County of Manatee recently issued the following announcement.
A pair of new leaders started their supervisory roles with Manatee County Government today. Courtney De Pol takes over as the Director of Building and Development Services and Andrew T. (Drew) Richardson is the new head of Information Technology Services.
While Drew’s title is new, the job is not. He has been working with the County in a Virtual Chief Information Officer consulting role since August, managing the IT team of 75 and annual budget of $18 million. Over the past five months, he has been developing strategic plans, implementing cyber-security enhancements and providing vision and direction for the future of the department.
"That work was to assess the state of Information Technology (IT) in the County," he said. "I fell in love with the IT team during my time working here – and I look forward to continuing that work."
Prior to his interim position with Manatee County, Mr. Richardson served as Chief Operating Officer for the Department of Management Services – Florida Digital Service in Tallahassee. He also served in IT leadership roles for Florida’s Department of Management Services and Department of Health.
He sees his role as the County’s Chief Information Officer as integral to the support of the community – and the people who live here.
"We serve those who serve Manatee County," he said.
Ms. De Pol takes over the Building and Development Services Department after 14 years combined experience with the Federal Government, Department of the Navy, local government, and the private sector.
She earned her Civil Engineering degree from Vanderbilt University and has graduate coursework in engineering management from Pennsylvania State University. She is relocating to Bradenton with her family from Corpus Christi, Texas.
"It’s exciting to be a part of this growing community," she said. "I look forward to being responsive to our community’s needs and providing excellent customer service."
Original source can be found here.