Pillen’s pick for NE’s top information officer apologizes for controversial email

(Courtesy of Ali Roby/Cquence Health Systems)

LINCOLN — Lawmakers on Tuesday grilled Gov. Jim Pillen’s pick as the state’s chief information officer, questioning Matthew McCarville’s ability to remain politically impartial in his government role and with staff and potential contractors.

The interrogation came during McCarville’s confirmation hearing before the Legislature’s Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee.

McCarville, raised in Omaha and previously an information technology leader at the University of Colorado, has been in the post since April, when Pillen appointed him pending formal legislative approval.

In an odd turn of events, the previously scheduled confirmation hearing unfolded just hours after a controversial email was sent on McCarville’s behalf, “encouraging” his workforce to participate in a legislative hearing on Pillen’s plan for property tax reduction.

State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, a member of the Government Committee, promptly sent a complaint to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, identifying the email as part of a series of incidents by Pillen, his staff or executive branch that potentially violated state statute by misusing or commingling personal, campaign and public resources.

An accident he ‘will own’

Conrad said in her complaint that McCarville had emailed Pillen’s campaign materials “to public employees with public resources encouraging public employees to support (Pillen’s) tax plan,” which was aired before Tuesday before the Revenue Committee.

She challenged the use of public resources for an “advocacy blast.”

Even before Conrad and other committee members laid out concerns during the hearing, McCarville, in his opening remarks, apologized for the email, calling it an “accident,” a “mistake” and an act he “will own.”

Nebraska senator says governor misused public resources to promote his campaign and tax plan

In detailing the incident, he said he had asked his assistant to send the message. He said he didn’t mean to “advise a position” but wanted to provide his staff with the time and place of the hearing because it had been a subject of a lot of “chatter” in his office.

The actual email said: “Matt, our new CIO, wanted to share this information with OCIO Teammates. He is encouraging teammates to participate in the hearing. Testimonies will begin at 9:45 a.m., but folks need to be there by 9:30 a.m. if not sooner. Please check with our supervisors about approval for time off. Thank you!”

Also shared was a social media post from Pillen’s campaign, which asked readers to consider testifying in support of Legislative Bill 1.

Self-reported the ‘mistake’

McCarville said he self-reported the incident to the Accountability and Disclosure Commission and said the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office also was aware of the situation. He said he was told that neither office felt there was a violation of state law, though Conrad questioned how that decision could have been determined in such a short timeframe.

A commission spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Jeff Davis, chair of the NADC, said in an email Wednesday the agency “has not stated any opinion, formally or informally, with respect to whether Dr. McCarville’s e-mail was in violation of the Nebraska Political Accountability and Disclosure Act.”

State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha said she found it “hard to understand” how the message could have been an accident or mistake.

She asked McCarville what he would say to employees who feel they might be subject to retaliation.

McCarville said he quickly issued a retraction and insisted to the committee that he was not trying to “pressure” employees to support any position or person.

“It’s fair to assume I should know better,” he said. “It will not happen again.”

State Sen. Ray Aguilar of Grand Island said he hoped that McCarville was being honest in saying it would not happen again.

“Once the horse is out of the barn, it doesn’t do a lot of good to close the door,” he said.

‘Partisan favoritism’

State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln called the situation alarming and asked how McCarville would prevent “partisan favoritism” from impacting his decision-making when awarding public contracts.

McCarville said he would “absolutely remove” himself from any vetting process if he felt there was a potential conflict of interest.

The committee took no action Tuesday on advancing McCarville to the full Legislature, where a majority would formally approve his nomination.

McCarville told committee members he was happy to be back in Omaha, where he had earned degrees up to a doctorate in business administration from Creighton University.

Most recently, he served as chief information officer and assistant vice chancellor of information technology services and operations at the University of Colorado in Denver. He also served as vice president of education, data strategy and chief strategy officer at MTX Consulting Group/Maverick A1.

He replaced Ed Toner, who retired.

Among goals that McCarville has to save public dollars and improve efficiencies:

Modernize state websites to provide data sales that can generate revenue and offset spending.

Improve data-sharing.

Update the state’s mainframe systems and telephone and communications systems.

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