Although the public safety department has a new command structure featuring four deputy chiefs and six captains, department and city officials expect Johnson to get up to speed quickly after he assumes command Jan. 31.
``Don's experience with our DPS, our local issues, our governmental processes and our budgeting system will all make the transition much easier for him and the city,'' Sunnyvale City Manager Amy Chan said.
Johnson served with the department from November 1979 to August 2001, when he resigned to take the police chief job in Los Altos. In Sunnyvale, he served as a police services captain, a fire services captain, and administrative and technical services captain.
Sunnyvale, which has a population of more than 130,000, is the only city of its size in the western United States that combines law enforcement and fire protection in a single department. There are about 210 sworn officers trained in both law enforcement and fire protection, and they rotate assignments between the services. The city has consistently ranked among the 10 safest cities in the nation in its population category.
Sunnyvale has been without a permanent public safety director since Irwin ``Ernie'' Bakin left on a work-related injury in December 2003; Bakin later took medical retirement in August. There were three acting or interim directors in that span.
Bakin was among several key administrators who left Sunnyvale in 2004. Former City Manager Robert LaSala was ousted in February and longtime City Attorney Valerie Armento left in October.
Los Altos Assistant City Manager Starla Jerome-Robinson said Johnson's departure is ``bittersweet.''
``This is best for Don but, on the other hand, it is a loss for our organization,'' Jerome-Robinson said. Capt. Bob Lacey will serve as acting police chief in Los Altos, Jerome-Robinson said.
