An angry and defiant City Controller Laura Chick, rebuffed by the City Council in her request for $100,000 to hire a private attorney, said Wednesday she will not back down from her legal fight with City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo.

While the council voted 11-1 to reject the funds, Chick said she has found a private attorney who has agreed to take the case anyway - and send the city a bill.

Arguing the issue of the power of her office to conduct independent audits was at stake, Chick said noted election attorney Fred Woocher has agreed to represent her on a pro bono basis and would seek repayment from the city for his costs.

"To me this is about transparency in government and the right of this office to look at the work of any program that receives city money," Chick said.

The long-running dispute is over Chick's effort to conduct a performance audit of the worker's compensation program in Delgadillo's office, specifically examining the use of private attorneys. Four years ago, Chick tried to audit the hiring of all private attorneys by the city, but Delgadillo blocked her.

Delgadillo argues that Chick does not have the authority to conduct performance audits of programs in an elected official's office. She does, however, have the power to conduct financial audits of any office in the city.

Several council members questioned whether encouraging the dispute by granting the funds would give the Controller's office too much power and pit one city official against another.

"I don't think one elected official should have the power to investigate another elected official, no matter who it is," Councilman Richard Alarcon said. "I have seen too many cases where information is used to embarrass another elected official. We shouldn't allow that here." Councilman Bernard Parks, chair of the council's Budget and Finance Committee, argued the matter could set a precedent. "I've never seen the city pay for an attorney to have them sue the city," Parks said.

Delgadillo was in San Francisco and not available for comment. But a spokesman noted that the controller has previously conducted more than 20 different financial audits of the office and found no problems.

Delgadillo spokesman Nick Velasquez said the City Attorney's office was prepared to honor the council's request to halt legal proceedings against Chick. "The City Council has made clear its desire that we resolve this matter without going to court, and without an additional cost to the taxpayers," Velasquez said.

"The council has asked that both sides stand down. We are happy to stand down at the request of the council and would encourage the controller to do the same."