How to use a variable in / across a "dot operator" or across widget options

How to use a variable in / across a "dot operator" or across widget options

I have an Autocomplete and I change some of the choices in  the dropdown list via the renderItem function. That much works.  If the user selects a changed choice, I want to make a different select: than if they select an unchanged choice in the list. So far, a click on a changed choice causes the select: option to do its normal thing.  It seems I need to change a variable from 0 to 1 when changed choices appear, and then use an if statement in the select: option to determine which select action to take.  I can do this with a global variable.  I don't see how to do this without a global variable. The renderItem function is a "dot addition" at the end of the Autocomplete function - its not inside the Autocomplete function. Is it possible to pass variable values between widget options or across the dot separator - if so, how?  Here's the structure of the code using the global  var override.

$("#city").autocomplete({
      source:  //do stuff via ajax
      select: function (event, ui){
            if (override == 1){
            //set selected value one way
            }
            //set selected value another way
      }
}).data("autocomplete")._renderItem = function (ul, item){
      var listItem = $("<li></li>")
      .data("item.autocomplete", item)
      if ( item.label == "trigger" ){
            override = 1;
            listItem.html( //change list item );
      } else {
            override = 0;
            listItem.html( // list item does not change );
      }
      return listItem.appendTo(ul);
}