Breaking: Charlie Brennan out as city CIO

Two years into his tenure as chief information officer, Charlie Brennan is out.

“While Charles Brennan has made important contributions to OIT in the past two years, the Administration has determined that a change in leadership is appropriate at this time,” mayoral spokesman Mike Dunn confirmed to Technical.ly Friday evening. “The Mayor remains fully committed to the work begun under Charlie, including fixing the back-office information systems that, in many instances, are desperately in need of modernization. We wish Charlie well in his future endeavors.”

An interim replacement has been named in Mark Wheeler, the city’s deputy CIO and Chief Geographic Information Officer. A national search for a permanent replacement will be carried out by the administration, according to Dunn.

During his tenure, Brennan — a former cop who turned to the tech world while searching for a normal schedule — became known for his more traditional conception of the tech chief role, focusing more on legacy IT systems and phone lines. He also grappled with filling vacant positions.

In the tumultuous early days of his leadership, Civic Tech Chief Aaron Ogle stepped down. The decision was also made to move Chief Data Officer Tim Wisniewski’s civic tech and open data teams under the direct oversight of then–Chief Administrative Officer Rebecca Rhynhart.

We’ll have more on this story as it becomes available.