Workman's ready to move on with life

Nancy Workman is no longer afraid to pick up a newspaper and see her face adorning the front page. She doesn't get nervous to go out in public anymore, and she is even mustering the courage to jump back into politics.

The former Salt Lake County mayor says she is finally healing, more than a year after she was charged with two counts of felony misuse of public money. Workman was acquitted on all charges in February.

"We can all go through it saying 'that's not fair,' but you just shake it off and keep going," Workman said. "I feel good now. I was just obsessed with the trial for so long. I feel vindicated."

But Workman wasn't so sure her acquittal would translate to general acceptance by area residents and former political friends. Although she was found not guilty on charges of improperly using county funds to pay for two employees at the Boys and Girls Club, Workman said it took several months to stop worrying what people thought of her.

"You think everybody is looking at you and calling you a crook," Workman said of the first few weeks after her trial. "They had a chance to be really nasty, but everyone comes up and says, 'We were behind you.' "

The intensity of the trial also took a while to wear off, Workman said. For several months, she focused on her family and relaxation instead of trying to get right back in the job market.

Greg Skordas, Workman's attorney, said the trial burdened the former mayor more than she showed with the perpetual smile she wore in court, in her booking mug photograph and on camera. The only time Workman cried in public was after the not guilty verdict came in.

"When the jury verdict came back and she was acquitted, I finally met the real woman. She's just so nice and she's so fun," Skordas said. "It really made me realize how hard this was on her, how difficult it was to be accused of something in such a public light and in really such a nasty way."

Now that the cameras are no longer pointed at her, Workman said she's ready to move past the seven months of investigations, media swarms and mug shots. In fact, the 64-year-old Sandy resident is trying to get back into the contracting business, reconnecting with past clients and partners from her previous work as a road construction contractor.

But the road back to normalcy hasn't been easy, Workman added. While she spent the past 10 years being a politician, the job market has changed and she has neared retirement age.