Section 599 - Definitions As used in this Chapter, the following terms and phrases shall have the meaning ascribed: Agency Any entity that is so defined in the CMPA. Arbitrator A neutral person selected by the parties or appointed by the Board or by the Executive Director to resolve disputed labor-management issues by issuing a final and binding decision after presentation by the parties of evidence and argument. Board The District of Columbia Public Employee Relations Board. Day Calendar days, unless other specified. Decision-making Personnel Any Hearing Examiner, employee, or Board Member of the Board who reasonably may be expected to participate in the decision-making process of the Board. Ex parte Communication Any oral or written communication between decision-making personnel of the Board and an interested party to a proceeding without providing the other parties the opportunity to participate. Factfinding The procedure in which one or more neutral persons review the positions of the parties in a negotiation impasse with a view towards focusing attention on the issues in dispute and resolving differences as to facts. Impasse The point in collective bargaining negotiations at which no further progress can be made by the parties without the intervention of a neutral third party, except as otherwise defined by the CMPA for compensation bargaining. Interested Party Party Any party or representative of a party involved in a proceeding before the Board; or any other person who might be affected by the outcome of a proceeding before the Board. Mediation The procedure in which a neutral person is selected or appointed to attempt to persuade the parties to a labor-management dispute to compromise or otherwise settle their differences by a solution which they reach themselves. Panel Either three members of the Board who have been designated to hear a particular matter brought before the board or a tripartite committee of arbitrators who have been appointed to hear a particular matter. Party Any person, employee, group of employees, organization, agency, or agency subdivision initiating such a proceeding as authorized by these rules or named as a participant in such a proceeding or whose intervention in a proceeding has been granted or directed under the authority of the Board. Pleadings Complaint(s), petition(s) appeal(s), request(s) for review or resolution, motion(s), exception(s), brief(s), and responses to the foregoing. Showing of Interest Proof offered to the satisfaction of the Board establishing that a percentage (as defined by these rules) of employees in a proposed or existing unit desires representation by a petitioner seeking exclusive recognition or by another labor organization seeking to intervene in a representation proceeding, or that the unit employees no longer desire representation by a labor organization. Copies of these final rules may be obtained by writing to: Julio A. Castillo, Executive Director Public Employee Relations Board 717 14th Street, N.W. Suite 1150 Washington, D.C. 20005.