E-mails obtained Tuesday by The Salt Lake Tribune show that Patti Pavey at least twice raised red flags about the position and at one point wanted to reprimand the employee - who was working with Workman's daughter at the South Valley Boys and Girls Club - for missing mandatory job training but did not know where to file the "disciplinary action."

Pavey also said in an e-mail, apparently sent in June 2003, that she was concerned about the mayor creating this position when other health-care programs - including breast-cancer screening and a lead-awareness campaign - were losing funds.

Last month, Pavey fired off another e-mail to Human Services Director Kerry Steadman objecting that the position remained on the payroll.

"We have no job description for this employee," Pavey said in the May 10 message. 'We have no idea what she is doing for the mayor. . . . I have heard her referred to as our 'ghost' employee. It is only a matter of time until this situation goes beyond the confines of the Health Department.'

Steadman responded in an e-mail an hour later: "Am happy to chat with you about this." He did not return a call Tuesday from The Tribune.

Workman's spokesman also declined comment, citing the ongoing investigation, and the mayor's private attorney, Ron Yengich, did not return a call for comment. The Health Department's spokeswoman also declined to speak about the matter while the investigation continues.

The District Attorney's Office is investigating whether Workman illegally used Health Department funds to hire someone to assist her daughter, Aisza, in her nonprofit work at the Murray-based club.

Two successive employees hired for the position - which ostensibly was created to assist the public in accessing health care - did accounting work at the club, according to Executive Director Bob Dunn.

Aisza Workman is the club's fiscal manager.

Steadman said last week that the two successive employees reported directly to the mayor and that Workman signed their time sheets.

In the e-mails, obtained through a government records request, Pavey at least twice requested a meeting with Steadman to object to the hiring. She says in one undated e-mail - apparently sent soon after the position was created in June 2003 - that the Health Department's policy committee "feels this situation is neither fair nor equitable, will be difficult to explain to employees and may negatively impact morale."

Minutes from a June 17, 2003, policy meeting show Pavey discussed the new position with the committee and Steadman said he would keep them apprised.

Steadman said last week he recently requested to transfer the $10-an-hour, full-time position to the mayor's portfolio. But the position soon was eliminated.

District Attorney David Yocom, a Democrat, says his investigation may wrap up late this week or next. He has established a bipartisan panel of prosecutors from four nearby counties to screen the evidence to see if charges are warranted. If the panel decides a crime was committed, Yocom says those prosecutors would oversee the case.

Workman's office says the mayor has not been interviewed by investigators.

The Republican mayor said in a statement last week that the investigation was "politics at its worst," partly because it began at the same time her daughter was to be married. Aisza Workman is now out of the country on her honeymoon, according to Workman's office.

The mayor also said in that statement that after consulting with Yengich, she was confident there was no "serious wrongdoing," but that if her office did not follow procedure, it would be corrected.

Workman's office said earlier this week, in response to another Tribune records request, that it did not have any e-mails regarding a temporary position assigned to the Health Department.

Republicans are accusing Yocom of playing election-year politics by investigating the mayor. Yocom maintains he is doing his job by responding to a "whistle-blower" complaint.

The district attorney also is investigating vehicle abuses by top county employees. Three high-ranking county officials - two of whom worked for Workman - have resigned in the car scandal.

tburr@sltrib.com