Top state technology official quietly departs - Times Union

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  Robert Samson, member of the Fuller Road Management Corporation board, at a board meeting on Monday, May 14, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)

  Robert Samson, member of the Fuller Road Management Corporation board, at a board meeting on Monday, May 14, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)

  Photo: PAUL BUCKOWSKI

Photo: PAUL BUCKOWSKI

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Robert Samson, member of the Fuller Road Management Corporation board, at a board meeting on Monday, May 14, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)

Robert Samson, member of the Fuller Road Management Corporation board, at a board meeting on Monday, May 14, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)

Photo: PAUL BUCKOWSKI

Top state technology official quietly departs

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ALBANY — The top official at the state Office Information of Information Technology Services is quietly departing the position this month.

The departure of Robert Samson, ITS' chief information officer since May 2017, was reported last week by Government Technology, a trade publication. In a statement, Samson cited health issues as the major driver of the decision to depart Aug. 15.

ITS has also been the subject of a long-running investigation by the state Inspector General's office, though it has not resulted in the public release of any formal conclusions. According to sources, a center of the probe has been possible actions by Samson.

The IG's probe, which began in late 2017, began after the IG's office received emailed complaints about a lengthy list of alleged spending abuses and waste in the agency.

When the Times Union asked the Inspector General's office earlier this year for a copy of any report stemming from the investigation, the IG's office responded on June 5 that it could not be provided because "an ongoing investigation" had "not yet been completed."

While the Samson probe began under former state IG Catherine Leahy Scott, she was replaced in January by Letizia Tagliafierro.

In May, an ITS spokeswoman, Erin McCarthy, had told the Times Union that Samson was "not leaving."

McCarthy told the Times Union on Friday that Samson's decision was announced in an internal email to ITS staff last week, which she provided to the Times Union. She did not answer a question about whether the IG's probe played any role in the Samson retirement.

A press release announcing Samson's decision to depart does not appear on ITS' website, but was reported by Government Technology, which in 2018 named Samson one of its top 25 "Doers, Dreamers and Drivers" of the year.

"I am grateful for the opportunity Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo afforded me to lead this wonderful agency," Samson told the trade publication last week. "The last two years at ITS were among the most enjoyable and professionally fulfilling of my long career in information technology. While this was not an easy decision for me, my family and I determined that retirement is best in light of recent health issues."

Samson had spent 36 years at IBM, including serving as a top official at its public sector business division, before retiring in 2009. ITS said that during Samson's tenure the agency had "improved New York State's cybersecurity position through increased investments in people and protection; and completed hundreds of high-impact projects that advance the state's most strategic policies and programs like the Excelsior Scholarship, Rent Regulation, and Paid Family Leave."

In 2018, the Times Union reported that Samson had made significant errors in a financial disclosure form covering 2016; his 2017 disclosure showed stock holdings in several companies that have extensive business before his government office.

The financial disclosure covering 2016 financial did not list any holdings in IBM, his former employer, whose officials Samson has met with at least a dozen times concerning state contracting opportunities, according to state records.

At the time, a private attorney for Samson said that, "In the course of navigating this complex process, he hit the mark accurately on the vast majority of questions posed, but a few he did not."

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