[00:00:01] Speaker A: Well, welcome back to the real estate and more show. I'm Michael Hatfield, and thank you for listening. I don't know about you, but I'm one that likes to know how things work. If a jet engine happens to make noise, I like to know how that thing works. And in the case of our government, I like to know how things get done that affect me. As a community resident in our state of California, there are always issues, concerns and development proposals that come to mind, such as environmental concerns, economic development, housing, and disaster preparedness. We have an incredibly talented, interesting, special guest here today who is able to share with us how the planning commission works in his county and how public issues and concerns are addressed. Let's give a big welcome to Contra Costa County Planning Commissioner Mr. Ross Hillisheim. Welcome to the show, Ross.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: Michael, thank you for having me. This is great.
[00:00:57] Speaker A: Definitely our pleasure, my friend. Mr. Hillisheim, you have lived in this county for almost a decade and a half, raising your family in Contra Costa county as well. What drew you into public service?
[00:01:11] Speaker B: What drew me into public service was wanting to get involved. Years ago, I actually called my county supervisor, Candice Anderson, and I told her I'm a new resident in the area. And I said, I want to get involved. How can I help? I have a couple hours a week, a month to help better the community. She gave me a couple options. I flipped through some ideas, and I applied for the planning commission.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: Wow. And you've been doing that for a while now.
[00:01:38] Speaker B: It's about four years.
[00:01:39] Speaker A: And are your family members all happy of being here in Contra Costa county?
[00:01:44] Speaker B: My wife and our little girls, we love Contra Costa County. I want to tell one quick little story, please. We started off in Pleasant Hill, small little home by a safeway. All four of our daughters were born there in Pleasant Hill. And when we moved years ago, when we moved, I was helping the movers pack up and my wife and kids left when they left to drive to the new home still in the county, I stayed back with the packers movers. And when they drove away for the last time, I cried. That little home with our little girls running around the kitchen island, rocking babies to sleep there. I thought this was the last time I was going to be in this home with those little girls. And I cried tears of joy and sadness. But yeah, we loved Pleasant Hill and we love where we live now, too.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: We were talking just yesterday, I was doing a taping with Pavatucci, and we were talking about every element that goes into deciding to retire, where you're going to move are you going to move at all? You're going to upsize, downsize, or are you going to retire everywhere with multiple properties and multiple locations? And that's one of the things right there that keeps me from putting my toes in the water as far as moving. We love it where it is, and there's so many great memories there. I certainly understand. Well, your history, I looked into your history. Your primary career has been in commercial real estate and development, and I would think that it works synergistically with everything that the planning commission does. What say you?
[00:03:17] Speaker B: Oh, I love being on the planning commission. My primary way that I make money, the only way I make money for my family is in commercial real estate development and business operations.
A couple of years ago, as I was getting into commercial real estate, I decided to go to law school at night because I did not have an understanding of the law and how things worked with real estate transactions, easements, financing contracts. I ended up going to law school here in Contra Costa county at JFK law.
That experience of going to law school at night and doing development on my own for myself has really helped for my business moving forward, but it really helps on the planning commission.
There's seven of us members on the commission.
Everyone touches real estate in some way. One is a real estate broker. One is a developer attorney. One was a labor president here in Contra Costa county.
So my experience with doing this day in and day out, working with jurisdictions, working with cities on approvals, I think really helps the planning commission because I see both sides of the table. I could see the government, the public side, and I can also see the property owner or developer side of the table as well.
[00:04:44] Speaker A: That's so important, it's related. But when there's an airline accident, being that I had 25 years with Delta Airlines, everybody comes to you and say, what happened? What happened? What happened? Well, having that depth of what actually goes on in the flight deck, in the aircraft, and how the aircraft is built gives you a unique ability to service the needs of people that ask you those questions. And in your case, in the planning commission, and I'm not selling you, I know you to be a really great attribute to the planning commission, but it seems to me like you're a perfect fit.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: Well, I appreciate you saying that. I really get along with my fellow commissioners.
I only see them twice a month at the two hearings, but, yeah, I appreciate you saying that. I think about this a lot. I read about it at night, so I hope I add some value.
