Settlement in Councilman’s Suit Approved : Irwindale: The city will pay legal costs in the pact, but it is agreed that Patricio Miranda did not knowingly violate laws in a property lease.

After 18 months of fractious dispute and nearly $400,000 in legal bills, the City Council has approved an out-of-court settlement of a conflict-of-interest lawsuit that has dogged longtime Councilman Patricio Miranda.

The settlement states that Miranda did not knowingly violate conflict-of-interest laws when he leased property to Irwindale Associates, a development company. The company, operating under the name Hopkins Development, had several projects pending before Miranda and the rest of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency.

In response to the suit, which was filed by resident and longtime Miranda critic Brenda Marin, Miranda denied knowing the two companies were the same. “If there’s anything I know, it’s that I didn’t know,” he said after the settlement was approved Nov. 21 by a vote of 3 to 2.

Under the settlement, the city will pay for Marin’s legal costs, which totaled $76,964. Marin also agreed to drop the suit against Miranda, who in turn dropped a cross-complaint he filed against former city redevelopment consultant Fred Lyte, charging that Lyte had conspired to conceal the Hopkins connection from him.

However, in acknowledgment that the lease was in technical violation of state conflict-of-interest laws, Miranda will donate $2,500 to the city’s scholarship fund.

Lyte also will contribute $2,500 to the fund. “I had two choices: One was to go along with the settlement, or I could spend another $100,000 fighting this lawsuit,” he said, denying any wrongdoing. “It was not an admission of anything--it’s just a practical matter.”

Marin told the council that she had opted to settle because she was “trying to act in the best interests of the city.” A trial could drag on for years, she said, but with the agreement, “I’m getting what I wanted. He’s admitting that he did something wrong.”

The settlement, with its large price tag, comes at a time when the council is trying to cut the city’s legal costs, which have surpassed the million-dollar mark within the past few years.

City Atty. Charles Martin, who said the case cost about $400,000 in legal fees, was unable to provide details of specific payments to private attorneys who represented Miranda at city expense.