Ledger-Dispatch

By Jerry Budrick (jbudrick@ledger-dispatch.com= )=20

=

District 1 supervisor candidates John = Gonsalves,=20 left, and Rosalie Pryor Escamilla, right, joined Liz McCulloch for = a=20 Q&A last week.

Photo by: Jerry=20 Budrick
As if to hone their skills for = tonight's=20 election forum, two candidates for District 1 supervisor participated in = a=20 question and answer session before the Democratic Club of Amador last=20 week.

Rosalie Pryor Escamilla and John Kennedy Gonsalves joined a = group=20 of 16 Democrats in cozy quarters at the Amador Senior Center on New York = Ranch=20 Road in Jackson. With the mellifluous tones of the practicing Gold = Country=20 Chorus seeping through the walls, Pryor Escamilla and Gonsalves = discussed many=20 of the issues facing Amador County today.

Pryor Escamilla has = been on the=20 Jackson City Council for nearly eight years and is the current mayor. = Gonsalves=20 was 2000-01 Amador County Grand Jury foreman, and has been a member of = the=20 Amador County Planning Commission for four years.

When Democratic = Club=20 Vice President Steve Christensen asked the candidates to pinpoint the = biggest=20 issues, both named planning as No. 1.

For Pryor Escamilla, it was = land=20 use planning, "which we've been trying to push through in Jackson for 10 = years,"=20 she said.

For Gonsalves, it was the general plan, which he said = "is right=20 on the horizon. I believe in property rights, but we really need the = general=20 plan."

Second on Pryor Escamilla's list was regionalization. = "When I=20 began in 2000 (on the city council)," she said, "there was almost no = cooperation=20 among the government entities." She singled out the Amador Regional = Planning=20 Committee as a step in the right direction, enough so that the city of = Jackson=20 joined at its inception.

Gonsalves took up the cause of local = senior=20 citizens. "We have a bare bones budget for seniors," he said. "We = shouldn't be=20 taking away essential services and putting burdens on the backs of=20 seniors."

Both candidates are in favor of some sort of revenue = sharing,=20 which has become a hot topic since the growth of unincorporated Martell = into the=20 sales tax center of Amador County. Both spoke of the need to recognize = the=20 inevitability of growth, coupled with the need to exercise control over = that=20 growth.

Democrat Marcie Bayne asked about Arroyo Seco, the = 19,000- to=20 23,000-acre possible development on the Howard Ranch property west of=20 Ione.

"Big developers bring in crews from outside," Gonsalves = responded.=20 "I'm a custom home builder - one or two at a time."

Sally = Trestrail asked=20 about Wicklow Way, a 700-unit subdivision planned to grow on the edge of = Jackson.

"If it becomes up to me, I'll be looking for a lot of = changes,=20 mitigations and a development agreement for this project," Pryor = Escamilla=20 said.

"The revised (draft environmental impact report) shows many = impacts=20 to the city of Jackson," added Gonsalves.

When it came to the=20 controversial Home Depot, Gonsalves suggested, "I would love to see an=20 alternative location. If we found another location and set up revenue = sharing,=20 it would be great."

Pryor Escamilla, embroiled in the controversy = as=20 mayor of Jackson, said, "I can't really talk about it. We have to stay = with the=20 process. Every dog has his day."

Jerry = Budrick