[00:05:39] Speaker A: Oh, I know you do. One of the things that comes to mind is knowing how to fund a public project.
Not everybody knows how to do that. I wouldn't know the first thing of how to fund a public project. And you have that background.
[00:05:54] Speaker B: Yeah, I think. Well, I know that it's easy for us novices to drive down the street and say, someone should build that something there or that should go there. Right.
Understanding where the water is coming from, what it costs to get the water there, where the sewer water is going after it's being used on site, how much it costs to actually move dirt and pave things, is a very important and integral part of real estate development. If you don't know what something's going to cost horizontally, then you could easily be.
[00:06:38] Speaker A: Absolutely. You know, we're talking with Ross Hillisheim. He's a planning commissioner with the Contra Costa County Planning Commission. Great guy. And he's sharing with us a lot of what his knowledge is at the moment. Along that same lines, Nancy used to work for the water sewer district, Dublin, and so she knew, she had an insight as to water rights for any development that may occur, whether or not people wanted that development or didn't. That's another thing altogether. She also knew a bit about where the other attributes or residue from sewage and this kind of thing went. She's had a wealth of experience, and to me, that's where you came from, and that's why you do so well on the planning commission. And we already know that you're an affable kind of guy, and you get along with just about everybody, including our friend Marty.
[00:07:27] Speaker B: I love Mr. Sherman. I love Marty Sherman.
[00:07:30] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, he's been on the show, too.
[00:07:32] Speaker B: I did not know.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:07:34] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:07:35] Speaker A: He's got a podcast in there, too, and you can pick it up on demand. And incidentally, folks, any of these shows, if you're interested in, they're available on any of the podcast platforms. IHeart iTunes. Well, actually, it's apple now. Amazon, Pandora, they're all on there. Spotify is a good one, too, just so you know. So I think that one of the most important things of qualifying for a position like yours is your past. One of the really great elements of your past is that you were an Eagle scout. And I got to tell the story again. When I was a czech pilot with the airline, I was checking out a new first officer that had come out of the military, and he'd flown the SR 71 blackbird. Now, this is just not one little airplane. This thing flew at the edge of space at Mach four plus that's four times the speed of sound. He wore a space suit to fly it. And I said to him one time, I said, you know, I bet you get a lot of notoriety by having flown the SR 71, flying the bout blackbird. And he says, you know, I get more notoriety out of being a former Eagle scout. What do you think? Do you have anybody ever talk to you about that?
[00:08:50] Speaker B: You know what, Michael? I really appreciate you bringing that up. It's a blast from my past. I'm 41 years old. I was an Eagle scout when I was 16 or 17 years old. So, yes, actually this week, an Eagle scout issue was brought up at Wednesday night's planning commission hearing, which went till 01:00 a.m. From 630 to 01:00 a.m..
A gentleman brought up being an eagle scout, and he actually came up to me after the meeting. He knew I was an Eagle scout because we lead with integrity, honesty, leaving things better than leaving places better than when we had shown up.
My eagle scout, what award was great. I could go on and on about it. You want me to tell you a quick story?
[00:09:37] Speaker A: Sure, please.
[00:09:38] Speaker B: So here's a little bit of insight to how I was raised. My eagle scout project. My mom and dad had a rule that I could not get my driver's license until I got my Eagle scout award. And that was kind of along the lines of once I got my driver's license, I'd be off and running and playing basketball, not worried about scouts. Anyways, so I went and did an Eagle scout project, which was organizing a blood drive. I organized a red cross blood drive in the church parking lot. We had 100 people show up. I organized the before, the during, and the after. When I got done, they put a plaque on the wall in the Red Cross facility in Monterey. And I thought, hey, I'm done. That was great. Perfect. When I went home and chatted with my dad, my dad said, you need to do another one. That was a little too easy, or you need to do more. So guess what I did? I did another one.
[00:10:31] Speaker A: Isn't that amazing?
[00:10:32] Speaker B: So I did two blood drives down in Monterey county. It was great. So that's a little bit background about how I was raised, my wonderful father.
