From the $1 million discrepancy in the fine arts budget to the abuse of county vehicles and charge cards, recent scandals have heightened public skepticism about Utah's most populous county and its leaders.

On Wednesday, a panel of prosecutors announced that sufficient evidence exists for Mayor Nancy Workman to be charged with two felony counts of misusing public funds and possibly a misdemeanor count of misusing Salt Lake Valley Health Department funds.

"Certainly, this is going to feed that cynicism," said David Patton, director of the Center for Public Policy at the University of Utah.

Workman could be charged as soon as today, forcing her to take a paid leave of absence at the height of her re-election campaign. But some wonder if it all could have been avoided by just leaving well enough alone.

Salt Lake County residents voted in 1998 to oust the longtime three-member commission in favor of a mayor and nine council members. The new government, advertised as being more open and accountable, took office two years later. Workman, a two-term county recorder, was elected as its first chief executive.

"I don't think this would have occurred had we not changed the form of government," said Lynn Price, president of Voice of Moderation - a group of center-leaning Republicans - and a former Salt Lake County GOP chairwoman. "You hear that this is more about individuals than the government, but I believe that when there were three commissioners, everything was aired out much more. We knew who the commissioners were. I think we're further removed from the mayor and council."

Price was one of the dissenters on an advisory council charged with studying a possible form of government change in 1997, arguing that it would be bigger, more expensive and ultimately less effective. She'll get no argument from former commissioner and current County Council member Randy Horiuchi.

"I always felt the commission was superior and I opposed the change [as a commissioner]," said Horiuchi, a Democrat. "The form of government thing is way overrated, but it's true that this government folded up 90 percent of what the commission did in the mayor's office, leaving 10 percent for the council. So the power is heavily vested in the mayor's office."

That kind of discretion enabled Workman to appropriate Health Department funds to hire two successive part-time employees for the Boys and Girls Club.

But a government watchdog argues that the situation was exacerbated by an inattentive County Council, which has ultimate oversight and approval of the county's $750 million budget.

"They control the purse strings, but they act like they don't have the power," Claire Geddes said. "I don't know why they don't speak out and say this shouldn't be happening. The council is window dressing - and it's costing us a fortune."

Geddes said the biggest problem with the county's current woes isn't the form of government, but too many familiar faces. "It's a new government, but it's the same old guard," she complained.

Patricia Nielson, president of the Salt Lake City chapter of the League of Women Voters, said she still believes in the new form of government.

"I don't believe what's going on is reflective of the system," she said. "Maybe the system has bumps in the road that need to be ironed out. But it's hard to draw a cause-and-effect relationship."

Added GOP Council Chairman Steve Harmsen: "Maybe what we're experiencing is a shakeout of the old system to the new system."

jbaird@sltrib.com

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Tribune reporter Thomas Burr contributed to this story.