Staff Reports
Former state Rep. Ritch Workman has a new job.
The Melbourne Republican recently started as a special projects manager at Palm Bay City Hall, where he is tasked with managing the Brevard County city’s effort to make its facilities more energy efficient.
Workman’s new gig was first reported by Rick Neale and Wayne T. Price of Florida Today.
“I did project management for Keiser and really that was the favorite part of that job. That type of work really is one my attributes, that I enjoy and do well,” Workman told Florida Today.
“At the end of the day, Palm Bay has decided to do the right thing, both for the taxpayer and the environment,” he said of the project he oversees.
The salary for Workman’s new job is $62,000 a year. Palm Bay City Manager Gregg Lynk said Workman came “highly recommended” from county level officials.
Workman held a seat in the Florida House from 2008 through 2016, and near the end of his tenure had ascended to the chairmanship of the powerful House Rules Committee.
Facing term limits in the House, he attempted to move up to the Senate in 2016 but came up 7 points short in a three-way primary won by now-Sen. Debbie Mayfield.
Outside of the Legislature, Workman owned and operated a mortgage company for nearly 20 years before being hired as Keiser University’s business development director in 2014, a position he held until earlier this year.
Last year, the former lawmaker attempted to get back into state politics by seeking nomination to the Public Service Commission, the regulatory body overseeing commercial utilities.
He ended up receiving Gov. Rick Scott’s nomination, but he stepped down before his first day after Fort Myers Republican Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto publicly accused him of making vulgar and inappropriate comments to her at a 2016 charity event. Workman did not recall the event but said he didn’t want to be a “distraction” and stepped aside.
