District 1 Supervisor Rich Escamilla, right, opens a jewelry box with an aerial picture of the two runways at Westover Field from the 1930s last week, as District 3 Supervisor Ted Novelli looks on. The gifts were from the Airport Advisory Committee on which Escamilla sat.

Photo by: Debbie Dunn

One of Amador County's most senior elected officials stepped down this week.

Rich Escamilla, 67, served 12 years as District 1 supervisor. He won office in 1995 by topping a six-person electoral field. A runoff election saw Escamilla installed decisively with 68 percent of the vote.

"At that time, the county was pretty flush - running pretty good," Escamilla recalled. "Then right after I took office, there was the biggest rain damage the county ever had, a bridge and roads out. Then, the Georgia-Pacific mill closed, one of the biggest employers in the county. I thought, 'My God, what have I gotten into?'"

Escamilla's district contains the greater Jackson area, including part of the former Kennedy Mine property, now in trust for the public. Former Jackson Mayor Rosalie Pryor Escamilla noted she and her supervisor brother-in-law shared political interests in the handling of the mine property, which lies partly in Jackson city limits.

"Rich served a long time on the Kennedy Mine Foundation board," Pryor Escamilla said. "Rich and I served together on the joint-powers agency for recreation countywide and a number of other committees like that, where we'd have different constituencies and different perspectives. He's known as a people person - well-loved."

It was in his years in the floor-covering business and as a volunteer athletic coach that Escamilla believes he built what would become his constituency. Residents entrusted their homes and their sons to his care.

"I was working in people's homes - I guess they saw my personality and my hard-working (ethic)," he said. I felt confident people would look up to me."

District 5 Supervisor Brian Oneto, beginning his second year in office, had kind words for his colleague.

"What struck me most about Rich was that he was always working for the community interest," Oneto said. "He did a lot. He worked at it. He didn't say much, but when he did, he was right on target."

Escamilla said he advised many constituents on how to steer a concern through the county bureaucratic structure.

"I helped people privately, with issues that didn't get aired," he said. "I helped hundreds of people who came up to me. That was my pat on the back."

One of his fondly remembered accomplishments, Escamilla said, was the pride he took in the board of supervisors addressing the worries of the county's animal lovers.

"Going door-to-door, I would hear, 'What is the county going to do about our animal shelter?'" Escamilla said. "We worked hard, and got a new one built."

A retirement dinner for Escamilla will be held at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23 at the American Legion Hall at Airport Road and Highway 49.

On Tuesday, the board of supervisors swore in Escamilla's replacement, John Plasse.