Former Insurance Chief to Head South Carolina Financial Board

By | January 10, 2011

South Carolina Gov.-elect Nikki Haley announced she will nominate the state’s former insurance director to lead the agency that oversees much of state government operations.

Haley said she will nominate Eleanor Kitzman as executive director of the Budget and Control Board. Kitzman, a lawyer and businesswoman, led the insurance department from 2005 to 2007, when she resigned over a disagreement with Gov. Mark Sanford on coastal insurance. Last year, Kitzman ran for lieutenant governor but lost in a four-way Republican primary.

Haley said she’ll also nominate Marcia Adams as the agency’s chief of staff. Adams currently leads the state Department of Motor Vehicles, a Cabinet agency under the governor’s control. That leaves another opening for Haley to fill.

Haley’s announcement followed the resignation of budget board director Frank Fusco and chief of staff Eddie Gunn.

“We’ve always said we needed fresh ideas and fresh eyes in some of state government’s most critical roles, and that’s what Eleanor Kitzman and Marcia Adams offer the Budget and Control Board as they take a hard look at the board’s core mission,” Haley said in a statement.

The five-member board that oversees the agency will next meet Thursday, a day after Haley is sworn into office. As governor, Haley will serve as its chairwoman. Fusco’s office said next Friday will be his last day.

Fusco said the board has made state government more efficient, accountable and transparent.

“Clearly we have made a significant impact in improving these important areas providing cost savings for all levels of government,” he wrote in his resignation letter.

The financial oversight board consists of the governor, state treasurer, comptroller general, and the leaders of the House and Senate budget committees. The panel oversees day-to-day management of much of the state’s bureaucracy, including real estate holdings and much of the vehicle fleet.

In her statement, Haley said she’s grateful to have the board’s support on her picks. Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman, House Ways and Means Chairman Dan Cooper, and Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom gave statements supporting Kitzman and Adams.

Conspicuously absent were comments from Treasurer-elect Curtis Loftis. He later sent out a statement saying he looks forward to interviewing Haley’s “short list of possible replacements.”

Topics South Carolina

Was this article valuable?

Here are more articles you may enjoy.