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John Daley ReportingShe's back. One of Utah's most controversial political figures in recent years is returning to the public stage.
The position: president and CEO of the Sandy Chamber of Commerce. The person is Nancy Workman, former mayor of Salt Lake County. Privately, there are some who are grumbling about it.
At a Career Day luncheon Nancy Workman marks her return to public life as Sandy Chamber of Commerce CEO.
Nancy Workman, CEO, Sandy Chamber of Commerce: "I am so excited to be part of the chamber."
The move comes a year after the former Salt Lake County Mayor was acquitted of misusing public funds. Earlier the political firestorm forced her to drop her reelection bid. Now she says she's rested and ready.
Nancy Workman: "It's just an exciting time to be part of businesses and their growth. And so I just feel so fortunate and honored that they allowed me to participate in this."
Supporters see Workman's enthusiastic energy as a real plus. But some in Sandy's business and political communities say they have deep concerns about this decision, thinking it's unwise and could be bad for the city's reputation. However, none of them were willing to go on camera with their concerns, saying they didn't want to pick a fight with the city's powerful mayor.
That mayor is Republican Tom Dolan, a close friend of Nancy Workman's, who last fall survived both a tough reelection fight and a grassroots challenge to a controversial Wal-Mart project, which he supported, but which divided the community.
The chamber's 17-member board selected Workman from 80 applicants and four finalists, according to the board's chair, who denies there's any politics at work here.
Anne Marie Christopulos, Chair of Board, Sandy Chamber of Commerce: "We had board members all vote and the process was done correctly." Question: And I thought I read in the paper it was a unanimous pick? "Absolutely, absolutely."
Workman agrees.
Nancy Workman: "No I'm not Tom's, he's part of the program, but they had a selection committee made up of a wide variety of business that chose this. And they were the ones in charge."
We stopped by the mayor's office today. He wasn't in and was unavailable for an interview.
By the way, the board's chair says the salary for that position is 50-thousand dollars.
