Administration » Jason Yocom began learning government’s ins and outs “at the dinner table.”

By Mike Gorrell

| The Salt Lake Tribune

In just one day last week, Salt Lake County’s purchasing team signed contracts for survival body armor for law enforcement, catering services for the soon-to-open Millcreek community center and furniture for a West Jordan library.

The day before, it commissioned a storm-drain study and secured Utah Department of Transportation consulting support on construction of a bridge. The day after, it signed agreements for the provision of benefits to county employees and for heavy-equipment repair service.

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At a glance

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What timing

New Salt Lake County purchasing director Jason Yocom joked that his tenure in the County Clerk’s Office had some auspicious bookend dates: “I started the chief deputy job on April Fool’s Day 2004 and ended my tenure there on Friday the 13th [in January].”

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"You find out pretty quickly who has construction projects and big [information technology] projects going and all sorts of things that agencies are purchasing," said Jason Yocom, a Salt Lake County veteran who became the division’s director in mid-January.

Yocom, who had been chief deputy in the County Clerk’s Office, was selected from 43 applicants for the position.

"He was familiar with county government, familiar with the nuances of what goes on here," said April Townsend, who oversaw the selection process as the county’s Administrative Services director. "Jason went into the Clerk’s Office at a difficult time and brought that team together."

The challenge back in 2004 involved the transition to electronic voting machines.

The experience Yocom gained in using technology to change voting processes was more important to the county hiring/search committee than his lack of a purchasing background, said Townsend.

"Challenging the status quo is always healthy for a government organization," she added. "We wanted someone familiar with using technology as a way to interact with vendors and customers."

That’s a pretty big group. "We notify more than 173,000 vendors of the possibility of bids or [requests for proposals] coming out," Townsend said. "They aren’t just in the state of Utah, but nationwide."

The county uses an electronic process, BidSync, to notify vendors if bids will be sought for the goods or services they provide. It also has a half-dozen buyers with expertise in specialized niches.

For example, Brian Anderson oversees a diverse group of products ranging from agricultural mowers and musical instruments to shelving and pesticides. Sharon Pierce’s portfolio focuses on professional services, from architecture and engineering to day care.

As Yocom enters his new job, the division is in the midst of a major project to select a computer program applicable to payroll, purchasing, accounting and human resources.

"The goal," he said, "is to get one system that can work with all those different parts."

Townsend is convinced Yocom’s leadership skills, honed by a lifetime of connections to Salt Lake County government, will enable the county to select the best product for that multimillion-dollar program while simultaneously handling the never-ending flow of daily business.

Yocom’s county roots run deep. The son of former County Attorney David Yocom, he said he "grew up around county government. It was definitely at the dinner table through my youth."

Yocom’s first full-time job with the Clerk’s Office began in 1999, when he was hired as a management analyst in the elections division. He worked in that post through the 2000 election, then became an administrative assistant to County Councilman Jim Bradley for four years.

He then returned to the elections division as chief deputy.