Acting Mayor Alan Dayton - a Workman appointee himself - said Monday he would not allow the county to create merit positions for Workman's exempt employees, who probably will lose their jobs if she does not win re-election.

Workman has dropped in opinion polls after an independent panel found sufficient evidence to warrant criminal charges against her. She faces two felony charges of misuse of public money and is on paid leave.

Dayton plans to tell the County Council today that he will not allow so-called landing pads for political appointees.

"I do not want to create a situation where we're converting any . . . exempt positions into merit jobs," Dayton said. "I don't want to invent jobs for people to land into."

However, current appointees who held merit jobs before taking an exempt position can return to merit jobs - if they are qualified and positions are open.

Meanwhile, it appears Dayton, who was Workman's deputy mayor, won't have a county-appointed job - at least from his former boss - after this year. Workman said during a debate Sunday that she didn't know who her deputy mayor would be if she wins a second term.

Dayton has made several changes in Workman's administration since he took over Sept. 7, including relegating her closest adviser, Gerrie Shaw, to paid leave and shifting two other staffers to different duties.

The issue of merit jobs for political appointees surfaced after some county leaders discovered a merit fiscal post being created in the mayor's office. Some speculated the new job could be for Marcus Anjeweirden, an appointed fiscal analyst in the mayor's office.

The proposed fiscal analyst job would be a grade 36, paying between $65,880 and $97,560 a year.

But Personnel Director Felix McGowan said the job has been in the works for a couple of years and was advertised publicly. About 15 people applied, including Anjeweirden, McGowan said, and five of those appear to meet the job's qualifications.

Interim Auditor Sean Thomas informed the County Council and Dayton that the job's grade level is "problematic" when compared with the grade level of several administrators in his office who make less money but shoulder more countywide duties.

Thomas said the action appears to have been taken without Dayton's knowledge. Instead, Thomas added, Chief Administrative Officer David Marshall said the position was contemplated long before recent county scandals and Workman's legal woes.

"This factor gives credence to the assertion that this was not an attempt to create silver parachutes for staff that may otherwise be let go in a change of administration," Thomas wrote in recommending more review of the position.

County Councilman Joe Hatch said the post needs to be examined. "It looks bad," Hatch said, "but it may be completely benign."

tburr@sltrib.com