Salinas starts hunt for a new fire chief, less than a year after hiring the old one.

Looks like it’s time for the city of Salinas to start recruiting a new fire chief. Again.

Just eight months after starting in the position, Salinas Fire Chief Jeffrey Johnson submitted his resignation letter to City Manager Ray Corpuz; in that Jan. 29 letter, Johnson wrote that his last day on the job will be Feb. 13.

While he gave no reason in the letter, several city officials say Johnson’s daughter-in-law recently gave birth and that Johnson’s wife, Kim, wants to move to be closer to their grandchild. Assistant City Manager Jim Pia says Johnson has accepted the fire chief’s job in Newport News, a shipbuilding town in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia.

Johnson’s resignation from the $190,000-a-year job comes at a time when the department is already experiencing other losses at the top. Deputy Chief Brett Loomis, a 26-year veteran of the Salinas department, left his post late last month to take a deputy chief’s job in Salem, Oregon. He served as Salinas’ interim chief following the departure of Chief Ed Rodriguez and before Johnson was hired.

“We’re sad, but this happens all the time in the corporate world,” says Salinas Mayor Joe Gunter. “And I’ve talked to other mayors and it’s happening for them too.

“We spend a lot of money finding and hiring the right person, and you hope they stay,” Gunter says, “but how can you argue with a guy who wants to be closer to his family?”

There’s no immediate word on how the recruiting process for a new chief will unfold. Gunter says there are several candidates in the department who could step in as interim chief until a permanent recruit is hired. The recruitment of Johnson took about seven months following Rodriguez’s departure in October 2017.

Josh Hostetter, president of the Salinas Firefighters Association, says he and his fellow firefighters are frustrated with the situation. He says that eight months ago, the department had the in-house talent—Loomis—who could have and should have been appointed to the chief's position permanently. The men and women of the department are looking for stability in leadership, something Hostetter says has been lacking.

"When a department you've worked at for 25 years says they're not going to hire you and they're going to hire someone from another state, that puts the writing on the wall," Hostetter says. "We've lost a chief, a deputy chief  and a battalion chief in the last eight months. None of them retired—they left to go to other departments." 

Before joining the Salinas department, Johnson had most recently served as deputy chief of the Kansas City Fire Department and had spent 31 years as a professional firefighter. Johnson was introduced to the press and public at a Salinas City Hall event in May 2018. At the time, he said he planned to work on the budget, retain more firefighters, increase diversity and become more involved in the community.

“I think it’s a perfect fit—the philosophy, the way the fire department operates,” Johnson told reporters, of Salinas. “It’s already starting to feel like home.”

Johnson could not immediately be reached for comment.