After Wednesday’s announcement from Gov. Dayton’s office of the appointment of new Minnesota IT Services commissioner Johanna Clyborne, Senator Mary Kiffmeyer (R-Big Lake) chairwoman of the Senate State Government Finance and Policy and Elections Committee issued the following statement:

“I am wishing commissioner Johanna Clyborne the best with her new responsibility as head of Minnesota’s IT Services. I hope that based on her record she will be able to instill a sense of leadership and direction that the department greatly needs.

However, MN.IT has had a decade of history of catastrophic failures that seems to be ingrained in the department’s culture. Because of this, it is my concern that the ship that is MN.IT has already hit the iceberg, and I don’t have confidence that changing captains at this point is going to make the crucial difference.”

Senator Mary Kiffmeyer is in her second term representing Senate District 30, which includes Hennepin, Sherburne, and Wright counties. She serves as chairwoman of the State Government Finance and Policy and Elections Committee