A three-month battle over an obscure new City Hall job has underscored continuing City Council infighting over leadership positions, personalities and spending priorities.

Alex Santiago, the council's liaison to the Legislature, resigned Wednesday after earlier labeling the council "horribly divided and dysfunctional."

Santiago, a lobbyist and former state lawmaker who once chaired the state Democratic Party, terminated his $49,999 one-year contract and said he felt trapped between warring council factions.

One side "continued to impugn my reputation, and I was not going to allow it to continue," Santiago said.

Some council members had sharply criticized the way Santiago was hired and indicated they would continue to aggressively question him about his duties and accomplishments.

But others said they believed Santiago had been unfairly used as a political punching bag by a faction seeking to oust council Chairwoman Barbara Marshall. Some also questioned whether Santiago's party affiliation had been a factor.

Marshall had approved Santiago's contract in June, and a majority of the council later concurred. But Councilman Charles Djou and others who have feuded with Marshall over other issues called the new position a waste of money and complained that there had been no prior public discussion about hiring a liaison.

Djou, a Republican who represents GOP-heavy East Honolulu, had warned Wednesday that a council panel might subpoena Santiago to testify about his work.

"I'm pleased that we're closing this chapter, but I'm disappointed that we had to spend thousands of taxpayer dollars to relearn the lesson that sweetheart deals are a bad deal for taxpayers," Djou said yesterday.

Santiago dismissed Djou's characterization and said he had never met Marshall before he was contacted about the job.

"I didn't initiate this," Santiago said. "His contention that this was a 'sweetheart deal' is blatantly untrue."

Marshall, a political independent, said the contract had been "absolutely legal and above-board." Santiago's departure will be "a huge loss to taxpayers" because he had been positioned to help the council closely monitor the Legislature and any decisions that impact the city, she said.

"I hope we can now focus on the very critical issues before us and do the people's business," Marshall said.

Santiago represented the North Shore in the state House from 1990 to 2000, and was chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawai'i from 2003 to 2004. More recently, he has been a lobbyist for healthcare and social service industry associations.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.