by Dick Hall-Sizemore
After barely three months in office, there has already been turnover among the ranks of Governor Youngkin’s appointments.
The first to go was Phil Wittmer, whom Youngkin appointed to replace Nelson Moe as head of the Virginia Information Technology Agency (VITA). He left less than a month after his appointment was announced. There was no public explanation for his abrupt departure. Several days later, the no. 2 person at VITA, Jon Ozovek, announced he was leaving, making it clear that he was leaving because Moe had not been reappointed.
Yesterday, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported on the appointment of Jackson Miller, a former Republican member of the House of Delegates, to head the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS). Not included in the article was the information that, six days after he took office, Youngkin submitted a list of agency head appointments to the General Assembly that included the reappointment of Shannon Dion Taylor as the DCJS director. (She had originally been appointed to the position by Governor Northam.) Final confirmation of the appointment occurred in early March.
Finally, the Governor also announced on Friday the appointment of Randy McCabe as State Comptroller, the head of the Department of Accounts (DOA). McCabe previously was Deputy Comptroller and was a long-time employee of DOA. The RTD announced that David Von Moll, who had been Comptroller for 21 years, going back to Governor Gilmore, was retiring. However, Von Moll’s name was also included in that early list of appointments submitted to the legislature and subsequently confirmed. The question unasked was why a long-time agency head would agree to his reappointment and then retire a little more than a month after his appointment had been confirmed.
Did Wittmer, Taylor, and Von Moll become disenchanted with the administration soon after being appointed to their positions or did the Governor suddenly have second thoughts about his choices and force them out? Only those on the inside know the answers.
