Branstad picks Clive businessman to lead administrative services

Governor-elect Terry Branstad announced Tuesday that he has selected Ottumwa native Mike Carroll to direct the nuts-and-bolts operations of state government as head of Iowa Department of Administrative Services (DAS) when the new Branstad/Reynolds administration assumes power next month.

Carroll, 57, who currently resides in Clive, has served as vice president and a partner at Hansen Company, where he developed budgets for overhead and managed budget areas involving technology, business development and pre-construction services.

“In the private sector, Mike has managed large-scale projects providing quality, cost-effective services. This experience and attention to detail will serve him well in his new endeavor within the administration,” said Branstad, a rural Boone Republican who is slated to begin a fifth term as Iowa governor when he and Lt. Gov.-elect Kim Reynolds are inaugurated on Jan. 14. Branstad previously served as governor for four terms from 1983 to 1999 while Reynolds is a former state senator.

Carroll -- a veteran of the Iowa Air National Guard and Iowa Army National Guard who received a bachelor of science degree in construction engineering from Iowa State University -- has been a member of Master Builders of Iowa since 1983, serving as chairman from 2006-2007. He currently serves on the Governor's Commission on Energy Efficiency and is a member of the Community development board of the Greater Des Moines Partnership.

“It is a great honor to have the opportunity to serve Iowans in this capacity,” Carroll said of his new assignment to guide an agency created in 2003 to coordinate resources in state government. “I look forward to overseeing the department, and supplying high-quality service to state government while keeping the costs of these services low.”

Carroll will replace Ray Walton, who served as DAS director in the outgoing administration of one-term Democratic Gov. Chet Culver. His appointment is subject to confirmation by a two-thirds majority vote of the Iowa Senate.