The City of Long Beach appointed Bryan M. Sastokas as its new Director of Technology and Innovation today, to begin June 15, officials announced Wednesday morning.
According to a release issued Wednesday, Sastokas has 20 years of experience in the public and private sectors, including stints as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the City of Oakland and positions with the City of Modesto, City of Coral Springs, Florida and with the Universal Service Administrative Company, John Hancock Financial Services, Bay Networks, Inc. and Stream International, Inc.
“Bryan has a proven history of innovation and project delivery,” said Long Beach City Manager Pat West in a statement. “His commitment to technology services for public agencies and history of award-winning service will be a great addition to our Senior Management Team and will continue to help the City’s evolution as an innovation and technology leader.”
Sastokas will be replacing the previous Director of Technology Curtis Tani, who retired in September 2014, the release stated.
Sastokas has received national recognition as one of the “Premiere 100 IT Leaders” by Computerworld, one of Government Techonology’s “Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers for 2015,” and as a “Community Champion” by the San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal in the 2015 Bay Area CIO awards. The release said that under his leadership, the cities he’s worked for have been ranked in the top 10 by the Center for Digital Government and received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
With a Master of Science in Management from Cambridge College in Massachusetts and an undergraduate focus on Computer Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, Sastokas also completed graduate courses at Harvard University and earned a Graduate Certificate in Senior Executive Leadership from Georgetown University.
“Bryan is committed to an innovative approach to city government and will be an outstanding asset to our team,” said Mayor Garcia in a statement. “His leadership will greatly enhance our efforts to focus on technology that benefit our residents, businesses and visitors.”