The continuing nonsense over a lawsuit involving two former elected municipal officials is a prime example of why a ballot measure to cut Los Angeles’ elected officers’ salaries in half will pass. This costly comic opera began more than a year ago when former City Controller Laura Chick tried to do her job and audit the city’s handling of workers comp cases in the office of former City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo. Delgadillo would have none of it, however, filed suit against Chick to stop her from auditing him and a legal battle between the two city officers ensued.

As this case winded its way through the legal system, both Delgadillo and Chick were termed out of office and were replaced in July by “High-Fiving” Carmen Trutanich and Wendy Greuel, respectively. So, did the lawsuit go away when the litigants went away? No-o-o. It had to be disposed of properly, through dismissal or settlement, and Trutanich kept saying throughout his campaign for city attorney that, if elected, he would dismiss the suit his predecessor filed against the city controller. Did he do it? No-o-o. After he was elected, he said the City Council had to dismiss it.

The City Council, whose members say in public, at least, that they don’t want the city to waste any more money pursuing this case, met on the issue last month, and did they dismiss it? No-o-o. Instead, they made current Controller Greuel sever ties with former Controller Chick’s attorney and voted to have the city attorney’s office represent Greuel in the suit. Let’s look at what we have here: Instead of a dismissed pointless and costly lawsuit, we have before us now a case in which the city attorney’s office is suing the controller’s office and the city attorney’s office is defending the controller’s office against its own lawsuit!!!

Is this outrageous governmental buffoonery, or not?! But wait, it gets worse: Greuel had to go to court on this case last week and nobody from the city attorney’s office showed up and she ended up having to defend herself! And we’re paying the City Council, et al, a fortune to provide us with this kind of leadership and provide us this kind of service.

When the neighborhood councils met a couple of weeks ago and voted to pursue a ballot initiative to cut elected officials’ salaries in half, no arguments were presented on the substance of the issue, just on the process. It was a given among the neighborhood participants that the elected officials in this city aren’t worth the money they’re being paid.

SONS AND DAUGHTERS — I really hate it when people who are alleged to have committed the same misdeeds do not reap the same whirlwind. Take the case of James Harris, a South L.A. District 8 neighborhood council treasurer who was arrested and charged with a felony for using the council’s city-issued credit card for his personal benefit. He has been released on $1 million bail. Meanwhile, over here in the Valley, a neighborhood council treasurer used his council’s city-issued credit card to buy himself a horse! A horse, I said! A horse! But he wasn’t arrested. He wasn’t charged with a felony. He wasn’t forced to cough up a million dollars in bail. He was very quietly forced to make arrangements to pay the money back!! Why is that?

A big deal is being made of reports that Harris hired his daughter to work for his neighborhood council. Surely, there can’t be anything wrong with that because the city obviously has no proscriptions against nepotism since the 8th District councilman has had his son on the district’s payroll ever since he was elected! If he can do it, why can’t Harris? — Or anybody else, for that matter?

And while I’m on the subject, the 7th District councilman’s daughter sits as a commissioner on the Board of Public Works — the only commission the city has that pays people to sit on it. All the other commissioners work for free, but not the Board of Public Works.

Granted, this commissioner daughter does not work for her councilman father, as does the 8th District councilman’s son, but rather she works for the mayor, as she is his appointee. But the question is: Did the councilman vote for his daughter’s confirmation of her mayoral appointment when the issue went before the City Council, or did he recuse himself? I don’t know.

Then there are those complaints by some council staff that they are being required to do work for council members’ spouses — making appointments, taking messages and keeping calendars and such for council members’ wives and lovers and the like. You know what they say about people who live in glass houses, and this James Harris case is Windex.

TAKING AIM — The Southwest Voter Registration Education Project is telling CNN it’s time to drop Lou Dobbs. SVREP’s President Antonio Gonzalez said his organization has declared “¡basta!” to the racist CNN anchor after he broadcast his radio show from the conference of an anti-Latino hate group, FAIR, which has been linked to murderous acts of vigilantism in Arizona. SVREP has launched a letter-writing blitz against Dobbs. African-Americans have a long-standing similar beef with Dobbs and CNN ought to take heed.

THIS AND THAT — The board of directors of the community-based T.H.E. Clinic announced this week that Risë K. Phillips has been chosen as the clinic’s new chief executive officer, effective Nov. 2. Phillips is currently a public health management consultant based in Silver Springs, Md. She holds master’s degrees from Yale University’s School of Public Health and from the John Anderson School of Management at UCLA.

The Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce is holding a town hall luncheon Oct. 23 featuring Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who is expected to discuss the economic stimulus package, the Crenshaw Transit Corridor Project and how to do business with the county. The luncheon will be held at the Marriott Hotel downtown and reservations must be made with the GLAAACC office at (323) 292-1297 by Friday.

My good buddy Annette May Thomas was feted with a unique and joyous gospel-themed retirement luncheon in the penthouse of Torrance’s Doubletree Hotel Saturday to mark the end of her 41-year career with the Los Angeles Unified School District. She started as a business education teacher and retired as an assistant principal of operations.

The Cherrywood/Leimert Block Club is having a book and school supply drive for Tom Bradley Elementary School and the members are asking that contributed items for the drive be brought to the block club meeting Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon in the parish hall at Transfiguration Catholic Church. Information: (323) 351-9164.

The Rev. Earl Green, a long time minister at First AME Church, was honored Sunday for his more than 30 years of community activism with a ceremony designating the Earl Green Pavilion of the historic FAME Allen House.

R.I.P. — I was shocked to learn of the sudden death of Patricia Woody, the copy editor/proofreader/editorial assistant at Our Weekly who died Monday while eating in the newspaper’s lunch room. “She just keeled over,” reported a staffer who was with her at the time. Woody was a devout Catholic and an active St. Brigid parishioner. My condolences to her family and the Our Weekly staff and may perpetual light shine on her and grant her peace.

AND FINALLY — I was thrilled to hook up with Ron Kaye the other weekend. We have a mutual admiration thing going, as I have always been his fan, who salutes him as the last good editor The Daily News ever had. And he thinks I rock!