[00:10:38] Speaker A: And who I am giving back to the community.
[00:10:41] Speaker B: Oh, you bet.
[00:10:42] Speaker A: Yeah. One of my best friends passed away, and his son was right in the middle of eagle scouts, and he had never done much with his hands and tools. And I got together and we built seven. Actually, we ended up building eight barn owl boxes. And the interesting thing about it was that we finished seven of them, and he says, I don't need you anymore. He got into my humor, and he says, now you're fired. I said, okay, fine. And then he calls me back the next day and he says, you know, we got to build one more albox. We needed eight. And I said, I can't work for you. I'm fired. He says, you'rehired just a really great young man. He's doing wonderful things now. I think he's just finishing his master's and just real proud of him. Having a loss of a father at a young age is just amazing. So give us something about the planning commissions. Give us something about history. How does that all work?
How does it interface? And we'll get into the rest of these important things that we are going to talk about.
[00:11:42] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I appreciate you asking that and having me on. I take being a planning commissioner very serious. I love the history of it. I love where the authority comes from through the states. But basically, the county planning commission is a volunteer commission.
We're appointed and we're not paid by the government. We're actually reimbursed $40 per month.
[00:12:07] Speaker A: Oh, my.
[00:12:08] Speaker B: So I think that's just for gas mileage and a burrito on the way to a meeting or two. It really is a volunteer role that we don't really answer to anyone but ourselves and the public. So the planning commission gets its authority through the state of California. Local land use authority is held at the local level. So things that happen in your backyard, whether it be the refineries in Martinez or your neighbor's backyard, if they want to build something, those decisions are held at the local level, not Sacramento, not Washington, DC. It's one of the things I love kind of going back to being Eagle Scout. It's your community, your neighbors, the people around here. Hey, we can figure this out together. So I love that kind of context. Well, yeah, I love that context that this is derived at a local level. County planning commission has seven commissioners.
Five are appointed by each supervisor of the board of supervisors, and there's two at large commissioners. I'm one of the at large commissioners. I had to go through an interview process. I had to prove that I was worthy to be on the commission.
We meet twice a month in Martinez. We resume for a while now we're in person hybrid.
We hear everything from subdivisions, someone wanting to subdivide their property into two or ten lots or 100 lots. We oversee sequa and Eir compliance. Eir stands for environmental impact reports, something that's really important in the state of California to you, too, Michael and me, is the environment, making sure that we're in compliance with the state. Some of the things that we oversee are literally the refineries. There are two refineries within the county jurisdiction. That's one of the things that I love about Contra Costa county. You have the mountains of Mount, you have the Mount Diablo and the open space juxtaposed with the refineries and all of the jobs and infrastructure and energy that brings to me. This is a great county and community that shows kind of both sides, right. Of the environmental aspect and the industry aspect. We need to work together.
[00:14:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I'll pull you out of that thought for a second and think that's one of the other reasons that many people in Contra Costa county don't want to really move. They don't want to go out of state. They don't want to go to Portugal. They don't do all this because you have so many things here. If you need a job, there's refineries as well as other business. Other business is so critical. Small business so critical. We're going to get to economic development momentarily. But that's one of the reasons that so many people love the Contra Costa county and sure appreciate what you're doing on the planning commission, too. It's amazing. We're talking with Mr. Ross Hillisheim. He is a planning commissioner, Contra Costa County Planning Commission, and we're grateful that he's here talking to us today. We're going to take a short break. We'll be right back.
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[00:16:08] Speaker A: Remax, calbree 0149-3761 now back to our show.
Now we're going to shift gears a little bit. We're going to talk about housing. The hot topic of the day is state of California reportedly facing a significant housing crisis. Please explain what is going on in the state.
