S.L. County recorder is cleared by audit
He was accused of bypassing policy
Ott had been accused of side-stepping county contract policies to fund a pet project, but an audit released Tuesday cleared Ott of the allegations, saying no evidence supported the claim.
He said in the future he will scour each and every contract to make sure policies and procedures are followed.
"I'm going to be looking at things a lot closer now, that's for sure," he said Tuesday.
The confusion began in November 2004 when the Salt Lake County Council approved $425,000 in budget requests for the recorder's office, equivalent to the amount Ott had saved through personnel cuts. Ott directed roughly $100,000 toward an off-site data management service.
That's where things get tricky. Audio recordings of the council meeting don't include anything about off-site management, and no contract was ever signed with AlphaCorp, now SIRE Technology, for the off-site data-management service.
The only documentation about the off-site Web server is a quote proposal with an unsigned letter attached, stating the county would end up paying an additional $230,000 over the course of four years for the data-management project. The audit doesn't delve into whether the county is obligated to pay the company since a contract was never signed.
Why the quote proposal ever made it through several layers of county government and ultimately won approval from the County Council and mayor's office is a question auditors said needs to be answered. The audit blamed a time crunch: the recorder submitted the budget proposal to the contracts and procurement office at one of the busiest times of the year the holiday and budget season.
"You know how work goes at that time of the year it is hectic, it's definitely hectic," Ott said. "This just went by, it fell through."
The audit also faulted the recorder's office for not taking responsibility for its own contracts. "The recorder's office relied exclusively on other offices to ensure compliance with contracting procedures and did not itself adequately understand the process or its own key contracts."
County Auditor Sean Thomas called for the audit March 3 after several county officials questioned the recorder's relationship with AlphaCorp. When asked if he believed calls for the audit were politically motivated, Ott, a Republican, said, "I would hope not, but maybe so."
His Democratic opponent said Tuesday this never would have happened had she been in office.
"We have policies and procedures for a reason, they serve as a check and balance," said Leslie Reberg, the former director of the Utah Committee of Consumer Services. "Elected officials have to have the good judgment and the willingness to abide by those. That's why they are there."
Councilman Jim Bradley said overall he was happy with the audit's results, saying the county will now start tightening the contracting process.
"I was pleased we didn't have any more county scandals," Bradley said. "This time the public's money was spent OK."
E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com
Comments
- Myths as persistent as mosquitoes 2:12 p.m.
- Hollywood glamour at Gaultier 1:58 p.m.
- Canal breaks, causes landslide in Logan 1:52 p.m.
- Reptile Lou won't eat 1:06 p.m.
- Three injured in South Ogden shooting 1:05 p.m.
- Upsets at Saturday's State Am 12:27 p.m.
- Luxury home market stalls 12:02 p.m.
- Kirk Douglas classic on DVD 11:38 a.m.
- Zion fire moving southeast 11:36 a.m.
- More school-money than expected 11:24 a.m.
- Jazz brass debate Millsap match
- LDS seminary principal arrested
- 2 men cited on LDS plaza
- Jazz finances not quite so bleak
- Reactions on Boozer speculation
- HBO defends U. logo use in 'Love'
- Utahns among Texans' investors
- Cash for Clunkers to get rolling soon
- Jazz rookies quiet Thunder youngsters
- 10 years after the flood
- LDS seminary principal arrested
267 - Jazz brass debate Millsap match
176 - Bronco collecting a galaxy of recruits
141 - Jazz talking Boozer trade?
140 - 2 men cited on LDS plaza
132 - Blazers may offer Millsap a contract
124 - Stadium of Fire flag burning was fake
99 - Fairness of BCS debated
81 - Letters: Single-payer system best
75 - Services bids farewell to Jackson
70
As more and more dads are put out of work in this economy, I've been...
The photographs are mysterious, brooding, dark. They show dimples and...
I am confident that Glen Beck has the read the book by Gary Allen,NONE DARE...
The best thing we could do would be to get rid of all the people in DC who...
He would not pull out a whip, that's for sure. You people must read a...
i havent read anything about 20 mil. i read 32 to 36 mil not confirmed. 15...
Enter comment Introduzca comentario ¡¡Por Dios!! Esto no es cosa del...
When I was 16, I thought the world of my seminary teachers. They all talked...
Girls/Ladies/Women, let me first introduce reality into this discussion. In...
Obviously you don't get my point. They were non-violent resisters. They were...
PRESIDENT CLINTON was guilty of the SAME KIND OF CRIME. An older man in a...
Ah, The Religion of Peace! :-)



You can be the first to comment on this story.