Workman just may survive after all

Webb: In politics, perception is reality and symbols and simplicity are all-important. That's why Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman has a big, but not insurmountable, problem.

Don't count her out. Workman's political sins are symbolically large but substantively small. They are easy to demagogue, but when voters weigh her significant accomplishments against her mistakes, they'll give her another four years.

Three topics have provoked heavy news media scrutiny and criticism: high salaries, "guzzle-gate" and a temporary employee hired for the Boys & Girls Club.

High salaries. This issue is simply not a big deal. Salaries are recommended by personnel officials after studying other governments of similar size. Most of the people in question have important responsibilities overseeing 7,000 employees and multimillion-dollar budgets. Within Salt Lake County, some 40 people earn more than $100,000, half of them in the District Attorney's Office. Government compensation must be at least nominally competitive to attract quality people.

Guzzle-gate. Salt Lake County's fleet operation is one of the best-run in the country, with low operating costs and excellent service quality. A few people abused the system and one of them, the separately elected county auditor, will likely go to jail. The mayor took very quick action, appointing an independent commission to investigate and make recommendations, and the County Council and mayor will make any needed changes in policies and procedures.

Boys & Girls Club. Workman did not follow precisely proper procedures in hiring a temporary bookkeeper. It's important to understand that the county supports a wide variety of social services organizations with funding and employees. Helping the Boys & Girls Club with a $10-an-hour employee (who responded to a newspaper ad and never met Workman), is a typical activity. There was never any personal benefit to Workman.

As they relate to Workman, these issues involve a very small amount of money and no intentional wrongdoing. But symbolically they are big. Citizens don't like government workers making big salaries; they don't like government employees driving SUVs for personal travel, especially when gas prices are sky high; and Workman's daughter supervised the worker hired for the Boys & Girls Club.

So weigh those matters against Workman's accomplishments in starting up a brand new form of county government while fixing many leftover problems.