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SALT LAKE CITY — A former Santa Clara city employee developed and sold software to the city without proper disclosure of an apparent conflict of interest, according to a report released Wednesday by the Office of the State Auditor.
The employee had told her supervisors that she was working on "an outside business venture to develop software designed to assist municipalities to track building inspections and other tasks," the audit states, but she did not put it in writing. The resulting software was used by the city free of charge for some time before a contract was awarded and after the designing employee was tasked with producing a comparison sheet.
That paperwork, dated in 2015, however, was not retained by the city.
Santa Clara Mayor Rick Rosenburg, in response to the audit, said that the software "might more accurately be described as a hobby" than a secondary business prospect for the unnamed employee. However, he agreed that it should have been properly disclosed.
The audit suggests that Santa Clara establish protocol to follow state code for matters of public disclosure. It also recommends the city conduct a new process for procurement of the software, or a competing product, should a new and properly recorded request for proposals result in an advantage for the city.
KSL's Southern Utah News Section
Looking for more news from the southern part of the state? Visit our southern Utah section for more stories, events and features.Auditors also advise that city employees be educated on ethics matters, including proper conflict of interest disclosure, and that employees with conflicts of interest not be involved in acquiring products associated with those interests.
Rosenburg said the city is working on adopting updated policies and will conduct a new request for proposals on July 1.
