Utah Republican Party executive director Chris Bleak will leave his position to take over Workman's bid for a second term, the mayor announced Wednesday. She emphasized that it was a pre-planned move to bring in a professional staff - and not a result of recent scandals that have sent her slipping in the polls.

Also Wednesday, Workman changed her oft-repeated mantra that Democratic District Attorney David Yocom was "politically motivated" in his investigation of her.

"He's doing his job and turning it over to a panel," the Republican mayor said, referring to Yocom's appointment last month of a bipartisan panel of prosecutors, which now is screening allegations of a questionable county employee hiring. She added that she didn't think "anyone was picking on" her.

Bleak says the mayor understands Yocom has a duty to perform, but she wants to ensure it is conducted in an objective manner.

"I just expect full fairness and impartiality," Bleak said, noting that Yocom has monetarily supported Workman's Democratic opponent, Peter Corroon.

Bleak's move to the campaign comes as a new poll, commissioned by the Deseret Morning News and television station KSL, shows the mayor losing traction with voters.

KSL reported Wednesday that a Dan Jones & Associates poll put Workman at 31 percent, down nearly 7 points from a Salt Lake Tribune poll in June. Corroon, at 27 percent, is up in the polls, KSL said, and Republican Merrill Cook, who is running unaffiliated, is now at 12 points. About 25 percent of those surveyed were undecided. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 6.5 percentage points, KSL reported.

Workman said the addition of Bleak to her campaign brings a load of talent to the effort and will help her explain how the county is "working."

"I'm thrilled," Workman said. "We've got a lot of good things to talk about in this campaign."

She rattled off a list of accomplishments, ranging from not raising taxes to starting a recycling program and issuing a $75 rebate to residents of the county's sanitation district - mainly those in the unincorporated area.

Corroon - whom state GOP Chairman Joe Cannon derided as a "clone" of Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson - said Bleak's addition is nice, but the mayor is the person who needs to be changed.

"Sounds like they do need somebody professional to come in, but I'm not sure how that will change what's happened in the county government over the last three years. I think that's what people are looking at. It's not how the campaign is being run; it's how the county is being run."

Cook said bringing Bleak on board makes sense because Workman "needs lots and lots and lots of help to overcome the problems."

Prompted by a whistle-blower complaint, Yocom launched an investigation last month into whether Workman illegally used Health Department funds to create an accounting position at the South Valley Boys and Girls Club, where her daughter is the fiscal manager.

Workman reiterated her point Wednesday that she was trying to help the children at the club and made an administrative mistake, not a criminal one, in establishing the temporary job.

The panel of prosecutors deciding whether there was any crime committed in that hiring met for the first time last week, but the group is not expected to make a decision on whether charges are warranted until late this month or in early August. If charges are filed, the mayor would have to go on paid leave, but could still run for re-election.

Members, made up of prosecutors from Davis, Summit, Weber and Utah counties, have asked for more information.

Workman says she is optimistic she will be exonerated and, in the meantime, she will continue to run the county. "The county's a busy place, so I don't have a whole lot of time to think about this. . . . I still have to be mayor. That's what my focus is. That's what they hired me to do."

Bleak, who has directed the state party's day-to-day operations since last year, will be replaced by political director Spencer Jenkins. Jenkins, 28, earned degrees in economics and political science from the University of Utah, and worked as the finance director for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Workman's volunteer campaign manager Ted Helsten will remain the chairman of her re-election effort.

tburr@sltrib.com