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L.A. Politicians Cannot be Audited by Controller, Judge Rules [Updated]
The elected City Controller has no authority to audit fellow politicians, namely the offices of the Mayor, City Attorney and 15 City Councilmembers, according a judge's ruling today. The issue comes out of a battle between the former Controller--Laura Chick--and former Attorney--Rocky Delgadillo. Current Controller Wendy Greuel believes the judge misinterpreted the law and plans to appeal. In part, city laws states that the Controller has the power to "exercise a general supervision over the accounts of all offices, departments, boards and employees of the city charged in any manner with the receipt, collection or disbursement of the money of the city."
Update: Chick released his statement following the news: “I am extremely disappointed that the voters’ will has been thwarted. However, this is only round one. I am pleased that Controller Greuel will appeal the ruling on behalf of the taxpayers of Los Angeles. In fact this decision makes this worse than before. Not only does it preclude performance audits of programs in elected officials’ offices, it also bars them in all offices including Finance, Treasurer, City Clerk, Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA) and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO).”
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