MaSSSoftech

Virginia government is reaching to industry for a new computer boss to set right the troubled changeover to a privately run information-technology network under Northrop Grumman.

George F. Coulter succeeds Lemuel C. "Lem" Stewart Jr., a state government veteran who was fired in June after proposing to withhold a $14 million monthly payment to Northrop Grumman as punishment for poor service and incomplete billing.

Coulter, 52, with three decades in information technology, said he believes his work in private business will translate to the public sector.

"It's infrastructure, it's applications, it's keeping the customers -- the agencies -- happy, it's keeping costs down, it's keeping the team highly motivated, it's making sure you have the best skilled people," Coulter said.

His appointment follows months of turmoil between the Virginia Information Technologies Agency and Northrop Grumman over continuing delays by the company in carrying out a 10-year, $2.3 billion contract for an array of high-tech services.

The contract -- the state's richest-ever privatization pact -- has become a political flash point, triggering finger-pointing by Democrats and Republicans. Members of both parties pushed for the deal with Northrop Grumman, which since 2001 has donated more than $800,000 to legislators and statewide officials.

As chief information officer of VITA, Coulter will take a pay cut of about $50,000 from his last private-sector job. His government salary will be $191,906. Under a five-year contract, he is eligible for an annual 5 percent bonus based on performance.

Coulter, who could be on the job as early as Monday at the building VITA shares with Northrop Grumman, said he wants to speak immediately with agency heads -- among the most vociferous critics of Northrop Grumman.

That way, he said, he can "understand where the pain points are."

VITA's oversight panel -- the Information Technology Investment Board -- voted 5-1 for Coulter, with Hiram Johnson dissenting. Johnson opposed Coulter's selection because he lacks state government experience.

"It is so far different than private industry," Johnson said of the contrasting culture that Coulter will face in Virginia's bureaucracy. "There, you make a decision and move on. In government, sometimes there are three or four layers to make it happen."

A search firm hired by VITA recommended 16 candidates, four of whom, including Coulter, were finalists. The others were current or former federal employees, running such vast IT operations as those of the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security.

Bertram S. Reese III, the VITA trustee who headed the CIO search, said Coulter could consider changes in the Northrop Grumman contract to improve service and control costs.

"He's going to take a hard look at the Northrop Grumman contract and look to see what he needs to do in order to make it successful," Reese said. "If Northrop Grumman is not successful, he won't be successful."

Northrop Grumman spokeswoman Christy Whitman said the company -- now pressing for more money from the state because of mounting expenses -- welcomes Coulter.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said Coulter's selection is "welcome and encouraging." It has fallen to Kaine to manage fallout from the program, a legacy of his predecessor, now-U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va.

Del. Samuel A. Nixon Jr., R-Chesterfield, an IT expert and head of the House Republican Caucus, said Coulter "deserves the opportunity to succeed." But Nixon cautioned the VITA board to give Coulter the freedom to deal with Northrop Grumman that it denied Stewart before the June blowup.