This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
South Salt Lake has hired an outside auditor to look into concerns raised by two city councilmen about funding of a before- and after-school program.
Councilman Ben Pender, who will be overseeing the audit, said Mayor Cherie Wood recommended the step.
"Somebody has already been hired and already began working on the audit," Pender said. "It's actually a pretty in-depth audit that we're doing on the entire [Promise South Salt Lake] program, so it stems back several years and [is] looking at very specific things that some of the council had brought up."
Pender said the audit has full support from all members of council, including Shane Siwik and Mark Kindred, who had initially raised concerns about the many roles filled by a city contractor who simultaneously ran Wood's political action committee (PAC) and the Promise South Salt Lake program. Kari Cutler has since resigned from the mayor's PAC.
Siwik and Kindred both are challenging Wood in this year's mayoral election.
"I think it's a good thing," Kindred said. "Let's hope it doesn't turn up anything and I'm not expecting that it does, but it's good to cover all your bases."
Pender estimated the audit would be complete in two to three weeks.