Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is continuing to push his nominee to head Utah's Committee of Consumer Services utility watchdog group, even though her name has surfaced in connection with the latest scandal in Salt Lake County.

Leslie Reberg, the governor's choice to replace the man he fired from the consumer post last month, appeared in a report of an investigation into Salt Lake County hiring practices obtained by the Deseret Morning News.

The report accuses one of Reberg's former employers at the county, County Clerk Sherrie Swensen, and Swensen's former chief deputy, Nick Floros, of hiring "friends and relatives to positions for which they were not qualified."

Reberg and 10 other employees in the clerk's office, including a woman identified as Floros' former girlfriend, are listed in the report as "friends and/or associates" of either Swenson or Floros.

Huntsman's chief of staff, Jason Chaffetz, said he had not seen the report.

"We'll let that play out and learn as much as we can about her and her background. But everything we've seen to date would leave us to believe the totality of her record is worthy of this appointment," Chaffetz said.

Reberg said she had a number of jobs with the county, including serving as chief of staff to three county commissioners before taking a position in the clerk's office in 1999. She said, under the county's policies and procedures, she was entitled to the job.

The management analyst's position with the clerk's office was "a huge bump down" in pay, Reberg said. She kept the job for a few months before being hired by Qwest. Reberg later returned to the county as a community services director, a job she held until January.

"I would love to see the wording of the report. If it does say I am unqualified for the position, it is clearly unfair. At that point, I had a decade in county government," Reberg said. "I am very proud of the time I spent at Salt Lake County."

Reberg said Thursday evening she had not yet discussed the report with the governor's office. She said she hoped it would not affect her nomination to the consumer post. "That was '99, so there's six years of service and accomplishments," she said.

Chaffetz said next week, the governor will meet individually with the six members of the consumer services committee to lobby for Reberg. "She ought to get a good, clean, fair look on her own merits as an individual," he said.

Reberg's nomination has already attracted controversy because of the governor's firing of the longtime head of the consumer services committee, Roger Ball. Reberg's work for a utility has been criticized by Ball supporters.

The appointment will be made by the consumer services committee. The committee chairman, Dee Jay Hammon, said he had no comment about the county report. "I know nothing about it," he said. "Salt Lake County has got their own serious problems."