That was the word Tuesday from the Mayor's Office, which rejected a recommendation from a citizens panel for a second independent fleet-management investigation.

However, county officials did heed another suggestion by former Mayor Nancy Workman's panel by slapping a six-month moratorium on car purchases and by launching a task force to help close any loopholes associated with last year's vehicle-abuse scandal.

But the failure to commission an independent look into the fleet's excesses and inefficiencies clearly irked Gil Miller, an accountant who served on the all-volunteer panel.

"I'm very disappointed," Miller said Tuesday. "If we thought they had the prerequisite knowledge and expertise on how to do that in-house, we would have included that in the study."

The citizens panel spent nearly seven months - and $100,000 to $120,000 - compiling a 3-inch-thick report that argued the county's fleet program was poorly managed and needed a "massive" makeover. Recommendations included gutting the Rapid Replacement Program, which recycles cars after one or two years, by $9 million and funding a new study to streamline car usage.

County Auditor Sean Thomas defended a portion of the annual expenditure as vital in maintaining the county's coveted triple-A bond rating.

Some County Council members have yet to read the citizens' report, while others don't even have copies.

That also bothered Miller, who says an in-house review allows county officials to "massage the message" to the public.

"It's just scary," he said.

Even so, the council passed a resolution Tuesday publicly thanking the five-member volunteer panel for the time devoted to the issue.

Councilman Randy Horiuchi insists the new administration - led by Mayor Peter Corroon - will effectively address a fleet issue he says has dogged the county for more than a decade. "This will be the time it works," Horiuchi said.

Doug Willmore, Corroon's chief administrative officer, says Rapid Replacement will be studied under a new task force headed by Public Works Director John Patterson.

"There's a gap between usage and accountability," Willmore said. "That definitely has to be looked at."

Councilman Mark Crockett says whatever happens needs to be a "home run" to restore public trust and save money.

But Miller questions whether the council is taking the volunteer panel's recommendations seriously.

"The minute 'seriously' turns into dollar signs they fear taxpayers are going to react negatively. There is millions of dollars in surplus in this fund and they can't spend a quarter of a million to make sure it's done right," he said. "Good night. It's ironic."

djensen@sltrib.com