Months after clearing his name, county recorder Gary Ott now must battle for his job.

In May, an audit found Ott innocent of bypassing county policy when he spent roughly $100,000 on an off-site data management service. A contract was never signed with the company, and it was never approved by the County Council.

Opponent Leslie Reberg, a Democrat, says she would have never made the same mistakes Ott did.

"It doesn't help to have an elected official go out and do their own thing," she said. "I would work with the other elected officers and the mayor and the County Council to establish these rules and abide by them."

The service, AlphaCorp, now SIRE Technology, keeps electronic copies of roughly 55-60 percent of the county records.

Ott, a Republican, says the backup system will protect the county in case of a disaster. It's a forward-thinking method counties nationally are just starting to tap into, he said.

"I was doing one of the most valid things in the county, protecting the public records, and I'm getting beat up," Ott said. "That's a wonderful project, and I'm super proud of it."

Both candidates say improving communication between staff is one of the most important issues for the recorder race.

Ott said he will increase communication by opening dialogue between the offices and furthering automation, such as only typing up documents once, then passing them between department.

On the other hand, Reberg said she will keep an open, honest and accountable recorders office to help communication.

Ott was appointed to the county recorder post in 2000, then elected in 2002. In his six years in office, he has reduced county staff by 20 employees. During that time, the county has also processed double the amount of documents.

"We're doing more documents faster and with less people," he said. "By my record and what I've done so far, you can pretty much judge what I'll do in the office in the future. I'm the best person for the job."

Reberg, the former executive director of the state Committee of Consumer Services, has had her share of controversy as well. Her appointment to the committee sparked a firestorm of opposition from some consumer advocates, and after just one year on the job she stepped down to run for county recorder.

Reberg worked in the county in the 1980s and '90s in the Community Services Department.

"I will always be accountable to the voters of Salt Lake County," she said. "I bring 20 years of bipartisan, public service experience with a focus on openness and transparency with good government and good public policy."

---

E-mail: astowell@desnews.com