But the timing of the Democratic mayor's move - just two weeks before the Nov. 7 election - has Republicans fuming. One GOP councilman confronted Corroon chest to chest moments after a meeting in the County Council chamber Tuesday.

"You don't do that," a simmering Mark Crockett scolded Corroon.

Later, GOP Council Chairman Cort Ashton criticized the mayor behind the dais for resurrecting a nepotism charge - raised months ago in news reports about Recorder Gary Ott's office - suggesting it was an overtly partisan October surprise.

Corroon rejected the accusation, explaining his call for an audit extends countywide, including the library and health division, flagged for similar hiring questions.

"Good government doesn't stop for an election," he said. "If someone makes an allegation, we have an obligation to investigate."

Ashton countered that the political ramifications cannot be ignored. "There's nobody running for office in the library."

Corroon emphasized that, even though the District Attorney's Office was alerted, the review by the Auditor's Office is not yet criminal. "This isn't us going out shooting in the dark," he said. "We're looking at each division, including the ones under my administration."

The move follows a preliminary probe conducted by the county's new personnel director earlier this month. It was triggered by whistle-blower allegations of nepotism and hiring abuses from former Ott employees.

"The Recorder's Office is the one that statistically had an aberration there, along with some other divisions," explained Corroon's chief administrative officer, Doug Willmore. "The look we took was enough to say, 'Yes, it might be credible.' "

The violation, Willmore explained, works like this: Bosses hire temporary employees, keep them over a year, then convert them to full time - skirting more-stringent hiring rules. In many cases, the temps are relatives of county employees, which poses additional concerns of nepotism.

Ott, a Republican seeking a second full term, says he is more "hurt" than angry by the investigation, but pulls no punches in labeling the move political.

"This is an out-and-out attack from the mayor's office on me," he said, calling it unfair and blindsiding. "It's unconscionable."

Ott notes the same allegations surfaced months ago, including a report in The Salt Lake Tribune, but were found "merit-less." He denies ever violating county hiring policy and took issue with not being briefed by the mayor before learning of the probe in an online Tribune news reports.

Ott is running against Democrat Leslie Reberg who declined to comment on the issue.

For more than a year, whistle-blowers have alleged that at least a third of the Recorder's Office staff is related. Ott has downplayed the charge, arguing no one in the office is related to him nor does any family member supervise another.

Even so, Ott previously told The Tribune the "county has had a policy for a long time that this is a family thing. They almost encouraged that. It was here when I got here."

County Auditor Sean Thomas, a Republican, did not learn he would be conducting the countywide hiring probe until seconds before the scene erupted in the council chamber.

Willmore says the district attorney will assist the inquiry, but points out the abuse "doesn't appear to us to rise to the criminal level."

Alerted to the news Tuesday, county GOP Chairman James Evans suggested the mayor scrutinize the County Clerk's Office, long targeted by Evans as a haven for Democratic friends and family. He went on to list a litany of employees with direct family ties or links to other county offices.

Democratic County Clerk Sherrie Swensen, who also faces re-election next month, dismissed the swipe.

"This is kind of amazing to me," said Swensen, insisting each of her employees has been hired appropriately. "In county government, people think we just pick and choose who we want to hire. But they have to go through a process."

Added Swensen: "I'm not concerned. Not at all."

Neither is Willmore concerned about allegations of politicking. "For us, this is so nonpolitical," he said. "The mayor has never shied away from anything - no matter where it is or whose office it's in."

djensen@sltrib.com