Salt Lake County has hired a current county employee to head up its Zoo, Arts and Parks program, a few months after the previous manager abruptly quit the program she said was "in crisis."

The county's Community Services Department, part of the mayor's office, hired Victoria Panella Bourns as the new ZAP manager, the county announced Thursday. Bourns had been manager of the county's public arts programs and its public art collection.

In May, Elleney Soter suddenly resigned after serving a little more than two months as the program's manager. She said ZAP was "in desperate need of help" and complained she was not receiving the support she needed from the county.

Soter was hired by the County Council in late February, despite a recent employment history marked by a succession of frequent job changes. She was fired as director of Salt Lake City's Gallivan Center in December 2003 over irregularities in overtime pay and purchasing procedures.

Some members of the council, upon learning of Soter's employment history after voting her in as ZAP manager, expressed concern about whether she was the right person for the job.

Council members called Thursday for comment on Bourns' hiring could not be reached, but in the county's news release, Councilman Marv Hendrickson was quoted as saying, "I know Victoria and realize we are lucky to have the right person in the right spot for the right job."

Mayor Peter Corroon also expressed confidence in Bourns, calling her "a proven commodity in the county" and saying she was fully capable of heading the program that doles out funds from the one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax levied for county arts and parks and Utah's Hogle Zoo. Since the voter-approved tax went into effect in 1997, it has brought in more than $100 million.

Bourns "is well-respected within the county and, from what I know, well-respected within the arts community," said Corroon, who had wrangled with the council in February over whether ZAP should be under the purview of the council or the mayor's office. A compromise put it under the mayor's Community and Support Services Department while allowing the council to choose its manager.

This time, the hiring was done by the mayor's office.

In a news release from the county, Bourns said, "We all recognize the importance of recreation, arts and cultural funding. I look forward to working externally with recipient groups and advisory boards and internally with the mayor's office and the County Council."

Bourns has a master's degree in fine arts administration and a bachelor's degree in dance. She was the Utah Cultural Alliance's executive director from 2000-2004. Her career in the arts dates at least to the mid-1980s, when she was an instructor at Snow College and head of the school's dance department.

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E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com