New district 1 state senator visits local realtor’s meeting
Lassen County’s Brian Dahle, recently sworn-in as District 1 State Senator, appeared at the Monday, June 17 Lassen Association of Realtors® meeting in Susanville.
While Dahle’s advertised topic was the housing crisis in California, he spoke on a number of issues during his 30-minute appearance.
Dahle said he wasn’t telling the realtors anything they didn’t already know — “the regulatory environment in California is difficult for housing.”
Dahle said legislators and even the governor don’t understand “cities and counties don’t build houses, developers build houses,” and the cost of all the regulations government puts on those developers “just doesn’t pencil out. Your high end homes have to be so high to offset your low income (homes).”
He said the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act can be quite challenging for developers.
The good news is, Dahle said, a lot of money is being directed out of the general fund for bonds to build housing.
“We have been a little successful in some areas,” Dahle said.
For example, there’s a project in Redding where the old mall property was converted to mixed use. Dahle said he helped the developers get a $20 million low-income grant for the project.
“Really, the problem with California is the cost of living,” Dahle said. “Your energy costs are higher, everything here is higher. And the thing I want to share with you I’ve been working full-time on is property insurance … A lot of companies are leaving California, and the cost for insurance is going to continue to rise.”
Dahle also said he is dedicated to “keeping Prop. 13 where it’s at.”
