In his place, Ducey named Greg McKay, who has been working as an investigator for the agency since 2012, when it was still a part of the Department of Economic Security.
In announcing the appointment, Ducey pointed out it was McKay who discovered in 2012 that almost 6,600 reports of child abuse had gone uninvestigated.
“It was this discovery that finally woke us up to numerous problems within our child safety system,” Ducey said at a Tuesday news conference.
The governor would not say why he decided McKay, a former Phoenix police investigator, was a better choice to run the agency.
“We chose to go in a different direction,” Ducey said. “And I believe this is the best course of action.”
The governor also named Vicki Mayo, vice president of a Scottsdale-based information technology and services company, as deputy director, saying she also has a background in child advocacy, including spearheading foster care programs, adoption awareness and early childhood education.
And Maj. Gen. David Rataczak, former commander of the Arizona National Guard, was named to serve in what Ducey said would be a “management consultant role.”