[00:16:30] Speaker B: Michael, great question. I am by no means an expert in the housing industry, but being a commissioner, these are things I read about. These are things that I seek out to get more information on. I do know that the state of California and a lot of the mainstream ideas right now is that we do have a housing crisis or a housing shortage. The state legislature has passed some government codes that oversee the housing and community development department. This is a department that is held at the state level. That department then goes out to each jurisdiction. The city of Walnut Creek, Contra Costa county, the city of Martinez, the city of Sacramento, and that department at the state level then allocates certain amount of housing units that should be built or zoned within the next eight to ten years. Right now, the state believes that there's a housing cris and we need more housing. I don't know the exact answer to that because part of me also sees that. I read in the news that people are leaving California. We lost two congressional seats due to population loss. So it's something that I am personally trying to understand and grapple with more. I can tell you this specifically. In Contra Costa county, the state has asked us, required us, I should say, to rezone over 7000 new units within the county jurisdiction.
[00:18:02] Speaker A: Hold on just 1 second. So what you're saying now, there's a special department in Sacramento that is telling the local level that your normal local level policing authority of zoning needs to be changed according to what they wish, correct? Yes. And what is the name of this particular department?
[00:18:25] Speaker B: The acronym is HCD for housing and Community Development.
[00:18:31] Speaker A: I see. And this is the housing elements that they're coming out with to say that each local level needs to put so many residences into the county.
This is what they're saying. And so they're putting pressure on the local board of supervisors, which you're an advisor to as the planning commission, to make this happen, right?
[00:18:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Correct. And, yeah. Applying pressure or requiring the jurisdictions, because, again, from the state's perspective, they say, we need more housing, we're in a crisis. Therefore, they're saying to the different jurisdictions, including Contra Costa county, hey, you need to zone for and prepare for more units over the next handful of years. I know this is a hot topic item, and I will tell you this. The last HCD allotment that came out. About ten years ago, Contra Costa county was required to have 1800 new units. So now they're more than quadrupling this to over 7000 new units.
[00:19:36] Speaker A: Wow, that's a lot of units into various communities that have to be absorbed. And then you bring out the issue of infrastructure. Like, if you're going to put into some little hamlet that's got one road in and out, and you're going to put in another 400 high density units into that area, you're going to have to have water and sewage, you're going to have to have power, you're going to have to have. And it basically circumvents the local authority from planning and permitting. Essentially.
[00:20:09] Speaker B: Yeah, you're 100% correct.
[00:20:12] Speaker A: Well, what can the state do if a county does not comply with their demands?
[00:20:19] Speaker B: That's another great question. Right now, that's more of a legal government question. From what I've been hearing from county staff attorneys that I speak with.
If Contra Costa county does not meet the state's housing element requirements, that then leaves the county open to what's called builder's remedy, or Senate Bill 330, which basically would mean a builder or developer could go to the county and say, you're not in compliance with the state. Therefore, my application for ten homes or 1000 homes, probably not 1000, but ten to 100 homes can just be streamlined through the county. Now, the good thing about this is the county we actually, on Wednesday night, passed our housing element, and now it's going to the board of supervisors to be ratified. We're hoping that the county will now be in compliance with the state.
[00:21:17] Speaker A: Most counties weren't when it first came out. Correct. Most counties were not in compliance. It seemed like there was only one or two that were in compliance at the very beginning. And now they're coming into compliance with some adjustments from the local counties and cities. Right. Is that how it's.
[00:21:34] Speaker B: I don't, I don't know exactly. Other jurisdictions, this county, contra Costa, and our different cities within this county, I think a majority of them have been in compliance with the states, but for sure there's been jurisdictions, southern California, northern California, that say, hey, we're not going to be in compliance with the housing element, and they're pushing back. Luckily, we are, and we're going to be in compliance. That's kind of step one that I feel like I want you and the listeners to understand we have to be in compliance with the state because then they'll withhold funding, they'll be, open us up to some legal remedies.
The next step on this, though, and we may get into this a little bit later, the reality of over 7000 new units built in the county, it takes a lot more to build those 7000 plus units than just a rezoning. It takes a willing property owner, it takes a willing lender, it takes a building, a general contractor, it takes the county or city to approve this. There are applications that come to Contra Costa County Planning Commission right now that have been in the application process for over a decade.
