One red state dissolves its Technology Office while another hires a new CIO

And now for an update on CIO announcements in the public sector…

Florida Governor Jeb Bush tapped the Sunshine State’s CIO, Simone Marstiller, to lead the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.  Marstiller succeeds Diane Carr, who is returning to a career in law.  Florida’s legislature abolished the State Technology Office in July 2005.  The IT functions that the State Technology Office performed were brought under the Department of Management Services.

Marstiller, 41, had served as CIO since May 2004.  Before that, she was Governor Bush’s chief of staff.  Previously, she was an attorney with the Department of Management Services and the Agency for Healthcare Administration.  Before being appointed as chief information officer in May 2004, Marstiller served as a deputy chief of staff for Bush. She has also worked as a lawyer for the Department of Management Services and the Agency for Health Care Administration.

Ohio Governor Bob Taft appointed Mary F. Carroll as the state’s chief information officer and director of the office of information technology.  Carroll had been serving as interim CIO since February of this year.  She previously served as deputy state chief information officer for the Investment and Governance Division for the Office of Information Technology since January 2004.

Graham Richard, the mayor of the second largest city in Indiana, Fort Wayne, appointed Clifford M. Clarke the city’s CIO and CTO.  Most recently, Clarke worked for Lincoln Financial Group in its Technology Services Group as an assistant vice president.  Prior to Lincoln Financial Group, he worked with K&K Insurance and SLE Worldwide.  He began his career with GM. 

This coming Monday, August 22, Wayne Leiss steps into the CIO post at The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the agency that regulates commodity futures and options markets.  Leiss most recently worked for the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Federal Financial Management as its chief of federal financial systems.

Jim Rinaldi left his post as the Food and Drug Administration’s CIO to join Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  The FDA named its IT program director, Fred Farmer, acting CIO until a permanent replacement is found.   Farmer is currently working to reengineer the overall IT budgeting process for the FDA.  Farmer came to FDA from ResortQuest International where he was CIO and president of one of its operating divisions.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics, and has broad graduate coursework in Management Information Systems.

By the way, Playboy Enterprises declined my request to interview its new CIO Mark Laudenslager. Seems the PR person found my blog offensive.