting the written decision, to which Ms. Hudson clarified that La Toya Strange, Administrative Support, and Ms. Phillips-Weiner are responsible for producing the transcript of the hearing and written decision with support from Ms. Pierce. • Dr. Royce asked how far in advance the board members can get a copy of the information related to the case, to which Ms. Pierce replied this will be a spectrum depending on the appellant and the scale of their appeal. Ms. Hudson suggested that Ms. Phillips-Weiner could share the health department's side of the case when the board is notified of the hearing date (within five days of the appeal to the health director and at least ten days before the hearing) and Ms. Pierce added that the Health Director would have, at a bare minimum, the name of the appellant, their address, and the decision that they are disputing at the time the BOH is notified of the appeal. • Ms. Hudson and Ms. Pierce reviewed some possible variants to the adjudication process, including what happens if the Health Director is on vacation at the time of the appeal (there will be a designee to facilitate the process) or situations where there may be a hearing panel of-3 board members rather than a full quorum. However, Dr. Royce wondered if an appellant would still feel heard if they spoke to a panel of only 3-4 members rather than the full board. • Ms. Hudson shared that over the past six months there have been many near misses of cases going to adjudication. In response to Dr. Stuebe's question about this recent uptick in appeals, Ms. Hudson explained that there is a sense of immediacy being instilled by the building community that is contributing to a view of the health department as a permit factory rather than a protector of public health. Dr. Stuebe suggested holding conversations with the community to help explain why the environmental protection rules are important. • In response to Frederick Perschau, Finance and Administrative Services Director's, question about whether the state could overturn a county's rules, Ms. Pierce explained that the state allows more stringent policies at the county level so this would be very unlikely and would involve going through the judicial system if so. • Mr. Privott told the board that the decisions made about an adjudication hearing have significant policy impacts, as they become De Facto guidance documents for future laws and rulings. • Ms. Rimmer concluded the presentation by reminding the board that everything the health department does must be considered through the lens of equity, and there may be times when the rules cannot be followed for the board and staff to be equitable. During the presentation, retreat participants were broken into three small groups of 7-8 people. Each group was given a series of three exercises based on a previous near-miss case and guided through a mock adjudication. This allowed board members the opportunity to practice considering evidence and ruling on an adjudication proceeding. The small groups then reconvened to compare results from the mock adjudication and discuss. Some highlights of the discussion are below: • Commissioner Fowler mentioned that construction blueprints are a bit cumbersome to read if you're not used to them. Mr. Perschau said that the measurements for the mock case were inconsistent, and Ms. Hudson explained that some agencies issue permits S:\Managers Working Files\B0H\Agendas&Abstracts\2024 Agenda and Abstracts/130H Retreat Page 6