DELGADILLO SAYS HE'LL COOPERATE WITH AUDIT.

Byline: - Daily News

Seeking to defuse allegations that he is attempting to squelch a probe into his use of outside lawyers, Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo wrote in a letter released Friday that he will cooperate with a state audit into the matter.

On Thursday, City Controller Laura Chick accused Delgadillo of trying to prevent her office from investigating why the city's bills for outside lawyers grew from $14 million to nearly $30 million between 1999 and 2003.

Chick said she would refer the issue to the state's Joint Legislative Audit Committee rather than perform a more limited audit herself.

In his letter to the state committee's chairwoman, Delgadillo denied trying to stymie Chick and said he would cooperate with a state audit of his office's outside legal bills.

``We look forward to working with the state to review the success we have had in reducing liability payouts and using outside counsel,'' Delgadillo wrote to Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Bakersfield, who chairs the audit committee.

An aide to Chick said the controller stands by her position that the city's outside legal expenses need to be thoroughly reviewed, either by her office or by the state audit committee.

Delgadillo said the use of outside lawyers has helped to cut the city's liability payouts in half, saving about $50 million a year.

``These funds have been freed to pay for more police officers, fire protection service and other critical city services,'' Delgadillo wrote.

On Thursday, Chick accused Delgadillo of reneging on a promise to let her office audit the city's outside legal bills. Delgadillo denied that, but said the City Charter limits the scope of audits into legal matters.