S.L. County's fleet director put on leave during probe

Salt Lake County's fleet director has been placed on administrative leave, pending the results of a formal investigation against him.

The charges against Nick Morgan apparently include falsifying travel vouchers and using county time and resources for personal business, though county officials declined to detail the specific nature of the charges.

"I was told it was that (travel and county resources), but they won't tell me," Morgan said.

Public Works Director John Patterson and Deputy County Attorney Valerie Wilde met with Morgan Thursday, telling him to leave his office and not return until June 3, by which time they anticipate completing the investigation and taking appropriate disciplinary action, if any.

Morgan is also prohibited from talking to county employees about the matter.

Investigators are looking through records dating back four or five years, Doug Willmore, county chief administrative officer, said. Disciplinary action could range from a verbal reprimand to termination.

Morgan has been fired once before — by the Utah Department of Corrections in 1996, for hiring and purchasing irregularities. He later sued the state for wrongful termination, a suit he lost when the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied his appeal a year ago.

While the District Attorney's Office is conducting the investigation, it is at the behest and under the control of the mayor's office, Willmore said. At this point, it is purely an internal personnel matter, though criminal charges could be brought later if appropriate.

Wilde could not be contacted for comment.

The county's fleet department, which Morgan oversees, was sharply criticized in the report of a citizens panel convened by then-mayor Nancy Workman in the aftermath of last year's "guzzle-gate" affair, in which illicit use of travel allowances was uncovered.

"The county's vehicle-fleet program is poorly managed, suffers from a systemic lack of meaningful oversight and needs a massive overhaul," the report stated.

Panel member Vern Della-Piana said the fleet was "out of control."

The report did not mention Morgan by name. "They only named his position," Patterson noted wryly.

The current allegations against Morgan — which have to do more with possible personal wrongdoing than poor fleet management — came from a variety of sources, Willmore and Patterson said, including various fleet employees.

"First it was just a routine checking of a request for reimbursement that got sent in, and it just mushroomed from there," Willmore said.