Mayor Hales Signed Settlement Without Knowing The Details

Posted

Oregon Public Broadcasting

Portland Mayor Charlie Hales says he did not know the controversial details of a legal settlement he signed with Portland Police Captain Mark Kruger.

Kruger was suspended by the city in 2010 for posting plaques honoring Nazi era soldiers in a Portland park years earlier. Kruger filed a tort claim against the city.

The settlement, which Hales signed last week, erased two disciplinary letters from Kruger's Portland Police file and awarded him 80 hours of vacation and $5,000.

In an email to members of the city council that was first reported on by the Oregonian, Hales wrote that he was unaware of the non-financial details.

Spokesman Dana Haynes says the mayor takes responsibility for making a mistake.

"He did not get briefed on it. It arrived via interdepartmental mail and he signed it and then thought he knew the details and in fact there were a lot more details."

The aspects of the settlement Hales said he was unfamiliar with are on the second and third pages of the document.

The Portland city council didn't vote on the settlement because they only review settlements over $5,000.

This story originally appeared on Oregon Public Broadcasting.