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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Salt Lake County's personal director has been suspended for a week without pay for failing to quickly discipline a manager for nepotism.
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, Felix McGowan has not challenged the disciplinary action. County officials say Felix is a gentleman and took it very well.
McGowan's suspension partly stems from an August audit that revealed that a county employee, Roy Arrigo, engaged in an "obvious conflict of interest." However, according to a disciplinary letter, an "inordinate amount of time lapsed" before McGowan chastised Arrigo.
April Townsend, who oversees personnel, says McGowan also offered to remove Arrigo warning from his file after a year. She says the discipline was minimum for a severe misuse of position.
A second portion of McGowan's suspension stems from a "highly inappropriate and unprofessional" conversation he had with a job applicant. Townsend says McGowan told the applicant he was NOT being hired because of a negative reference and because of information he received from employees in the auditor's office.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
