BROOKSVILLE — U.S. Rep. Rich Nugent is moving his Hernando County office and will open satellite offices in the other three counties in his newly defined district.
The changes come as the Spring Hill Republican starts his second two-year term in the House, this time representing a considerably more compact district.
For the past decade, the former 5th District contained all or portions of eight counties. Nugent's predecessor, Ginny Brown-Waite, kept her main office in Hernando and had a satellite office in Dade City for a period of time.
The new 11th District contains all of Hernando, Citrus and Sumter counties and a portion of Marion.
"I wanted to make sure we had staff that was out in each of the counties full time and that it would be as convenient as possible for constituents to visit in person," Nugent said this week. "Now that the redistricting process is complete and we know which areas will be in the new district, it's a good time to transition to having multiple locations."
When Nugent was elected in 2010, he decided to remain in the office at 16224 Spring Hill Drive, a storefront in a strip mall near the National Guard Armory. Brown-Waite had moved there the previous year from an office in the historic courthouse in downtown Brooksville. At the same time, she closed her Dade City office and moved those staffers to the Spring Hill Drive location.
Now that the staff will be spread out among four locations, that office is larger than necessary, Nugent said.
The new location is at 11035 Spring Hill Drive, just west of Mariner Boulevard, in a two-story building owned by attorneys Tom and Deborah Hogan and their law partner at the Hogan Law Firm, George Angeliadis. The building houses the firm's Spring Hill office.
The Hogans are longtime Brooksville residents and GOP supporters. Tom Hogan's father, Tom Hogan Sr., is a state committeeman for the party.
Nugent has decided not to fill the district coordinator post left vacant by Shirley Anderson, who won her bid for Hernando supervisor of elections in November and officially starts in that job next week.
Instead, Nugent's chief of staff, Justin Grabelle, will assume those duties.
Grabelle joined Brown-Waite's office in 2007 and served most of that time as her legislative director. He served as interim chief of staff during the last half of 2010, and Nugent kept him in the role.
Grabelle had been stationed primarily in the Washington, D.C., office and will now float among the four district locations, a Nugent spokesman said.
Reach Tony Marrero at tmarrero@tampabay.com or (352) 848-1431. On Twitter: @TMarreroTimes and @HernandoTimes.
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