Santa Ana Homeless Suit Settled : Law: The City Council agreed to pay $50,000 to 17 people in a case involving confiscation and discarding of their personal property during cleanup sweeps.

SANTA ANA —  The City Council agreed Monday to pay a $50,000 settlement to 17 homeless people who have been suing the city since 1988 for confiscating and discarding their bedrolls and other personal property during cleanup sweeps at city parks and the Civic Center.

In a decision reached during a private executive session, officials said, the council also agreed to settle a separate but related suit that sought merely to change the city’s policy of discarding the confiscated items.

“This shows that the city can work cooperatively with the homeless if they want to,” said Crystal C. Sims, an attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Orange County. Sims, along with lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union, represented four homeless clients in the suit over policy.

Since May, 1988, Santa Ana has been confiscating the possessions of homeless people during periodic citywide cleanups at all parks and public areas. City workers initially threw the belongings away. But after a public uproar, they began tossing the items in a dumpster at Centennial Regional Park and allowing the homeless to search through it to reclaim bedding and clothes during certain times of day.

Now, however, the items will be kept at a more accessible storage facility at Eddy West Stadium.

Under the agreements, city officials also will no longer conduct large-scale “maintenance” sweeps involving crews of workers moving through public areas. Instead, the workers will conduct routine cleanups that will allow homeless people to collect their possessions and move on before workers reach them.

Orange County has about 10,000 homeless people, and about 1,500 stay in Santa Ana, according to activists for the homeless.

Attorneys for the city and the plaintiffs had been negotiating for a settlement for several months.

Last week, attorneys for the homeless said they had hoped the city would agree to build storage lockers at six parks, so homeless people could keep their belongings in a secure place out of public sight. But Sims said city officials rejected that idea immediately.

Pat Ford, a plaintiff in both suits, said the homeless welcomed the settlement.

“We need the money badly,” Ford said. “We’re optimistic that the city would work with us now.”

Lawyers for the 17 plaintiffs who filed federal suit said their clients will divide the $50,000. The complaint alleged that Santa Ana had denied the homeless plaintiffs their constitutional rights by confiscating their belongings during a sweep last year.

Christopher B. Mears, who represented the 17, said three of his clients have since moved from the state. The remaining 14 are still homeless, he said.

Mears said he and the other attorneys in the case have agreed not to accept any legal fees for their work so their clients can keep all of the money.

The city will continue to conduct cleanup sweeps, officials said. But in addition to storing the confiscated belongings at Eddy West Stadium, city workers will treat anything picked up at the Civic Center as a “lost and found” item instead of trash. Those items will be stored at the central police station on Ross Street.