In a letter to the Governor's Office dated Monday, Yvette Donosso Diaz, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s choice for director of the state Department of Community and Culture, said she employed Andreina Perez, who provided a U.S. "resident alien" card and Social Security number, for 19 months to work as a nanny in her home. Diaz also said in the letter that she paid taxes on Perez's household services in 2003 and plans to do the same for 2004.

"We complied with the law," Diaz said in an interview Friday.

A staffer in the Governor's Office has talked to Diaz about the accusations. The governor is not concerned because Diaz provided proof of the nanny's legal status, said Tammy Kikuchi, Huntsman's spokeswoman.

"With the information she provided, this is a nonissue," Kikuchi said.

The Governor's Office plans to send a confirmation letter to the Senate by April 5 naming Diaz as the new department's interim manager for three months. Diaz cannot be confirmed by the Senate as director until July 1 when the department becomes official under a new law, Kikuchi said. Diaz, who started her job Jan. 31, makes $95,000 a year.

The next round of Senate confirmations is scheduled for April 20.

Dan Fallows, deputy director of the state Department of Public Safety administrative services division, was in charge of the background checks of each of the 19 people appointed by Huntsman. Diaz, like all the other members, had to fill out a 30-page application with information about her family, education, former jobs and finances, Fallows said.

"She came out squeaky clean," he said. "She more than passed the test."

Pedro Gomez, an active member of the Latino community, has alleged to lawmakers and in interviews with The Salt Lake Tribune that Diaz had employed Perez, who he claims is an undocumented worker.

In the letter, Diaz said at meetings with lawmakers and Latino groups, Gomez had been saying "Perez is an undocumented individual in order to discredit me and undermine my confirmation."

Gomez, who works as a district manager assistant in the circulation department of the Newspaper Agency Corp., the joint business operations of The Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret Morning News, denied that he is trying to discredit Diaz.

"This is not personal," he said Friday night. "The truth has to come out."

Perez, 33, a former independent-contract carrier for the newspaper agency, did not return several phone messages seeking comment.

On Friday, Diaz said Perez took care of Diaz's three young children from January 2003 to August 2004. She said she fired Perez because, "I didn't like the way she treated my children." Diaz said she hasn't spoken to Perez since.

Diaz, a 32-year-old lawyer, said she is qualified for the director post and is tired of the gossip and personal attacks against her since she was appointed by Huntsman.

"I'm outraged that there are people in the community who are willing to do whatever it takes to attack the people who were appointed to the governor's Cabinet," she said. "I actually get more support from the white males on the Cabinet than the people in my own community."