It's the latest allegation against a county government plagued by scandal for almost a year, following investigations into its vehicle use and hiring practices under former Mayor Nancy Workman and this month's probe into the county's tuition assistance program and possible timecard abuses.

A letter outlining the employee's year-old allegations about Swensen's office was obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune on Thursday. The accusations are also part of a recently completed investigative report that was leaked this week.

Swensen issued a statement Thursday denouncing the accusations and the attorney who wrote them up in his private report to the County Council.

"These allegations are based entirely on innuendo and hearsay from the complaining employees," she said. "My employees are all qualified for the positions they hold."

The council hired James Morton in December to investigate separate allegations that Swensen's office retaliated against former employees who complained about her now-retired chief deputy, Nick Floros. Floros is being sued by a former employee for sexual harassment.

The Morton report has not been publicly released and likely won't be. Swensen has asked the county District Attorney's office to investigate who leaked the document. The informant could be charged with a class B misdemeanor, though it's not clear if the county considers the document to be confidential.

Swensen said in her statement that Morton found there was no retaliation in her office. However, she said Morton, who didn't return a phone call Thursday, went outside the scope of his investigation and set forth accusations of unscrupulous hiring practices based on complaints by two former employees.

Audrey Sharpsteen, a former elections office employee who now works in the county auditor's office, was one of Morton's sources. In an interview Thursday, she called the hiring practices at the clerk's office a "sham. They skirt the merit system. They're supposed to hire people based on their ability."

Last year, Sharpsteen sent a letter to county Personnel Director Felix McGowan - who is now being criminally investigated for alleged mismanagement of his department - outlining her concerns. McGowan wrote back that he investigated the claims, but didn't say what action he took. He didn't return a phone call Thursday.

Sharpsteen's letter said Floros "hires and retains personnel based not upon their ability but on their allegiance and loyalty to him. Many times he has skirted the merit system to hire his or Sherrie's friends."

She named in the memo 14 current and former employees - Floros' former girlfriend, a former girlfriend's daughter and Swensen's former campaign workers. In an interview, Sharpsteen mentioned a former employee who was Swensen's boyfriend's baby-sitter who Sharpsteen said couldn't type. The clerk's office on Thursday pulled the woman's file and said that wasn't true.

Sharpsteen's letter also implicates the personnel department. She outlined how Floros hired Becky Arrigo, who is married to Roy Arrigo, a personnel employee. Sharpsteen said Becky Arrigo wasn't recommended for the job by a panel of interviewers, but Floros hired her as a favor to Roy Arrigo.

"I had no pressure on Nick [Floros] to do anything," Roy Arrigo said Thursday, adding that his wife had 20 years of experience as an accountant before she was hired at the county. "I had mentioned the fact she had applied. It would be silly to not say something beforehand. It's not a common [last] name."

County Council Chairman Michael Jensen declined to comment on Sharpsteen's allegations, saying he needed to read her letter first. But he added that the council takes such complaints seriously.

"We need to have employees that are efficient and effective. If there are things prohibiting that, we take those seriously. We want to make sure we get to the bottom of it."

hmay@sltrib.com