Delgadillo and Chick go to war

Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo today filed a civil court challenge to block Controller Laura Chick from asserting the power to audit his office, and she called in the media to hear her blast her elected compadre and frequent rival. She also moved to hire Fredric D. Woocher of Strumwasser & Woocher in Santa Monica to represent the controller's office in lieu of her usual lawyer — Delgadillo. Best lines of the day:

"We are happy to have these lawyers' work reviewed by an independent reviewer, but not by a politician and a politician who is gearing up for her next campaign." — Rocky's spokesman Nick Velasquez

"The charter is clear, one elected official cannot conduct a performance audit of another elected official - the controller disagrees. So we're asking the court to clear this matter up." — Velasquez

"I am fighting for the public's right to know how their taxpayer dollars are spent." — Chick

"I'm a tigress! I'm a lioness!" — Chick, to reporters

"Delgadillo's complaint charges that Chick used audits as 'opposition research' to help unseat former Mayor James Hahn." — Daily News

"It was my sense then and my conclusion now that the controller has the authority to do a performance audit of every program in the city of Los Angeles. [That section] could not be clearer." — Erwin Chemerinsky, former chair of the Elected Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission.

Quotes from the Daily News story, Kerry Cavanaugh's post at
The Sausage Factory, and tomorrow's story in the Daily Journal by Peter B. Matuszak.