ZAP coordinator resigns, says program's in 'crisis'

Salt Lake County's Zoo, Arts & Parks coordinator angrily resigned her position Tuesday, saying the program is in "crisis" and "in desperate need of help."

The move is the latest twist in the saga that has been the county's ZAP program in recent months.

Elleney Soter late Tuesday night sent a long e-mail message to county officials, announcing her immediate resignation, complaining about a lack of support and airing various other grievances.

The action came just three days before Soter was to present finalized arts funding applications to an approval board, requiring other county workers to complete the work.

It's a busy time in general for the ZAP program, with funding applications being received and reviewed.

Soter said the ZAP program — through which revenues from a one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax are funneled to arts, cultural, zoo, parks and recreation programs — is in a "chaotic and dysfunctional state." She said she didn't receive the support needed to do her job and complained about what she perceived as the position's lowly status.

County Mayor Peter Corroon said the problem was more with Soter than the program.

"The person before her (Kristie Marshall) not only did that job but helped out with open space and the constable's office," Corroon said. "I'm sorry (Soter) couldn't handle it, but we explained right from the start that it was sort of a one-person gig."

The ZAP program — highly popular among county workers and residents alike — has gone through some bumps in the road, primarily due to the County Council and Corroon wrangling over who should control its administration. It ultimately wound up under the mayor.

There was also some controversy over Soter's hiring, with Councilman Randy Horiuchi and other critics noting that she had been previously hired at several places but stayed only a brief time at each. Most notably, Soter was fired after a year as Salt Lake City's Gallivan Center director due to irregularities in overtime pay and purchasing procedures.

"It's an unfortunate situation," Councilman Jim Bradley said. "Elleney's a wonderful person, and the observations she made in her letter were probably accurate — to her. We probably didn't communicate well her responsibilities."

Community services director Chris Crowley, however — whom Soter singles out for particular criticism — said he had made it quite clear to Soter what her responsibilities were. At one point he disciplined her for underperforming.

"She wasn't living up to expectations," he said. "We needed to be clear on that."

Soter maintains that Crowley disciplined her because she asked for more help.

Crowley said the finalized application packets, due Friday, will go out as planned and that the program will continue moving forward, primarily due to the efforts of a part-time staffer the county hired two weeks ago to assist Soter.

"I would not say we're struggling through this — we're on a more firm platform now — but we'll be hiring somebody as soon as we can" to replace Soter, he said. "ZAP is an extremely important program for Salt Lake."

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