Gov. Bob McDonnell now has full control of Virginia’s troubled computer bureaucracy. The Republican has signed into law legislation giving the chief executive the power to hire and fire the head of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency.
“This new governance and reporting structure will enhance VITA’s effectiveness and facilitate better information-technology in the commonwealth,“ McDonnell said in a written statement.
A board made up of gubernatorial and legislative appointees had selected VITA’s boss.
But General Assembly investigators say that system has contributed to turmoil within VITA and generated friction with Northrop Grumman, the company hired to run the state’s information technology network.
It’s not clear whether McDonnell will replace the agency’s top official, George Coulter. He was hired by the now-junked Information Technology Investment Board after it fired Lem Stewart last June for proposing withholding a $14 million monthly payment to Northrop Grumman for poor service and spotty billing.
Should Coulter go, a possible replacement—one mentioned in General Assembly circles—is Del. Samuel A. Nixon Jr., R-Chesterfield. He’s one of the legislature’s IT experts and was considered for secretary of technology, a job that went to former EDS executive Jim Duffey.
Northrop Grumman may like this new managerial arrangement.
Over the summer, a company executive wrote in an opinion article in The Richmond Times-Dispatch that a more streamlined front office could make for smoother relations between VITA and Northrop Grumman.
In an e-mail today to VITA employees, Duffey not only said that McDonnell had signed the reform bill, but that “this new reporting structure will create a period of adjustment for us all.“
In other developments, the state budget now before McDonnell includes language that could lead to hefty reductions in VITA staff and give the legislature’s investigative arm oversight of VITA’s 10-year, $2.3 billion contract with Northrop Grumman.
The McDonnell administration is negotiating revisions to that contract that, if the company gets its way, would cost taxpayers an additional $37.5 million annually over the next several years.
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