When the Salt Lake County Commission wasn't feuding with the county attorney Wednesday, it was being held hostage by the district attorney.
District Attorney Neal Gunnarson invited local media to attend a budget hearing Wednesday and watch while Gunnarson delivered an ultimatum to the commission: Restore a proposed $300,000 budget cut or his office will not be able to prosecute certain crimes next year.If the district attorney's office doesn't get the money it needs, county attorneys may no longer be able to prosecute traffic cases, stolen-vehicle cases and some domestic crimes.
"It's not a threat. It's an option," he told the commission and the cameras. "I don't want to do it, ladies and gentlemen. Give me the money."
Gunnarson stormed the commission Wednesday after Salt Lake County Commissioner Randy Horiuchi on Tuesday proposed slashing Gunnarson's budget. The clash focuses on whether Gunnarson has an annualized budget of $7.1 million or $6.8 million.
Gunnarson says his annualized budget should include recent merit raises, cost-of-living increases and attorney career-ladder changes already approved by the commission. That gives Gunnarson's office a base budget of $7.1 million - 85 percent of it personnel.
The county's number crunchers are working from an annualized budget of $6.8 million, which doesn't include those three recent increases.
After Gunnarson's presentation, the commission said it would ask its staff to review its numbers.