on the Idaho border has agreed to pay $500,000 to a former city recorder to settle a discrimination and wrongful termination suit.

By the numbers, the settlement equals about one-fourth of Nyssa's overall budget and comes to nearly $160 per resident in the town of nearly 3,200.

The town will publish an apology to Hilda Contreras, clear her personnel records of wrongful charges and write a letter of recommendation for future employers.

"It's nice to have this money because I can pay small loans and my attorneys," Contreras said. "Mainly it just tells people that I was innocent all along and what they did to me was wrong."

The town's insurance will cover the payout, Contreras said. It's the biggest settlement that she could recall after working 18 years for Nyssa, including as a payroll clerk and in other administrative capacities.

The case dates to November 2009 when the City Manager Roberta Donovan fired Contreras after putting her on paid administrative leave in July that year.

Nyssa hired a Baker City accounting firm,

, to audit her payroll records but found no irregularities. Then administrators requested a new audit of her salary based on what she should have been paid as a part-timer.

Nyssa officials accused Contreras of being paid more than was budgeted by working more hours than authorized.

"The city said I somehow promoted myself to full time," she said.

Donovan referred the case to the

and Contreras was indicted by a grand jury on theft charges.

But Contreras said that both the previous city manager, Bill Ewing, and Donovan approved her full-time status.

Office ended up dismissing the indictment.

Contreras, 47, filed a lawsuit in federal court, accusing Nyssa of discrimination, malicious prosecution and violating her constitutional rights.

Contreras, who first moved to Nyssa at 14, said she was devastated by the accusations. "My reputation and name were dragged through the mud," she said.

Contreras suspects that Donovan, who took over in summer 2007, wanted to bring in new staff and reduce the payroll. "They hired new people," Contreras said. "They wanted me out. I was one of the highest paid there."

She said she was paid $16.57 an hour or about $35,000 a year.

Donovan did not return calls seeking comment on the settlement, which was negotiated by a Portland attorney,

.

Contreras, who lives with her husband and two of their four children in Nyssa, said she's now looking for another job -- not with the city government -- and is considering going to college to become a registered nurse.

"My career with the city of Nyssa has been lost," she said. "I'm looking for a job to keep going and to put things back to normal."

--