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A policy adopted Tuesday by the Salt Lake County Council says it is "inappropriate and unprofessional" for county supervisors to have a romantic relationship with a subordinate — and if such a pairing exists now, it's supposed to be reported.

Sponsoring Councilwoman Aimee Winder Newton said the policy was not created for "any specific individual or situation. It's just good policy for the county overall."

But the obvious target of the measure was County Recorder Gary Ott, whose personal relationship with office assistant Karmen Sanone has surfaced as an issue in recent months along with apprehension about the 64-year-old Ott's cognitive capacity.

Those concerns sparked news media attention when Ott was rescued by police on a frigid January night, wandering incoherently along a rural highway west of Tooele with inadequate clothing.

"Gary said he was with his people and vegetables," the rescuing Grantsville officer reported, noting he released Ott to Sanone, described in the report as Ott's girlfriend.

Before that incident became public, Mayor Ben McAdams retained the law firm Holland & Hart to conduct an outside probe of a complaint about the recorder's office from a former employee.

That investigation found no laws or county ordinances were being violated — including a nepotism policy because it dealt only with marital or familial connections between employees, not romantic relationships.

But the Holland & Hart report also noted "there is clearly some dysfunction in the Recorder's Office that provides fertile ground for complaints … [including] specific examples of an apparent diminished capacity [for Ott] and some [employees] resentful that his girlfriend was hired to walk him through his job."

Because Ott is an independently elected official, he is not answerable to the mayor or the County Council, only voters. So the council has limited ways to put pressure on him to step aside if, indeed, he is suffering from declining cognitive abilities as many in the County Government Center suspect.

Earlier this month, the council asked the county auditor to conduct a performance audit of the recorder's office to ensure it is functioning properly. And on Tuesday, Newton and Republican colleague Richard Snelgrove received unanimous approval for amending the county's human resources policy governing standards of conduct.

They added a section providing "additional standards of conduct for supervisors," who are held to a higher level to ensure all employees are treated with respect and fairly evaluated for pay, benefits, promotions, discipline and other employment matters.

That section said it was "inappropriate and unprofessional" for a supervisor to:

• Disclose private information about an employee he or she supervises, directly or indirectly

• Engage in a "dating, romantic or sexual relationship" with an employee

• Fail to report this relationship to a higher supervisor or the human resources office so that the county could reassign the employee to "avoid actual or perceived conflicts, bias or favoritism"

The policy will go into effect in 30 days, Newton said, to give Human Resources Director Michael Ongkiko time to educate county employees about the rule.

"No one is grandfathered out," she added.

But being independently elected, Ott has no supervisor and is not mandated to submit a report to human resources. Ongkiko said he is hoping the county's eight independently elected officials will comply, nonetheless, out of respect for the spirit of the policy.

How Ott will respond is uncertain.

"I don't want to talk about it. Just shut up," he told The Salt Lake Tribune when asked for a response to the council's action.

His chief deputy, Julie Dole, came to his defense, saying it was understandable Ott would be upset with people prying into his personal business.

She and Sanone, who have previously denied contentions that they are propping up Ott and actually running the office themselves, added Tuesday that there is no evidence that the relationship between Ott and Sanone violates the policy.

"My private life is my private life. It doesn't affect my professionalism," Sanone said.

"They keep their private lives private. Nothing comes into the office," added Dole, who is Sanone's direct supervisor.

In adopting the policy, council members said the county's liability will be reduced if a sexual harassment case or some other legal issue arose from a relationship gone bad.

"Obviously, it's needed," said Council Chairman Max Burdick. "When we can show direction and where the lines are drawn, it makes it better for us."

Councilman Jim Bradley had some reservations, however, questioning "how do you distinguish between a close relationship and a romance? Is it sexual?"

Ongkiko said the answer is in a gray area, basically a matter of common sense.

"We hope supervisors use good sense," he added. "We're not looking to manage a dating site here at the county."