The panel recommended an immediate moratorium on the purchase of new vehicles “until a comprehensive analysis is done by independent, third-party professionals.”

Peter Corroon, the county's new mayor, has imposed the moratorium, but instead of hiring independent analysts, he has appointed a Fleet Utilization Task Force from within county government.

The citizens panel obviously was skeptical that the ossified county bureaucracy that created the problems is capable of setting things right. Frankly, we are too.

But Corroon's new administration is not part of the problem, and the mayor, who has solid business credentials himself, has brought some talented people with him. He has appointed John Patterson, the new public works director and former city manager of West Valley City, to head the task force.

We believe that the new administration deserves an opportunity to prove itself. In that spirit, this task force should be considered its first test.

The mayor has set a deadline of April 30 for the task force to set new criteria to establish the “business need” for vehicles, create utilization standards and ensure that the least-costly vehicle is assigned to do each job. It will challenge the need for all take-home vehicles based on cost effectiveness, and develop new policies.

In a second phase, due by July 31, the task force will study the costs and benefits of the fleet's controversial “rapid rotation” policy, which replaces vehicles every one to three years, depending upon type. Fleet managers insist this policy is cost effective; the citizens panel doubted that.

Corroon and other county officials blanched at the idea of spending another $200,000 for an independent study, on top of the $120,000 that the citizen's panel already has cost. That's understandable, although considering that the county has spent $14 million to $22 million a year to buy new cars and trucks over the past nine years, that's not a lot of money.

The task force may spend about $25,000 for a consultant with fleet management expertise.

The mayor and Patterson already have said flatly that the fleet will be reduced. That's a good start. Maybe this is largely a matter of eliminating the attitude of entitlement that got the previous administration into trouble.

But the citizens panel warned it's more complicated than that.

We'll see. As with any car, this task force will have to be judged by its performance.