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Berkeley residents will not get the opportunity to view the terms of a high stakes legal settlement with the University of California, university officials said. 

The university on Friday rejected a request from the City Council to waive a confidentiality agreement, signed at the city’s behest, and release the settlement deal before both sides vote on it this week. 

UC Berkeley Director of Community Relations Irene Hegarty said the university held that it was common practice for litigants not to release the terms of a settlement until it was approved by both parties. 

“From the university’s perspective the agreement isn’t final until the Regents approve it,” she said. 

Announcement of the settlement agreement could come as early as this week, said Councilmember Kriss Worthington. The City Council has scheduled a closed-door meeting Tuesday at 8:30 p.m., presumably to vote on the deal, and the UC Board of Regents Finance Committee has scheduled a closed-door review of the deal for Wednesday. 

“We expect the council will take it up Tuesday and then submit it to the Regents the following day,” Hegarty said. 

The deal could provide the framework for town-gown relations through 2020. In return for the city dropping its lawsuit over the university’s 15-year development plan, the university, which as a state institution is exempt from city taxes, has agreed to increase payments for city services. 

The city, which is eager for new revenue to close budget deficits, had reportedly asked for between $3 million and $5 million a year from the university, which countered with a proposal of $1.2 million. 

Councilmember Dona Spring has hinted that the proposed settlement is far closer to the university’s offer.  

A copy of the university’s settlement proposal to Mayor Tom Bates from December, obtained by the Daily Planet, showed that the university at the time offered the city $1.1 million a year, $350,000 for sewer service, $350,000 for fire service, $200,000 to fund joint transportation and pedestrian safety improvement projects and $200,000 to be spent at the chancellor’s discretion to benefit neighborhoods near the central campus. 

Mayor Bates replied that the offer was too low since Berkeley spent $2.1 million supplying the campus with sewer services and $2 million for fire services.  

Councilmember Worthington is continuing to push for the final settlement to be released publicly before the council’s final vote. 

“The amount of secrecy is absurd especially considering the public will presumably find out this week [after both sides approve the deal],” Worthington said. He added that both the university and the city attorney’s office have told him that not only is the settlement agreement confidential, but so are details of the confidentiality agreement. 

“That is preposterous,” said Worthington, who noted that at last week’s council meeting Mayor Bates expressed surprise that the deal must be kept confidential. 

“How can anyone commit the city to secrecy without telling the mayor or the City Council?” he asked. 

City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque told the council last week that after she discussed the issue with the council in private, the city entered into the agreement to prevent the university from using comments made at settlement discussions during a trial. 

Terry Francke, executive director of the open government organization Californians Aware, didn’t think the confidentiality agreement should prevent the city from releasing the contents of the proposed deal. 

“I don’t see any connection between keeping a city official from popping off about it and releasing the text of the proposed settlement for the public to know about,” he said. “All it seems to protect the city from is having residents tell the City Council what they think of the proposed settlement.”.”Y