January
Carrie Bishop, who was San Francisco’s inaugural chief digital services officer, departed that role after a stint that spanned nearly five years. Bishop was succeeded in the role by Cyd Harrell, a 25-year veteran technologist with a deep background in the public and nonprofit sectors.
February
Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed the state’s longtime CIO, Amy Tong, to become secretary of the California Government Operations Agency. The CIO position was held in an interim capacity by deputy CIO Russ Nichols until it was filled permanently by CTO Liana Bailey-Crimmins in June. Nichols retired from state service in November.
March
San Jose tapped Khaled Tawfik as the city’s CIO, the position that Rob Lloyd vacated last year when he was promoted to deputy city manager.
April
San Mateo County tapped Mike Wentworth to fill its CIO spot, with Wentworth having worked for the county dating back to 1996. He had been serving in the job on an interim basis since 2021, when he took over for longtime CIO Jon Walton.
San Diego County picked David Smith as its next CIO. Smith now heads up the IT department for California’s second most populous county.
Gov tech veteran Krista Canellakis joined the nonprofit group U.S. Digital Response following stints with California and San Francisco.
May
Tony Batalla was appointed CIO of Oakland after previously holding the role in Santa Cruz County as well as the CTO position in San Leandro.
June
Orange County CIO Joel Golub departed the position to take an executive role in Oracle’s Industry Strategy and Executive Outreach group. Kc Roestenberg was later appointed as Golub’s replacement. In addition, the county hired longtime technologist Ed Althof as its assistant CIO and chief technology officer.
Chula Vista hired Jose Cisneros as its new IT director. Cisneros came to the job from the U.S. Navy, replacing Edward Chew III.
July
Rick Klau stepped down as California’s chief technology innovation officer and leader of the Office of Enterprise Technology in the California Department of Technology (CDT). Klau had held the position dating back to February 2021.
September
Santa Barbara County tapped private-sector IT veteran Chris Chirgwin as its next CIO.
October
Newsom named several new senior officials to CDT, including CTO Suzie Changus, previously CIO for the state’s prison authority. Jonathan Porat was also named CDT’s chief technology innovation officer after several years with the city of Seattle.
*This article was excerpted from a Government Technology story summarizing similar changes across the nation in 2022. Government Technology and Industry Insider — California are part of e.Republic.
