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Portland Mayor Charlie Hales, pictured in June, was unaware of the full terms of the city's settlement with Capt. Mark Kruger when he signed it last month, his July 17 email to city commissioners confirms.

(Stephanie Yao Long/The Oregonian )

Portland Mayor Charlie Hales admits that he didn't know all the terms of a controversial settlement he signed last month with Portland police Capt. Mark Kruger, according to a July 17 email released Monday by the city under a public records request.

"Colleagues -- I was unaware of the non-financial elements of the Galvan/Kruger settlement until after the Council's action yesterday,'' Hales wrote to his fellow council members. "I assume that you were also unaware of these portions of the settlement. You were probably also shocked to read about these provisions in press reports.''

To settle a legal claim, the city agreed to pay $5,000 to Kruger and erase two disciplinary actions from his personnel record: an 80-hour suspension without pay for his public tribute to five Nazi-era German soldiers at a city park and a written reprimand for retaliating against a female lieutenant. Kruger also received 80 extra hours of vacation time and a laudatory letter from Chief Mike Reese as part of the deal.

The city initially declined to release the mayor's email, citing attorney-client privilege. The Oregonian appealed to the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office.

On Monday, Deputy District Attorney Travis Sewell said he met with city attorneys at City Hall to review the email. Sewell said he discussed the possibility of redacting a portion of the email that dealt with attorney-client privilege but making the rest public.

The mayor's spokesman Dana Haynes released the email to The Oregonian shortly after 4 p.m., with more than two paragraphs redacted.

"Upon advice from the City Attorney, we have redacted portions that relate to attorney/client privilege,'' Haynes said.

The spokesman offered this explanation of how Hales, who serves as police commissioner, could be unaware of all the settlement's terms when he signed it in June.

The mayor received a form describing the terms that came from the city's risk management, city attorney's office and the Bureau of Human Resources.

"He saw the overall details of it and signed it,'' Haynes said.

It wasn't until July 16, when The Oregonian wrote about the Kruger settlement, that the mayor realized what he had signed.

"He was like: 'Oh my gosh. This is bad. This is onerous. I'm not happy about it,' '' Haynes said. "There were details that he had not read as thoroughly through, or had sought additional information about.''

The mayor isn't satisfied with the city's process of briefing elected officials on major legal settlements. "He's in the midst of changing that process,'' Haynes said.

But ultimately, the mayor accepts the blame.

"He should have known more, and he should have read more and realized the full terms, and he blames himself,'' Haynes said. "He takes full responsibility for that.''

Also in response to a public records request, the city recently released an email that Kruger and his attorney, Sean Riddell, provided to the city along with Kruger's tort claim.

The email is from former East Precinct Cmdr. Mike Lee to Kruger, in which he notes that the police chief was reluctant to promote Kruger to commander because of the legal action Kruger was pursuing. Kruger had sued the city and police Director of Services Mike Kuykendall, contending Kuykendall's text messages to a female lieutenant, Kristy Galvan, were slanderous because he characterized Kruger as a Nazi sympathizer.

Lee specifically cited a meeting he had with Chief Reese, in which Reese listened to Lee advocate for Kruger to replace him as precinct commander upon his retirement.

"Chief Reese listened intently and then simply said, 'And he has also filed a Tort claim against the City' or words to that effect,'' Lee wrote in an April 24, 2013, email to Kruger. "This statement, and the matter-of-factness in his tone, was one that caused me to realize there was no point in furthering the conversation about the subject.''

Kruger was moved from East Precinct to serve as captain of the bureau's Drugs and Vice Division. Sara Westbrook was named commander of East Precinct, following Lee's retirement.

--Maxine Bernstein