So just because things are being rezoned and increased in zoning doesn't necessarily mean that that's going to be built there. It takes a lot more in business. As you know, as a business owner, it's easy to say, I'm going to start a business. Well, you got to go get the financing, you got to find the building, got to find the employees. It's similar with the housing element. But this is something that we should, I would like to suggest to the public, get a little bit more involved in this, understand what's going on. What are the requirements from the state? How does our county feel about it? How does our local politicians feel about this?
[00:23:22] Speaker A: Absolutely. I totally agree. So at this point, just for Contra Costa, we're using that as an example because we know this county a little bit better than other counties. They're saying 7700 units have to be approved. They meaning the state is saying that and hey, guys, just deal with it no matter what. And they're saying to the local levels that you got to come in and you got to permit these things, be responsible for the permitting. But the big question that I would like to leave our listeners with, because we're running out of time, believe it or not. The big question is why do we have to do this and why is everyone not being involved and who's going to pay for all of the infrastructure to support all of this? It's expensive to put in new sewer, new electrics, new water, have police and fire authorities, have roads that will do it. So it's important that all of this is looked at. And quite frankly, from my standpoint, I'm very grateful that you're part of the planning commission to help the local supervisors understand what's going on. I'm really grateful for that. I had no idea that so much was involved, but we're not getting to our questions. We've been talking with Mr. Ross Hillisheim. He's the planning commissioner, one of the seven planning commissioners in Contra Costa county. We're not getting to our questions. I'm going to ask Mr. Hillisheim back next week to finish some of these questions that we've left undone here. It's been so informative. So with that in mind, what great information for all of us that like to know how things work in our government. And great to see our Contra Costa county planning commissioner, Mr. Ross Hillisheim. I would vote for mayor. I would vote for governor, probably for president. For this guy.
[00:25:11] Speaker B: I think it's really important to note that we want vibrant communities. We want single family residences, we want apartment complex, we want high density.
One of my college internships was in New York City, and I lived in a one bedroom apartment with three other guys. So I know at that stage of my life, I lived in that small place. That was a stage of life I was in, and I loved it. Now that I have a family, a single family home with a backyard is something that's really important to me.
[00:25:41] Speaker A: A big thank you for being on the show, Commissioner Hillisheim. Looking forward to next week. As real estate professionals, the Michael hatfield remax team keeps our focus on what is going on around us. And today we very much enjoyed our visit from our planning commissioner. We have several more questions to ask. Next week. I'm going to have Mr. Hillisheim come back to our show to finish his generous questions and answers. Thank you for being on the show and for sharing, Mr. Hillisheim.
[00:26:08] Speaker B: Mr. Hatfield, thank you so much.
[00:26:10] Speaker A: You've been listening to real estate and more show interesting people today's topics, and we do love real estate. You can listen to archived real estate and more
[email protected]. Slash radio that's michaelhatfieldhomes.com Slash radio or the real estate and more show is available on demand at Spotify, Amazon, Apple, iHeart, Pandora and other podcast platforms as well. On demand. Tune in next week and let's hear the rest of what Mr. Hillisheim has to say and have a blessed week.
[00:26:44] Speaker E: The views and opinions expressed are based on current economic and market conditions and are subject to change. Information on the show provided for illustrator purposes only and does not constitute professional or legal advice. Information from sources deemed reliable but accuracy and completeness not guaranteed. Michael Hatfield and the Michael Hatfield Remax team have no liability for information discussed on the show. Consult with qualified professionals prior to taking action.
[00:27:13] Speaker F: We at the Michael Hatfield Remax team enjoy representing our valued clients. If you or someone you know is interested in buying or selling and wishes to schedule a complimentary appointment with the Michael Hatfield Remax team, call us at 925-32-2775 that's 925-32-2775 or go to our website, michaelhatfieldhomes.com.
[00:27:37] Speaker D: I'm Michael Hatfield.
[00:27:39] Speaker A: Thank you for listening today.
[00:27:40] Speaker D: Join us next Saturday for the next.
[00:27:42] Speaker A: Real estate and more when we again.
[00:27:45] Speaker D: Sharpen our focus on house the market.
[00:27:47] Speaker F: Join us next Saturday and have a wonderful week. Best wishes and blessings to you.
Dr. E. One four nine. We.
