South Pasadena, Ex-Mayor Prentiss OK $900,000 Settlement

In the largest settlement of a lawsuit in the city of South Pasadena’s history, the City Council has agreed to pay former Mayor Lee D. Prentiss about $900,000 after a jury found last year that municipal officials violated his civil rights.

The settlement brings to a close a five-year dispute that began when city officials revoked Prentiss’ building permit for an extension to his Craftsman-style home after he had already cut a hole in a wall and laid concrete foundations.

City officials said they wanted to make sure the changes would not spoil the 86-year-old house’s historic status. But Prentiss charged that it was a reprisal by political enemies.

A Superior Court jury sided with Prentiss last July, returning a $1.2-million verdict in his favor. That award was slashed to $777,900 in November by Pasadena Superior Court Judge J. Michael Byrne, but the city appealed.

The settlement approved in closed session by the council earlier this month is about $120,000 higher because it covers additional legal fees and interest, city officials said. The exact amount will be determined by interest rate figures on the day the money is awarded.

South Pasadena spent $426,000 on its own attorneys in the case, bringing its total costs in the dispute to nearly $1.5 million.

Prentiss, who wept after the verdict in July, said he would reserve comment until he has the money in hand. “I haven’t got the money right now. I’m supposed to get it in Judge Byrne’s court on Friday.”

His attorney, David King, said the settlement is fair and probably saved the city money. “Everybody realized it was time to wrap this thing up,” he said.

Mayor Paul Zee said the settlement resolves the case without anyone admitting liability for wrongdoing. “The majority of the council felt it was in the best interest of the city that we finally bring this case to closure after five years,” Zee said. “This city has to move forward.”

Prentiss agreed to waive the jury’s civil rights verdict against ex-Mayor Evelyn Fierro; Councilman Harry A. Knapp; Knapp’s wife, Clarice, a cultural heritage commissioner, and Transportation Commissioner Joanne Nuckols. The jury had found that Fierro, Nuckols and Clarice Knapp acted with “malice or oppression” against Prentiss.

Fierro, who is now a Clinton appointee in the Federal Highway Administration, faced a $4,000 fine because of the verdict, but now will not have to pay it.

The council voted 3 to 2 for the settlement. Councilmen Amedee O. Richards and Harry Knapp, who were on the council when it revoked the permit, dissented.

City Manager Kenneth C. Farfsing said the city’s insurance does not cover civil rights awards, so the payment to Prentiss will be made from South Pasadena’s $1.1 million in reserves for uninsured liabilities.

The legal battle began in September, 1990, when a council majority--Fierro, Knapp and ex-Mayor James C. Hodge Jr.--voted in closed session to revoke the building permit issued a month before to Prentiss. The permit allowed Prentiss to build a three-story, 1,750-square-foot addition to his 3,500-square-foot house.

Pending the lawsuit, remodeling of the home has been at a standstill.