Governor names information head

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. named a new chief information officer Monday.

Stephen Fletcher, who has had a long career in both the public and private sectors, is now tasked with improving communication in the state via technology.

The University of Utah graduate is leaving a similar post at the U.S. Department of Education to take the state job.

Fletcher will report for duty May 1 and plans to immediately start reviewing all IT functions in state government for efficiency and productivity, and personnel support for other departments.

Fletcher replaces Val Oveson, a former two-term lieutenant governor who resigned shortly after Huntsman came into office.

Oveson stepped into the position after a widely publicized scandal involving his predecessor, Phil Windley. Windley resigned in 2002 after a report by the Legislative Auditor General's Office concluded favoritism existed and contracting procedures were circumvented surrounding nine of Windley's former colleagues.

All came from Excite@home, a now-defunct Internet service provider where Windley had been a senior corporate officer. Auditors found the salaries of five of those employees to be high, averaging nearly $12,000 above the position's midpoint annual wages.