SAN DIEGO – Mayor Jerry Sanders said Wednesday that his voter-approved plan to outsource some city jobs will be delayed by months because a state administrative law judge has ruled the city acted improperly during negotiations with labor unions – something the mayor blamed on bad advice from City Attorney Michael Aguirre.

“This setback underscores our desperate need for competent legal counsel in the city attorney's office,” Sanders said at a morning news conference. “This procedural ruling is a defeat for taxpayers and further delays implementation of a program that voters in the city of San Diego have made very clear they want and expect.”

Sanders will discuss the ruling with the City Council on Tuesday and decide on a strategy going forward.

The mayor said he will likely have to reopen negotiations with the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Local 127, the city's blue-collar union, and the Municipal Employees Association, the city's largest union, over the rules for outsourcing.

If there is no agreement, an impasse hearing would be held by the City Council in which both sides would present their case in an open forum.

AFSCME Local 127 filed a complaint with the state Public Employee Relations Board in early 2007, alleging that the city had negotiated in bad faith on the outsourcing issue. In the summer of 2007, the MEA joined the legal action.