Ledger-Dispatch

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

Rosalie Pryor=20 Escamilla
Editor's note: This is the last = in a=20 series profiling candidates for the Amador County Board of=20 Supervisors.

Rosalie Pryor Escamilla is one of four = candidates=20 for the District 1 county supervisor seat being left open by her brother = in law,=20 Rich Escamilla.

Up against some well-known family names, Rosalie = has=20 chosen to campaign on a first-name basis, trusting that voters in her = district=20 are familiar enough with her name and record to need no more than=20 that.

"Elect experience" is one of Pryor Escamilla's campaign = slogans and=20 she has plenty of it. She's worked as a teacher for 25 years in = virtually every=20 state of the union, Canada and many countries of Europe and South = America.=20 During her seven years on the Jackson City Council, most recently as = mayor, she=20 has had an opportunity to practice what she preached.

Among the = tough=20 issues on Jackson City Council agendas during her tenure, Pryor = Escamilla feels=20 best about the ones that tested her ability to think through knotty = questions.=20 She was deeply involved in the process of conceiving the policy for = housing=20 equivalent units, or HEUs, which have become invaluable to Jackson = growth=20 planning. The contentious workforce housing issue, exemplified by the = battle=20 over Kennedy Meadows, required persistence and tenacity to stick to what = she=20 believed was right, despite heated citizen opposition.

"I've been = proud=20 to be a part of Jackson's lead in providing affordable housing," she = said,=20 referring to the city's implementation of an inclusionary housing = ordinance.=20 "The county is severely under quota for affordable and workforce = housing," she=20 said of one of her key campaign issues.

"Think locally, be = neighborly" is=20 another slogan and introduces one of the cornerstones of her campaign -=20 increased cooperation between the county and its cities. Many issues on = the=20 horizon for the board of supervisors have to do with overlapping, = regional or=20 downright competitive situations.

The Wicklow Way subdivision is = in the=20 latter stages of development and is located on county property adjacent = to the=20 city of Jackson. The Amador Water Agency has plans for regional water = and=20 wastewater projects that will affect all of the cities, as well as the=20 unincorporated county areas in between. Booming development in Martell = has=20 brought sharing of tax revenues between cities and county to the=20 fore.

Every one of these questions will demand research and the = deep=20 thinking that Pryor Escamilla feels she has been training for these many = years.=20 "People should vote for a candidate who will be able to think things = through,"=20 she said. "The content changes all the time, but the process is what's=20 important."

When asked about priorities, Pryor Escamilla brought = up the=20 nagging issue of the main county library. "We need a new library," she = said,=20 "yet most efforts to locate land and fund a library rest on the = shoulders of a=20 volunteer organization. As supervisor, I'd raise the priority of this = community=20 need to the forefront."

An Amador County resident by choice, = Pryor=20 Escamilla has been in the county since 1987. She arrived with a gift = certificate=20 from a friend to the Sutter Creek Inn, where the sound of small = airplanes=20 alerted her to the existence of the Amador County Airport in Westover = Field. An=20 avid pilot, Pryor Escamilla quickly fell in love with Amador County's=20 picturesque and well-situated little airport. Inevitable interaction = with=20 long-standing airport manager Dave Richards led to discussions and = eventual=20 establishment of a business at the airport, Gold Country Soaring, which = she ran=20 for a few years until the demands of her career interfered.

The = career=20 was in management development consulting, which Pryor Escamilla = continued until=20 shortly after being elected to the Jackson City Council. Faced with = full-time=20 demands from a part-time position on the city council, she felt that she = had to=20 come up with a way to earn a living closer to home. Pryor Escamilla = obtained a=20 real estate license and went to work for All Power Brokers, where she is = still=20 an associate realtor. She also works from time to time when called on = for=20 special projects with established clients in her consulting = role.

Since=20 she's been in the county, Pryor Escamilla has served on numerous = regional boards=20 and agencies, including the Amador County Recreation Agency, Airport = Land Use=20 Commission and the Historic Jackson Business Association.

Pryor = Escamilla=20 was born in Seattle and moved to San Francisco in 1976, prior to moving = to=20 Jackson, where she met her husband, John Escamilla, on the Argonaut High = School=20 tennis court. She is president of the Amador Tennis Club and director of = Amador=20 Junior Team Tennis, when she isn't making those tough decisions down at = city=20 hall.

Jerry = Budrick