By a 4-2 vote, the County Council on Tuesday created a department designed to oversee and clamp down on 10 county operations - several of which have spawned scandals over the past two years.

Called Administrative Services, the new body is intended to catch the "foul-ups" often associated with the administration of former Mayor Nancy Workman.

"What we have now ain't working," Councilman Randy Horiuchi said in describing the need for the change.

Folded into the department, the county's fourth, are fleet and personnel. Both areas have been subjects of recent criminal reviews by the District Attorney's Office. Also included: information services, facilities management, contracts/procurement, telephone management, records and archives, government-center operations, real estate and printing.

"It's a glorious day in Salt Lake County," said Chief Administrative Officer Doug Willmore, confident the new layer will ensure accountability and save tax dollars.

But Councilman David Wilde, one of two members opposed, worries the massive makeover is coming "on the fly."

"The idea that we can create this magic pill that will prevent us from ever having another county scandal . . . I'm not optimistic," Wilde said. He, along with Councilman Marv Hendrickson, prefer waiting until year-end budget talks.

Three people - director, fiscal administrator and administrative secretary - will run Administrative Services, slated to cost the county $344,000 each year. The cost initially will be covered by transfers from surplus county funds.

Some of the services shifted to the new department could opt out after 18 months and privatize - if the council agrees. Individual services, computers and printers were cited as the most likely candidates.

Willmore notes the privatization option ensures the county will get the most competitive rates.

Councilman Mark Crockett, a business consultant, says that adding such fiscal controls is one of the things he ran for office to achieve. "This is a real huge win," he said.

At the same time, he called on Mayor Peter Corroon to provide proof "as soon as possible" that creating the department will pay for itself, as the mayor suggests.

Jim Wightman, director of the internal-audit division, says the move goes a long way toward clarifying roles and is long overdue. In past years, the council agreed, former Chief Administrative Officer David Marshall was "overloaded" by oversight responsibilities.

"It's a good, inexpensive way to increase the scrutiny and accountability," said Councilman Jim Bradley. "And it's not costing us a lot."

The revamp will be reviewed at the end of the year when the anticipated savings for 2006 also will be outlined.Even so, Hendrickson reminded Corroon that the mayor campaigned on the promise to slash mayor's operations by 30 percent.

"It will be interesting to see, at the end of the year or two years, if the mayor's budget is back where it was before the election," Hendrickson told officials.

Corroon insists his office intends to remain fiscally tight and conservative.

"This will save some money in the long run because we're not going to see some of the scandals and loose controls that have happened in the past," he said.

djensen@sltrib.com