State disaster response director one of two top officials leaving this month
A state official who played a key role in responses to disasters including the COVID-19 pandemic and the influx of asylum-seekers bused from the southern U.S. border is leaving her post, according to Gov. JB Pritzker's office.
Alicia Tate-Nadeau, director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security, was one of two departures announced by the governor Friday. Also stepping down is Sanjay Gupta, secretary of the Department of Innovation & Technology.
Both officials will leave their positions later this month, Pritzker's office said.
Tate-Nadeau started as director of IEMA and OHS in 2019, Pritzker's first year in office, after more than three decades with the Illinois National Guard. She completed her military service there as its assistant adjutant general.
In 2023, the Chicago Sun-Times reported an executive assistant billed IEMA over $240,000 between February and August of that year for contracting work, which was double Tate-Nadeau's salary. The official who approved paying the assistant and other contractors billing IEMA was among at least four staffers that year who were forced to leave the agency for 'misconduct,' 'poor performance' and 'conduct unbecoming,' the Sun-Times reported.
During a legislative hearing the following year, Tate-Nadeau told lawmakers the contractor working as an executive assistant had been filling it for Tate-Nadeau's regular assistant who was on leave, the Sun-Times reported.
Beginning April 1, Adnan Khayyat will serve as interim director of IEMA and OHS. He's been with the two entities for over 26 years, and most recently was Tate-Nadeau's acting chief of staff.
Gupta was appointed as secretary for the Department of Innovation & Technology in 2023. He previously held roles of chief information officer and chief technology officer for the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Small Business Administration, respectively. He also was involved in management and consulting for global technology organizations.
Taking over from Gupta as interim secretary beginning March 21 will be Brandon Ragle, the agency's deputy secretary.
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