Summary:
The City Code requires the City to appoint Administrative Hearing Officers for personnel, tax, licensing, and land use matters. The current Administrative Hearing Officers' two-year terms will expire on December 31, 2025.
The proposed Administrative Hearing Officers for the term of January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027, are Harold J. Merkow, Douglas Jorden, and Stephanie R. Leach. Some of the Hearing Officers are designated to hear matters within only their specific legal expertise, while others have broad backgrounds and are designated in all areas. The Hearing Officers’ backgrounds and qualifications are set forth below:
Harold Merkow has over 30 years of legal experience as an administrative hearing officer, focused on hearings held by many different government entities. Mr. Merkow has been a designated hearing officer for the City for over sixteen years.
Douglas A. Jorden is the founder member of Jorden Law Firm, P.C. Mr. Jorden was Town Attorney for the Town of Paradise Valley, Arizona from 1978 to 1982 and has been in private practice since 1982. His practice now emphasizes land use and zoning, municipal law, environmental regulation, real estate transactions and Indian law. Mr. Jorden has lectured on land use and environmental issues on behalf of the State Bar of Arizona, Arizona Planning Association, the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, the Arizona Department of Commerce and the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute. Mr. Jorden is also co-author of the State Bar’s Arizona Land Use Law Manual. Mr. Jorden has been a hearing officer for the City for four years.
Stephanie R. Leach is an attorney with Dorsey & Whitney, LLP and has over 20 years of experience, with a target emphasis in labor and employment law. Ms. Leach has a wide range of in-depth knowledge in labor relations and collective bargaining as well as federal, state, and local employment regulation, and common law employment issues. Ms. Leach has expertise in the development of hiring practices, personnel polices and procedures, and contract negotiation with both unionized and non-unionized workplaces. Ms. Leach has been a hearing officer for the City for two years.