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SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake County officials are striving to strike "delicate balance" between respecting embattled Recorder Gary Ott's privacy while ensuring wise stewardship of taxpayer dollars, Mayor Ben McAdams said Wednesday.
In the process, county officials will be into looking a slew of mounting allegations that question the ethics of the recorder's office and whether Ott should remain in his elected position.
Allegations of nepotism and residency violations are adding to concerns that surfaced last month about whether Ott could be suffering from health issues that may be preventing him from carrying out his duties.
"It's a really tough situation," McAdams said. "But it's something we want to take seriously because there are tax dollars at stake, and we want to make sure our duty to serve the public is being performed with honor."
Two separate courses of actions have been set into motion: a performance audit of Ott's office, and a proposal to strengthen the county's nepotism policy.
Salt Lake County Auditor Scott Tingley will be evaluating the operations of Ott's office over the next three months, and the County Council is in the process of drafting a new nepotism ordinance that defines and prohibits romantic relationships in the workplace.
Until the audit is complete, McAdams said it remains to be seen whether there is cause for deeper investigation into concerns about Ott's health, allegations of nepotism or questions about Ott's residency.
"There have been enough concerns and inconsistencies raised in the last few months that do give me pause," the mayor said.
Councilwoman Aimee Winder Newton said allegations surrounding the recorder and his office have the County Council "definitely concerned."
"We all want to make sure that taxpayers are being treated appropriately," Newton said. "I think this is good. It's good for us … to look into the situation and make sure we're doing our due diligence."
Following an ongoing investigation into the recorder's office, the Deseret News reported Tuesday that court documents, police reports and other accounts have identified one of Ott's right-hand administrators, Karmen Sanone, as his fiancee, girlfriend or wife. County employees also question if Ott is living with Sanone in North Ogden, outside of the county he was elected to represent.
Ott and Sanone's alleged relationship raises questions about whether they could be violating the county's nepotism policy, which prohibits employment of relatives, spouses or housemates. The policy, however, does not specifically address romantic relationships.
The Deseret News previously reported that county leaders and employees — coupled with recent police reports and an investigation into the recorder's office — have raised questions about whether Ott is suffering from health issues that could be preventing him from doing his job.
Dole and Sanone, however, deny there is anything preventing Ott from doing his job and that the recorder's office is running smoothly. Sanone has declined to answer questions from the Deseret News about whether she is in a relationship with Ott, while Ott has replied to accusations with a one-sentence email: "I can assure you that there are no nepotism violations in the recorder's office by any of the staff."
Under a specially extended term, Ott's current term runs until the end of 2020.
By law, there is no mechanism in place for elected officials to evaluate each other's capabilities. Voters must make those evaluations, and officeholders cannot be recalled unless they commit high crimes, misdemeanors or malfeasance while in office.
Additionally, some county employees have alleged that Sanone and Julie Dole, Ott's chief deputy recorder, are actually running the office, not Ott, and they are covering for him and his condition.
So will the audit evaluate whether Ott is carrying out his duties and earning his nearly $180,000 in yearly salary and benefits rather than delegating his workload?
"We would look at that. We would look at management structure," Tingley said of the audit, which he noted will include interviews with Ott and observation of how his office is conducted.
However, Tingley said his charge is to determine if the office is meeting its statutory requirements, and Utah law gives "quite a bit of leeway" in the way elected officials can "discharge their duties to deputies and merit employees."
"Utah State Code appears to not have any specific requirements on the minimum amount of work hours required for county elected officials," Tingley said.
Plus, it's not the auditor's role to determine an individual's competency. "I'm not a healthcare professional. I'm not an HR professional," he said.
Dole said Wednesday that Ott's office welcomes the audit.
"If there's any question, we're a completely public and open office. There are no issues that we are worried about being uncovered," she said.
As for adjustment to the county's nepotism policy, Newton said she hopes a draft will be ready for the district attorney's office to review by Friday so it can be presented Monday to the mayor's steering committee, which consists of the mayor's staff and other independent elected officials.
"All of them will have a chance to review it before it goes to the council for a final vote," Newton said, adding that there's not yet a clear timeline of when the proposal would land on a County Council agenda.
Contributing: Ladd Egan
