County Council apology is empty, Yocom says

The Salt Lake County Council wants to apologize to the Democratic district attorney — in writing — for the public squabble over the council's desire to hire a private attorney.

The apology isn't so much for the proposal itself — council members are still going ahead with legislation that would allow them to hire an attorney. The apology is for bad press over the flap.

"What, am I supposed to feel better with the apology?" Democratic Salt Lake District Attorney David Yocom told the Deseret Morning News after hearing of the apology. "It doesn't change anything. They are still going to do what they are going to do."

The apology comes after the internal county business matter ballooned into a partisan political issue on Capitol Hill. The council wants someone to help craft ordinances, offer legal advice and review state legislation that could impact county operations, but Yocom believes that is what his office is for.

The bill, known at the Legislature as one of two "poke-em Yocom" bills, won preliminary approval Thursday from the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee. Sponsored by Sen. Darin Peterson, R-Nephi, SB249 would allow counties with an executive-council form of government to hire their own private attorneys instead of relying solely on legal advice from the district attorney's office.

But Republican Councilman Mark Crockett said the County Council isn't out to get Yocom, commenting the council's intentions are being misrepresented in the public domain.

"I would personally request we extend an apology that this bill is being portrayed like it is at the Legislature and in the newspaper," Crockett said during Tuesday's County Council meeting.

The council then voted to send Yocom a formal letter of apology. The olive branch came moments after the council voted to support SB249, with Republican Marv Hendrickson and Democrats Randy Horiuchi and Jim Bradley voting against supporting the bill.

Citing "partisan warts and wrinkles" and "tensions with legal advice" over the past several years, the council this past fall voted 7-2 across party lines to create the private attorney position. Yocom said he believes such a personnel move would be illegal, and instead offered a compromise to allow the council to hire a "scribe" who would draft legal opinions and ordinances.