Abuses in hirings alleged

Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon continued his cleanup of Salt Lake County government Tuesday, calling for a countywide investigation into hiring abuses.

The investigation was prompted by allegations that county recorder Gary Ott skirted personnel law by hiring temporary employees instead of finding full-time merit employees. However, Ott is not the only county official under fire, and the audit will investigate hiring abuses countywide, Corroon said.

The move prompted cries of electioneering. Corroon is a Democrat and Ott is a Republican, and the election is just two weeks away.

"It's election-year politicking at its worst. It really smells," Ott said. "Why else would they do it, other than to promote the Democratic candidate (Leslie Reberg)? There is nothing to be gained by doing it today instead of two weeks from today. The timing is absolute."

Corroon insists he's just doing his job.

"Good government doesn't wait for an election," Corroon said. "If people are going around county hiring processes, we need to stop it, and stop it now."

The problems first came to light after several disgruntled former employees of the county recorder's office complained to the mayor's office about nepotism and hiring shortcuts.

Doug Willmore, the county's chief administrative officer, said the allegations of nepotism had already been investigated but claims of hiring abuses had not. Willmore then asked county personnel director John Matthews to do a preliminary probe, which found multiple hiring abuses in offices throughout the county, including divisions under Corroon's watch.

The preliminary probe found that several county officials hired temporary employees who worked for prolonged periods while leaving merit positions open. Willmore said the county has a clear-cut process for hiring, and when merit positions open up, county leaders should actively seek to fill them instead of "feeling out" temporary employees to see if they will be able to complete the job.

"You have to change policies to ensure they can't be abused," Willmore said. "We're trying to find out if someone truly intended to subvert the county hiring process."

Corroon insists the problems do not rise to the criminal level and will just require a change in policy once the problem is identified.

---

E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com