Four months later, he approved her raise.

By failing to recuse himself from his spouse's hiring, Roy Arrigo, the county's longtime classification and compensation manager, engaged in an "obvious conflict of interest" and compromised the integrity of the county's hiring practices, according to an audit released Tuesday.

The inquiry also discovered files are missing and revealed that the personnel division overseeing the county's 4,000-member work force has no written policy - violating a state law - prohibiting bosses from screening relatives for hire.

That "common sense" restriction, auditors say, should have come from Personnel Director Felix McGowan, who already is under criminal investigation for alleged mismanagement.

"There seems to be a real failing here," Victor Sipos, special assistant to the county auditor, said in an interview.

Auditor Sean Thomas calls the dearth of a policy disappointing. "It's a pretty basic concept," he said.

Even so, the audit stopped short of recommending any removals.

County Mayor Peter Corroon's top aide, Chief Administrative Officer Doug Willmore, says the county will take the strongest action it can.

"What happened strikes at the very heart of the integrity of our hiring process," Willmore said. "We won't stand for it. The people can count on the mayor to fix it."

McGowan, who is on vacation, could not be reached Tuesday for comment. Multiple calls to Arrigo were not returned. Unlike political appointees, the two county veterans are merit employees who cannot be terminated without cause.

After joining the county in 1978, Arrigo now is paid more than $74,000 to screen applications and recommend raises for the personnel division.

According to the audit, he reviewed five separate job applications from his wife, Becky, over the summer of 2003. She did not meet the minimum qualifications for three of the positions. But her résumé landed in the top 10 - out of 38 - for an elections-specialist position in the Clerk's Office after her husband helped rank the candidates. She assumed the job in September 2003.

Arrigo told auditors he notified two people in the Clerk's Office that his wife was an applicant and said he decided not to hand it to another screener to avoid a delay in filling the position. Arrigo's wife appeared qualified, interviewed well and was a good employee, according to a representative of the Clerk's Office. (She left the county for another job last month.)

Complaints over the hire surfaced this spring as part of a leaked investigative report in which two county employees alleged hiring practices in the Clerk's Office were "a sham," skirting the merit process.

A former elections office employee, who now works for the auditor, suggested Becky Arrigo was hired by then-Deputy Clerk Nick Floros as a favor to Roy Arrigo. (Floros retired last year after being accused of sexual harassment.)

Arrigo refuted the hiring claim last spring and maintained that her selection for the elections job was transparent. "It would be silly to not say something beforehand," he told The Salt Lake Tribune in April. "It's not a common [last] name."

Still, four months after she joined the county payroll, Arrigo upgraded his wife's pay - a move that drew a written warning from McGowan on May 25, 2004. The action, wrote McGowan, "suggests a serious lack of judgment and raises the question of conflict of interest."

Arrigo insists the pay raise was approved before his wife applied for the job, but the files outlining such evidence are missing, auditors say. If investigators determine any tampering occurred, the District Attorney's Office may get involved.

During the summer, the county folded the personnel division into a newly created Administrative Services Department, whose director promises tighter controls.

"We are taking this very seriously," April Townsend said Tuesday. "It is absolutely imperative that we establish the expectation that this will not be tolerated."

Tuesday's audit notes McGowan knew of at least one other personnel specialist who approved the application of a family member. And, auditors point out, the director waited nine months to reprimand Arrigo in writing, then failed to sign the letter.

"By his own admission [McGowan] was aware of the situation and failed to exercise his authority by immediately disciplining [Arrigo]," the report states.

In April, McGowan became the subject of a criminal probe after a whistle-blower alleged the personnel director failed to correct abuses in the county's Tuition Assistance Program.

"It's just so important that you have a personnel director that is committed to an objective process," Auditor Thomas said. "You really need a hard-nosed, tough director willing to fight for clean practices."

djensen@sltrib.com