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

Other elected officials in Salt Lake County — most particularly Sheriff Aaron Kennard — have hired lobbyists of their own, and Corroon said he's going to take a hard look at that.

"I need to find out what they're doing," he said. "The question is the need. If they've got a lot of issues (that Tetris can't handle), we're willing to look at that."

Thomas justified his need for a lobbyist by the confusion engendered by a changed law last year that resulted in artificially high certified tax rates. Others said — some in jest, some not — that Thomas wanted to defeat a proposed bill this year that would require county auditors to be CPAs, which he is not.

He can take comfort, however, in that his council is solidly behind him.

"The voters have rejected that," Councilman Joe Hatch said.

Thomas' unsuccessful Democratic opponent, whom Hatch himself supported, was a CPA.

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E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com