Gov. Kevin Stitt has appointed a third leader of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services in as many months.
Stitt on Wednesday appointed Oklahoma Tax Commissioner Mark Wood to be the director of OMES, an agency that serves as the backbone of state government resources. Longtime Internal Revenue Service official Dan LaFortune will replace Wood at the state Tax Commission.
Oklahoma Chief Operating Officer David Ostrowe is no longer listed on the OMES website as one of the agency’s administrators, but he still holds his COO role in the governor’s Cabinet. Ostrowe was appointed to lead OMES on Sept. 26 when former state COO and OMES director Rick Rose resigned.
Ostrowe will continue as state COO, and Wood will report to him, OMES spokesperson Christa Helfrey said.
All state agencies, including OMES “roll into the state COO,” Ostrowe wrote in a message to Oklahoma Voice.
“Mark is an extremely capable leader with years of tax, finance and government process experience,” he wrote.
The governor’s appointment order issued Wednesday states Wood is stepping into Rose’s former director position, not replacing Ostrowe.
Wood had served as a tax commissioner since 2021. He worked 37 years in public accounting at Arthur Andersen LLP and Ernst & Young LLP.
“I’m thankful for the opportunity to have served with the dedicated team at the Oklahoma Tax Commission,” Wood said in a statement. “As I step into this role at OMES, I’m honored to continue serving Oklahoma by helping strengthen government at its core.”
LaFortune spent nearly 31 years at the IRS where he served as a program manager, team manager and internal revenue agent. He led large corporate and flow-through entity audits in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Louisiana as the program manager within the IRS Large Business and International Division, according to the governor’s announcement.
“Recruiting top talent to the Oklahoma Tax Commission is essential to strengthening our state’s tax policy and driving meaningful reform,” Stitt said in a statement. “The appointment of Dan LaFortune brings proven public-sector expertise that will help guide the OTC’s work and ensure Oklahoma remains competitive, transparent, and accountable to taxpayers.”
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