While Salt Lake County undoubtedly will suffer criticism for the managerial mess within its planning and development division, the Mayor's Office deserves a few kudos for not treading the no-comment path in answering The Tribune's questions about recent personnel problems.

When asked whether the resignation of planning and development chief Simon Ginn was related to unconfirmed rumblings about sexual harassment, Chief Administrative Officer Doug Willmore confirmed that a complaint had been filed and investigated against Ginn. Did it factor into Ginn's departure? Willmore suggested chatting with Ginn, personally. (We dropped by Ginn's house. He declined comment.)

When asked to confirm whether another prominent planning official, Tom Roach, had been placed on leave, Willmore again verified that the county had taken action against him. He said little more, but could have said nothing at all.

And lastly, when asked why Delbert Swensen, associate director of the planning and development division, had been placed on leave within an hour of lambasting his bosses for failing to notify employees of Ginn's resignation, Willmore didn't dance around the issue. He confirmed that Swensen had been sent home and stated matter-of-factly that it was because of the critical e-mail the manager had circulated to his superiors and staff.

So on personnel issues, when the county could have been tight-lipped and nonresponsive to the public, Salt Lake County proved surprisingly open.

­­-- JS