Why Does IT Report Directly to the Board?

I’ve submitted this question to the “Topical Town Hall Request” form, but it’s obscure enough that I’m not terribly optimistic about seeing it addressed in upcoming meetings:

According to the October 19, 2019 organization chart available from sca.org, the Society Webminister is the only officer with kingdom/local counterparts who does not report through the Society President — instead they report to the Manager of Information Technology, who reports directly to the Board. 

Why is this reporting structure different than every other role in the organization?

Although I don’t know the answer, I suspect that at least part of the explanation is that the former IT Manager, Aaron Palomides of Buckminster, who held that office from April 2011 to April 2022, had previously been a Director, then Vice Chairman, then Chairman of the Board (Jan 2007 – Oct 2010), and was able to negotiate a relatively-independent fiefdom when he took on the IT role.

(Indeed, for most of that period, the title of the office appears to have been not Manager but “Vice President, Information Technology” as shown in announcements from as recently as 2016.)

Or perhaps there’s some other logic to it? Leave a comment below if you know the explanation…

[Update April 30:] The transfer of the Webminister and Webmaster positions to the IT office occurred in 2014:

Motion by Lisa May to move the positions of Webminister and Webmaster from under the office of the Publications Manager to the office of Vice-President of Information Technology, effective immediately. Second by Scott Berk. In favor: Scott Berk, Lisa Czudnochowsky, Arthur Donadio, John Fulton, David Keen, Lisa May. Opposed: None. Motion carried.

Minutes of the Quarterly Board Meeting, July 12, 2014

[Update May 13:] The change in office title from “VP” to “Manager” appears to have happened somewhere around 2019, although I haven’t been able to pin it down more precisely. In the Board meeting of October 2018, the board minutes and President’s Report both show the title is “VP of IT.” Somewhere in 2019 the board minutes switches to using “Manager of IT,” but the President’s Report continues to use VP IT. By the first meeting of 2020 the title is Manager of IT in both locations.

[Update Oct 24:] The stipend for the VP IT position was increased by 50% as of the August 2017 Board conference call.