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Days before voters in Alameda County will be asked to give the Board of Supervisors control over the county's next chief probation officer, the current officeholder announced her retirement. 

Sylvia J. Johnson, the current chief probation officer, said Monday she plans to step down on Jan. 31. She said she provided notice of her intentions on Friday. 

“This will be the conclusion of a career spanning 45 years,” Johnson said Monday, reading from her retirement memo. “I have enjoyed and valued every moment.” She thanked members of her staff for their support over the years. 

Asked Monday about the timing of her retirement announcement, she said simply, “You live, you work, you age, and you retire. Forty-five years.” 

Johnson, who said she began as an entry-level probation officer in 1958 and became chief probation officer in Alameda County in October 1993, said she does not plan to seek another job. 

“I will enjoy my grandson,” she said. 

Johnson said it is her belief that she will be remembered for bringing positive change to the Probation Department. 

“What people have told me is that I brought resources and service to people who are at risk, children and families who are involved in the criminal justice system and in need of intervention,” she said. 

Johnson said that she could not offer her successor any advice on negotiating county politics because the situation is “dynamic.” 

The Board of Supervisors currently has no control over Johnson, who is supervised by the presiding judge of the Alameda County Juvenile Court. The supervisors control the probation department's budget, however. 

Measure C, if approved by a majority of those casting ballots, would not apply to Johnson, only to her successor. The ballot measure would amend the county charter so that any county probation officer taking office after Wednesday would be appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of, the five-member Board of Supervisors.