Dianne Jacob Says Good-bye to Public Life After 28 Years as County Supervisor (2021)
- Media
- Mar 13
- 6 min read
The county’s longest serving supervisor retires with a legacy of advancing public safety, aiding the region’s aging population and leadership.
When Dianne Jacob arrived on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors in 1993, she received a less than warm welcome from the incumbent supervisors and entrenched county bureaucrats.
A Jamul resident and former Spring Valley elementary teacher, Jacob had jousted with the county for more than a decade, objecting to a few development projects in East County. She also campaigned as someone who would challenge the status quo and bring more accountability and community focus to county government.
She laid out two initiatives during her first address at a board meeting: one, to bring a citizen-based budget approach to a county that was on the verge of financial ruin and, two, to shutter the El Cajon jail — nicknamed the “Styrofoam palace” — and instead reopen the East Mesa jail, which was sitting vacant while costing the county about $2 million a year.
After her speech one of the bureaucrats turned to a Jacob’s staffer and, not realizing who they worked for, said, “She isn’t going to last long.”
Jacob ended up lasting 28 years, longer than any supervisor in county history. She managed to quickly get her citizen-oriented budget practices adopted, and the East Mesa jail opened after she set up a press conference and invited talk show host Roger Hedgecock to run a live town hall meeting in the vacant building.
“My mother always said ‘Where there is a will there’s a way and sometimes there are things that are flat out wrong,'” Jacob, 81, said during a recent interview at her ranch in Deerhorn Valley.
“If you find enough people who feel the same way you do, somebody has to be out front; somebody has to be the crazy one taking the flack. And I didn’t mind doing that.”
During her seven terms on the board, Jacob has forged a reputation as “East County’s Iron Lady” due to her brand of accessible, driven, straight-shooting politics.
“To be an effective leader you have to listen first, and from listening you learn and can lead,” Jacob said. “It doesn’t come from the top; it comes from the bottom. It comes from the people.”
Jacob, 81, has been a San Diegan all her life and attended Grant Elementary School in Mission Hills before moving to La Mesa, where she went to Rolando Elementary School, La Mesa Junior High and Helix High School.
Her mom was a homemaker and her dad was truck driver who founded a trucking company. Though they were never wealthy, Jacob said her parents were great role models who instilled a strong moral compass, work ethic and sense of determination.
Although she was a very good student, Jacob was shy in elementary school because she was bullied for being cross-eyed. However Jacob also threw herself into every sport a girl could play, which contributed to her passion for expanding recreational opportunities once she became an elected official.
As supervisor Jacob often used grants under the county’s Neighborhood Reinvestment program to support schools, parks and recreation projects, and during her 28 years in office the county added 131 parks and recreation projects in East County and built nearly 400 miles of trails in the county.
“One day this young girl who played softball came up to me and said ‘You know, having this really nice field lets me know how you and other adults care about me, that you care enough to build these nice fields for us to play on’,” Jacob said. “That really hit me, that in itself sends a message we care about our kids, and we are going to have nice facilities for our kids.”
After earning a degree in elementary education and a teaching credential at San Diego State University, Jacob taught sixth grade at Bancroft Elementary School in Spring Valley. She also met her husband, Paul Jacob, a Navy jet pilot, at a bowling alley and married him in 1961.
They had a son, Tom, and moved to a ranch near Jamul where they raised Angus cattle.
Jacob got her first taste of public office when she was elected to the Jamul-Dulzura School Board 1975 and served for 17 years. Her first foray into county government came by way of her opposition to the Winnekta Ranch and the Honey Springs Ranch development projects in rural Jamul.
She ultimately won both of those fights, though the battle over Honey Springs ended a decade later with the Sierra Club’s lawsuit against the project winning in State Supreme Court.
“It’s a community here, a real sense of community, and that’s how I got involved (with politics),” Jacob said.
In 1992, at the request of several neighbors, Jacob opted to run for District 2 county supervisor and won people over with her grassroot bona-fides and a promise of change.
Jacob has historically had one of the most active district offices and could often be found at town halls, revitalization meetings or her regular “coffee with constituents” events. She also launched a newsletter, dubbed the “Jacob Journal,” putting out an issue monthly at its peak.
She has never lost a political campaign.
“Unless you know what is on the mind of the people you represent, there is no way you can be an effective leader,” she said.
Four years after Jacob entered office, she was joined by new board members who cleaned up county finances. That board, which included Supervisor Greg Cox and former Supervisors Ron Roberts, Pam Slater-Price and Bill Horn, remained largely the same for the next two decades.
Jacob also pushed back against San Diego Gas & Electric over what she said were unfair practices affecting ratepayers, and she has been critical of the company’s role in starting wildfires. During her final year as chairwoman of the Board, she successfully pushed the county to more deeply explore establishing a community choice energy program in the county’s unincorporated area.
The former teacher also has advocated for expanding aging and independent living services for San Diego seniors, including proposals for greater financial and housing assistance to caregivers, and she was instrumental in launching the regional Alzheimer’s Project in 2014.
What she is perhaps best known for — especially among East County residents — is her work related to promoting public safety and wildfire preparedness.
Jacob said she has long believed that public safety is the chief responsibility of county government. She has had a hand in developing seven Sheriff’s stations and 14 fire stations in East County.
Prior to 2003’s Cedar Fire and 2007’s Witch Fire Jacob advocated for taking steps to address wildfire concerns. And after those fires spilled into the cities, Jacob found more support for her proposals.
She pushed to improve development regulations to provide more defensible space and was a leading advocate for establishing the County Fire Authority to coordinate fire protection in the backcountry. That agency has morphed into the San Diego County Fire Protection District, which has about 500 paid and reserve firefighters.
Overall, the county has invested more than $575 million in fire prevention and protection since those large fires in the 2000s.
For all of Jacob’s success, there were several battles she didn’t win, including her fight for energy independence from SDG&E and her struggles to prevent the placement of sexual predators in the backcountry.
After serving in elected office for 45 years, Jacob said she’s excited to finally take a day off and plans to continue working on her ranch, spending time with family, and playing golf. She wants to become a horse owner again.
As she says goodbye to public life, Jacob said she is optimistic about the future of San Diego County under the new board and is grateful to all those in the community who helped her push county initiatives.
“You don’t do anything yourself; you need to have the backing of other people who feel like-minded and want to make change,” Jacob said. “With them behind you, you can do it.”
Written by Charles T. Clark | January 21, 2021 | Ramona Sentinel
Photos by Eduardo Contreras | The San Diego Union-Tribune
Editor's Note: I attended many of those "Trail Advisory" meetings with other Bonita equestrians. We'd go around the table discussing trail issues and Diane Jacob would work on solutions with us. She was an amazing Supervisor and I hope we get someone for District 1 with Diane's leadership ability and her genuine concern for constituents' needs.
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