SANTA ANA : Settlement Offered in Homeless Suit

Attorneys for the homeless, who are suing Santa Ana for confiscating bedrolls and other belongings in public parks, said Tuesday they will settle if the city pays their clients $50,000 and agrees to build storage lockers at six parks.

As part of the settlement proposed Tuesday to City Atty. Edward J. Cooper, the attorneys said they would donate 10% of that $50,000 as “seed money” to build the storage lockers.

“It’s such a simple request and not very expensive. All we’re talking about is erecting some storage space for the homeless,” attorney Christopher B. Mears said before the meeting with Cooper.

Mears represents 17 people who sued the city for money damages after city workers seized their belongings a year ago. That suit, filed in federal court, alleged the city violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.

In a separate case, the Legal Aid Society of Orange County and the American Civil Liberties Union are representing four homeless clients who sued Santa Ana in 1988 after their belongings were taken by city workers during a cleanup.

Since May, 1988, Santa Ana had been confiscating clothes, bedrolls and other property from parks and the Civic Center and discarding them as part of a maintenance policy. After a public uproar, city workers began storing the belongings at a dumpster in Centennial Regional Park, where the homeless could reclaim them.

The city and the attorneys have been negotiating for a settlement for several months, Mears said.

The city had offered the 17 homeless people $50,000 in the last round of negotiations, Mears said. But the idea for the storage facilities came about last weekend after a discussion among the homeless on what they wanted from the city.

Although the attorneys for the four plaintiffs in the smaller case joined Mears Tuesday in the settlement offer, their clients did not seek money damages and would not share in the $50,000.

Cooper said he could not comment on the settlement proposal. But he said the city was interested in settling both cases.

Mears said the city council will most likely review the settlement proposal Monday.