Even auditor bitten by new ethics law

Salt Lake County officials are finding it's easy to pass ordinances in the wake of scandals, but abiding by those new ordinances is a little more complicated.

County auditor Sean Thomas recently completed the process of selecting a lobbying firm — sending out a request for proposals, reviewing companies that responded to it, putting together a selection committee, choosing the best applicant — only to find out he couldn't hire them.

Turns out two members of the chosen firm, Legislative Executive Consulting, contributed $600 to Thomas' campaign last year. Just a few weeks ago, that wouldn't have been a problem. But now it is.

Largely as a result of the scandals, last month the County Council enacted a new ordinance that prohibits the county from contracting with people or companies who contributed to any county political campaign within the past six months.

"I was a strong supporter of that ethics reform, particularly the aspects regarding contractors," Thomas said.

That particular provision escaped him, however, until county attorneys pointed it out to him.

"We live and die by the policies we instigate," he said.

Thomas isn't the only one to run afoul of the new law. County officials say there are almost certainly many other contractors with the county who have recently contributed — or who are currently contributing — to political campaigns, making their contracts illegal according to the new rules.

"Oh, absolutely there are," chief deputy district attorney Karl Hendrickson said.

The county is now studying just how many contractors fall into that category, and what to do about it.

By the way, the county's primary lobbying firm, The Tetris Group, contributed $5,000 to Nancy Workman's campaign last April, in addition to individual contributions. Tetris recently renewed its $140,000 annual county contract.

County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson, who heads up an ethics committee, said one of the problems with the situation is that existing policy is vague and hard to understand — when it's read at all.

"This is most important for elected (officials), so we're not wandering around wondering if we're violating policy," she said. "If we follow the existing policy, we'll be OK, but nobody knows what that is."

Thomas' abortive attempt to hire a lobbyist may be indicative of the ordinance ramifications rippling through the county, but in his specific case it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Mayor Peter Corroon — who has final say on all county contracts — believes a lobbyist hired solely for the auditor's office is a waste of money.

"There's no need for it," he said. "We have a lobbyist (Tetris). We pay them a lot of money."