Four members of Pittsburgh City Council asked the State Ethics Commission yesterday to review their actions related to a $10,706 legal bill incurred battling a billboard permit, and advise them on what to do with the invoice.

The members wrote that they want the commission to address their "grave concern" with a legal opinion issued by the city Law Department on Monday that classified the bill as a personal debt, since the members retained lawyer Hugh McGough without a vote of the full council. The opinion also found that by voting tentatively to have the city pay the bill, the members had entered a conflict-of-interest situation that could compel them to give up their jobs.

Councilman Ricky Burgess, prime author of the letter to the commission, said he wants to know whether he committed a conflict of interest, and how the bill should be paid. "Whatever their advice is, I will follow," he said.

The bill stemmed from a Zoning Board challenge filed by Mr. Burgess, Council President Doug Shields, and members Bruce Kraus and William Peduto to a billboard permit awarded to Lamar Advertising without hearings or votes. Lamar sued them for as much as $2 million in damages, but that matter has been set aside. The firm is seeking a new permit for the Downtown electronic sign.