New scandals erupt in Salt Lake County

With Salt Lake County already mired in a tuition assistance scandal, new allegations have surfaced over improper hiring practices and fraudulent timekeeping, both involving several prominent county officials.

According to an investigation conducted at the behest of the County Council, County Clerk Sherrie Swensen and her former chief deputy, Nick Floros, engaged in "suspect" hiring practices over the past several years, allegedly taking on unqualified employees because of friendship or other personal connections.

An anonymous whistle-blower has also complained of what might be widespread timecard fraud — employees reporting hours that they haven't actually worked.

The county personnel office, headed by Felix McGowan, is being implicated in both the hiring practices and timekeeping allegations; McGowan is implicated by name in the latter.

McGowan is already under investigation in the tuition assistance matter.

The County Council hired local attorney James Morton to do an investigation into alleged retaliation for complaints in the clerk's office. His report, dated March 21, has not been released publicly and has been seen by only a handful of people, according to Council Chairman Mike Jensen.

"I've been waiting to get all of the feedback from the council to see what we're going to do with it," Jensen said Wednesday.

While he concedes that the matter is not strictly within the scope of his investigation, Morton concludes that the personnel office might have placed "friends and family members" on a "qualified register" for the purpose of hiring them and lists several people who were "not qualified" but were hired by Swensen and Floros anyway.

In particular, he lists Becky Arrigo, wife of personnel office worker Roy Arrigo, as one whom Floros intervened to hire despite an alleged lack of qualifications in order to "pay back" Roy Arrigo for certifying other unqualified applicants.

Another is Jennifer Hales, who Morton says has a personnel-documented typing speed of 22 words per minute and types with two fingers but was nonetheless hired for a job requiring typing skills.

Several other employees are also named.

Morton also accuses Swensen of "questionable candor" with regard to a 1995 memo detailing alleged harassment of employees by Floros. (Floros, Swensen and the county are being sued by a former employee, accusing Floros of sexual harassment.) Swensen maintains that she never saw the memo.

For her part, Swensen categorically disputes all accusations and said Morton did not bother to get her side of the story.

"I think his intentions were not honorable," she said. "He went far beyond the scope of his investigation. . . . The accusations are absolutely scurrilous, and he didn't ask for the other side."