Commentary: I was a San Diego County supervisor for a record 28 years. Here’s why I did the job so long.

After a record 28 years in San Diego County elective office, I recently completed my seventh and final term on the Board of Supervisors.

I’ve got plans. Lots of them. Work on the family ranch in Jamul. Catch up with friends, safely. Try out some new golf clubs.

It’s time for me to reflect briefly on what was an awesome, humbling, challenging and inspiring 28 years representing the wonderful people of East County.

Serving you was one of the great honors of my life.

We provide this platform for community commentary free of charge. Thank you to all the Union-Tribune subscribers whose support makes our journalism possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider becoming one today.

Support our journalists

Thank you for standing with me as we took on huge challenges and fought the good fight to do what’s right for the people of the Second District and our entire region.

Thank you to the county’s executive team, led by Chief Administrative Officer Helen Robbins-Meyer, and to all those who served with me on the board, and to my amazing staff.

Thank you to county employees for all you do. Our public health nurses, sheriff’s deputies, park rangers, librarians, road crews and so many others. You are the heart and soul of county government.

Looking back, I’m proud of what we managed to accomplish as a region. We can point to tangible improvements that have bettered lives.

During my years on the board, we invested more than $575 million in rural fire prevention and protection, along with emergency medical services. The improvements included more fire engines and aircraft, and the establishment of the San Diego County Fire Protection District.

We turned around our finances. San Diego County government was a fiscal basket case in the 1990s. Last year, because of its healthy reserves, the county had the financial room to address the ongoing pandemic.

We made headway on the affordable housing crisis by creating a $50 million trust fund. It helped spur the construction of more than 1,400 homes for the homeless and those near homelessness, including seniors and veterans.

We launched initiatives to help those dealing with chronic mental illness and drug addiction, including increasing the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) program and the establishment of crisis stabilization centers.

We took on the epidemic of Alzheimer’s disease, the region’s third-leading cause of death, by bringing together our top elected officials, researchers, public universities, hospitals, caregivers and others under the umbrella of The Alzheimer’s Project.

We made other strides for seniors too, including boosting respite care programs and improving the safety net through programs like Take Me Home and ART, the Alzheimer’s Response Team.

I’m especially proud of all the community projects completed over the decades.

During my tenure on the board, the county built 13 libraries, 14 fire stations and six sheriff’s stations in East County.

We completed more than 130 parks and recreation projects in District 2 — from Lakeside to Ramona to Spring Valley — including ball fields, playgrounds and pools.

We preserved more than 150 square miles of open space and parkland across the region and developed more than 400 miles of new trail in the county.

Thank you to all those who stood with me to make these improvements.

Thank you everyone for your letters, emails, phone calls, Facebook messages and Twitter comments and for all the times we crossed paths — at a meeting, at a community coffee, in an aisle at the grocery store — and you asked a question or raised a concern.

Those moments kept me grounded, along with the strength and guidance from God. They reminded me why I did the job for so many years, longer than any elected official in San Diego County government history, and why I’ll miss it and the people who worked with me to make it all happen.

Community service has always been my calling, going back to my days as a school volunteer and a sixth-grade teacher at Bancroft Elementary School in Spring Valley. I also served 17 years on the Jamul-Dulzura Union School District board.

When you add it all up, I spent a total of 45 years in elective office. It’s been an honor and a privilege.

Now I’m spending more time on our ranch in Deerhorn Valley. I’ve got a new tractor and lots of plans.

When I was first sworn in as supervisor in 1993, I promised to challenge the status quo and shake things up. I wanted a county government that put people first — and I was willing to fight for it.

Thank you for joining me in the fight.

Jacob served as a San Diego County supervisor for 28 years before leaving office this week.