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San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom on Monday named a director from mobile communications giant Motorola to lead the city's Emergency Communications Department that oversees 911 calls and the planning for potential disasters and terrorist attacks.

Laura Phillips, a manager in Motorola's government relations separation after spending 12 years with Sunnyvale's Department of Public Safety, takes over a department with a budget of $69 million and more than 240 employees after she was chosen in a national search conducted by City Controller Ed Harrington.

Laura Phillip will take over the Emergency Communications Department that has a budget of $69 million and more than 240 employees.

"We are very pleased to have Laura as a part of our public safety team," Newsom said in a written statement after the announcement late Monday afternoon. He said he is confident that Phillips would become a "proud part" of San Francisco's "unmatched commitment to the vitality of its emergency services." Mayor Gavin Newsom said in a written statement on Monday.

The announcement comes after a recent audit criticized the city''s Office of Emergency Services, which is division of the Emergency Communications Department.