After Nancy Workman agreed to lease new offices for David Yocom, the Republican mayor and the Democratic district attorney showed up before county leaders with their arms resting on each other's shoulders and joked about singing "Kumbayah."

Workman trumpeted a "new era of cooperation." Yocom declared that leaders should "work together for the public good."

That was then.

All too often, Yocom and Workman are political foes and have been virtually since the day she became mayor in 2001. Now, the dispute has reached a pinnacle. Yocom will announce Tuesday whether he will charge Workman with two felonies for alleged misuse of public money.

A bipartisan panel of prosecutors said last week there was "sufficient credible evidence" to warrant charges against Workman for allegedly breaking the law in paying two successive accountants to work at the South Valley Boys and Girls Club, where the mayor's daughter is the chief financial officer.

The mayor insists her actions were not criminal and accuses Yocom of persecuting her for political gain. Yocom, who has endorsed her Democratic opponent, Peter Corroon, says he is just doing his job.

Even in off-election years, Workman and Yocom don't have a history of getting along.

Last year, Yocom bashed Workman while rallying fellow Democrats at their county convention.

"Voters elected a mayor with limited intellect and limited leadership skills," he said. "I'd like to report that all is well in Salt Lake County. But all is not well."

Workman recoiled at the "sewer-like" comments. "That's their style; it's not our style. . . . It's more important for us to be positive."

Things got meaner when Yocom, while defending a pay raise to his chief administrator, Patrick Leary, leveled a shot at Workman's now-chief operating officer, Gerrie Shaw.

"If Gerrie Shaw - the mayor's hairdresser - can make more than Patrick, I figured Patrick deserved more," he said, citing Leary's master's degree.

Republicans fired back. "It is breathtaking, mean-spirited and inappropriate for an elected official to make the sexist remark Mr. Yocom made today," said Utah GOP Vice Chairwoman Enid Greene.

Workman, along with other Republicans, tried to push legislation that would remove civil duties from Yocom's office. And Yocom alleged in a closed meeting - tapes of which later were released - that Workman "sabotaged" the county's bid for a new home for the District Attorney's Office.

Democratic County Councilman Jim Bradley says Workman has not been too kind to Yocom's office money-wise. "She hasn't favored him a great deal in the budget process," Bradley says.

The Workman-Yocom relationship has never been good, Bradley says. "They got off on the wrong foot, and they've never recovered."

Even so, Bradley says the bad blood didn't precipitate the investigation into Workman nor the possible charges.

"We all know [Yocom] hasn't been a big fan of the mayor and has probably taken some pleasure in seeing her go awry," he says. "But you talk to Republicans, you talk to others, David is a straight shooter. . . . He's not chasing this because of politics."

Several key Republicans agree, including former Gov. Norm Bangerter, honorary chairman of Workman's re-election campaign, former U.S. attorney for Utah Brent Ward and Utah County Attorney Kay Bryson, who was part of the panel of prosecutors that screened the evidence against Workman.

Former County Commissioner Brent Overson, a staunch Republican and longtime Workman friend, characterizes the relationship between Yocom and Workman as "antagonistic."

"Yocom's not one to forget easily," says Overson, once the target of the district attorney who urged the county to sue the former commissioner over several credit card charges. Workman refused to file suit. "Yocom doesn't like people to go crosswise with him," Overson says.

While Overson says he originally thought Yocom was partisan in launching the Workman investigation, he has since changed his mind. "There's enough smoke here to look like there's a fire."

Overson says Workman should withdraw from her re-election race and let the GOP back someone else. "She's got to concede she's not going to win," Overson says. "The most important thing is she needs to win on personal issues."

Yocom has denied ever being political in his investigation, which he says was launched after a whistle-blower complained. To thwart accusations by some Republicans that the probe was political, Yocom handed over the case to the panel of four prosecutors from neighboring county attorney offices, two headed by Republicans, two by Democrats.

"I've had my differences

Workman, Yocom says, "but my job is to follow the law; that's what I've taken an oath to do."

On Friday night, Workman's campaign issued a statement that said, "For nearly four years, Mayor Nancy Workman has been forced to endure the vindictive, partisan and unprofessional conduct of the Democratic district attorney, David Yocom."

But political consultant Bart Barker, a Republican and former county commissioner, says that's not the Yocom he knows.

"I worked with Dave for several years," Barker says. "I've observed him, and I didn't ever see any political motivation in any of his prosecutions. I don't see a political motivation [in the investigation]."

Workman also has said that the panel of prosecutors was not truly bipartisan because Yocom's investigator, Craig Watson, was involved. She said that Watson represented a fifth member on the panel and that, "the conclusion of the panel can only be as valid as the input its members received."

But Bryson - a Republican who headed the panel of prosecutors weighing the evidence - has adamantly defended the investigation and Yocom.

"I am dismayed when I hear allegations of political maneuvering of this kind," Bryson says. "Politics just didn't play a part in it. [Those who make that accusation] are people who don't have the facts."

tburr@sltrib.com