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As part of the second phase of his reorganization plan, Sheriff Don Hunter named Kevin Rambosk as his undersheriff, saying the pair now will work together even more closely to come up with innovative ideas for the agency.

Rambosk, 51, joined the Collier County Sheriff’s Office in July 2003 as a captain after a long career in law enforcement in the city of Naples, where he was chief and then worked as Naples city manager for nearly four years.

Most recently, Rambosk was operations chief, running a giant portion of the agency, from road patrol to internal affairs.

“I’m looking for creativity and innovation,” Hunter said, describing why he chose Rambosk. “Having an undersheriff to interact with and share ideas, that’s important. We all need someone to bounce ideas off of.”

Rambosk said he relishes the chance.

“This is an opportunity to work more directly and closely with the sheriff to ensure we provide the high quality of law enforcement service in the midst of a rapidly growing community,” he said.

Hunter says this new structure will add vitality to the agency at a time of booming growth in Collier County. It also allows for leadership at the command level and more supervision.

Hunter believes Rambosk’s background, from police and city administration to his time spent in politics at City Hall gives him an edge.

The move isn’t a signal that Hunter is on the way to retirement. Although Rambosk has said he one day would like to be sheriff, Hunter says he’s not yet finished with the job.

“It’s not a move to decommission myself,” Hunter said. “I’m leaving all options open.”

Hunter, 54, who was first elected sheriff in 1988, said he intends to run for a sixth term as sheriff. He stopped short of naming Rambosk as his successor.

“Kevin would be well-positioned,” Hunter said.

The undersheriff position had been vacant for three years and Hunter operated with three chiefs – Rambosk in operations, Chief Scott Salley in corrections and Chief Greg Smith in administration.

Hunter promoted Rambosk in December 2004 to his operations chief, where he was in charge of most of the agency, with more than 800 people under his supervision.

The new plan divides and balances the number of people each chief supervises.

“It increases our responsiveness to the public, while being more efficient,” Rambosk said.

Part of the plan, which adds no positions, is to slice the operations area in half, operations on one side and investigations on the other.

Leading the investigations department will be veteran deputy Jim Williams, who takes over the title of chief. He will be in charge of internal affairs, training, vice and narcotics and all criminal investigations. He had been a captain.

Bloom will lead the operations department as chief. He’ll be responsible for patrol, youth and delinquency services, youth relations and special operations, which includes everything from SWAT to fugitive warrants. He was promoted from the captain who was in charge of road patrol.

Smith will remain chief of administration, while Salley also will keep his position as corrections chief.

Several commanders moved up to the rank of captain and other supervisors have taken on new jobs.

Oscar Roche is now captain of internal affairs and training. Tim Guerrette is captain of youth and delinquency services. Chris Roberts moves up to captain of criminal investigations. Mark Baker was promoted to captain of the patrol division.

Commander Beth Jones, who led the DRILL Academy, has been named commander of the youth and delinquency services division, and John Mausen, who moved up from the rank of lieutenant, takes on the role of patrol group commander.

Capt. Al Beatty is the head of the new communications and public affairs division and Stephanie Spell was named assistant director of that division. Bob Finney III was named manager of the communications technical bureau.