The investigation into acting Salt Lake County Recorder Julie Dole by the Salt Lake County GOP is apparently focusing on possible ethics violations.
The Salt Lake County Republican Party announced they were opening an investigation into Dole’s conduct in the office following the resignation of Gary Ott. Some are alleging Dole and Karmen Sanone, Ott’s secretary/girlfriend conspired to hide Ott’s failing mental condition in order to keep their jobs in the office.
The investigation was supposed to have concluded last Monday on the 10th, but the county party executive committee decided to continue the investigation.
An email sent to county party members from the chair of that investigative committee is asking for information to either support or refute allegations against Dole in four categories.
- Despite the fact that the Executive Committee of the Salt Lake County Republican Party formally warned Ms. Dole through Censure that dishonesty as a member of the Salt Lake County Recorder’s Office was unacceptable behavior and brought disrepute upon this Executive Committee and the Salt Lake County Republican Party, Ms. Dole has continued in a pattern of impropriety or has the appearance of impropriety. These behavior(s) have brought disrepute upon the Executive Committee and the Salt Lake County Republican Party.
- Ms. Dole has violated the platform of the Utah Republican Party, which states: ETHICS AND STANDARDS, We demand honesty, integrity, morality, and accountability of our public officials. We will work to expose and stop corruption.
- As a member and leader within the Salt Lake County Republican Party, Ms. Dole has failed to protect and guard the image and brand of the Republican Party.
- As the appointee of an elected official, who was elected as a Republican Party candidate, Ms. Dole became an extension of the Salt Lake County Recorder’s Office; and knowingly hid from the Republican Party, and the electorate, that Recorder Gary Ott was neither in day-to-day control of his office nor had the ability to be liable for the official acts of his office. In short, Ms. Dole perpetrated or participated in what was tantamount to a “coup” against the electorate of Salt Lake County in effectively seizing control of the Salt Lake County Recorder’s Office. Ms. Dole’s actions have damaged the credibility, integrity, and accountability of elected and appointed officials who belong to the Republican Party.
Dole was censured by the county party last year for allegedly hiding Ott’s condition. At the time, Dole called the censure politically motivated.
Dole is among a handful of candidates seeking to replace Ott in the recorder’s office. The SLCO GOP central committee meets Thursday night at Jordan High school to pick an interim replacement who will fill the office until the 2018 election.
Dole has argued the ongoing investigation hangs a cloud over Thursday’s election and could possibly damage her chances to win.
Dole ignited a social media firestorm over the weekend by dredging up old endorsements from her 2011 race for county party chair and posting them anew on her Facebook page. Some of those whose endorsements she recycled demanded that she remove those posts, and the state elections office ordered Dole to take them down because they were misleading. Dole has not yet complied with that request.
