What they heard from the county's mayor may be unsettling.

Corroon said he has launched a three-pronged criminal probe - exploring hiring practices, and abuses of timecards and tuition reimbursements - to run concurrently with the district attorney's and county auditor's investigations.

Corroon told the group that four whistle-blowers "so far" this week have come to his office to allege ethical violations in management that also implicate the rank and file. The revelations prompted Corroon to call on Auditor Sean Thomas to also review countywide credit-card usage, all travel-reimbursement policies and the handling of all cash across the county.

"Sunshine is good for everybody and everything," Corroon said. "We're going to shed some light on anything that we find in Salt Lake County - good or bad."

Thomas later said that due to "a probability there are problems," his regular audit schedule will be shuffled to take on the inquiries. Results, he says, may not be known for several months.

Meantime, Democratic District Attorney David Yocom declared that his office will not be hamstrung by party loyalty to the Democratic mayor.

"Politically, it doesn't matter who belongs to what party," Yocom said. "If it's criminal, it's criminal."

Flanked by county officials Thursday, Corroon conceded that his remarks may not be the last "bad news" uncovered. He says the county's chief financial officer, Linda Hamilton, will nonetheless enact tighter fiscal controls across all of the mayor's departments.

Auditor Thomas, who declined to say whether employee abuses appeared willful, did say that many county operations are performing well and they protect the interests of taxpayers. But, good audits "do not seem to appear on the front page of the newspapers."

To help check the bad ones, Chief Administrative Officer Doug Willmore says the mayor's office will appoint an outside investigator. Willmore defended the mayor's vetting of each whistle-blower Thursday, and insisted the recent firestorm of controversy is warranted.

"We're duty-bound to investigate," he said. "We're not creating the publicity." And County Councilman Joe Hatch agreed, saying additional involvement by the DA's office is "absolutely appropriate."

Meanwhile at the morning news conference, Corroon was asked whether the latest scandals could be tied to former Mayor Nancy Workman. He refused to assign blame, comparing the problems to a "stain in the carpet" that often gets overlooked.

"We were able to see things that maybe the prior administration didn't see."

Corroon also praised the county's 4,000-member workforce, saying the majority do their job "excellently and ethically, day in and day out."

"Better times are ahead," he said.

The comment drew nervous applause.

djensen@sltrib.com