The Problem
Small business owners are being squeezed from every direction — rising commercial rents, access-to-credit barriers, higher input costs, and competition from corporate chains that can undercut local operators. When small businesses close, the community loses jobs, mentorship, local identity, and neighborhood stability.
My Framework
We cannot talk about small business without talking about space and cost. If local operators can’t afford a lease, the community loses its independent restaurants, neighborhood services, and family-run shops. My approach connects federal tools to local stability: lower the cost of building and leasing, expand skilled workforce pipelines, and protect local corridors from corporate capture.
My Plan
Lower fixed costs. Expand access. Protect local business corridors.
- Use federal housing and community-development tools to reduce total costs: align discretionary HUD resources toward projects that create affordable mixed-use space and community-serving infrastructure — not just luxury development.
- Connect veteran transition programs to local economic needs: expand carpentry and electrical workforce pipelines so veterans help build the housing and infrastructure our communities need — lowering costs and creating long-term careers.
- Support Community Land Trust (CLT) models and affordability strategies: encourage tools that reduce land and lease pressure so local operators can keep monthly costs down, reinvest in workers, and grow inventory instead of just surviving.
- Expand fair access to capital: push lending transparency, reduce barriers for responsible borrowers, and strengthen programs that help small businesses secure reasonable credit and startup funding.
- Protect local food and dining corridors: level the playing field so independent restaurants and small food businesses can compete against corporate chains — preserving community gathering spaces, local ownership, and neighborhood pride.
- Cut unnecessary bureaucracy: streamline processes that delay permits, expansions, and compliance for small operators, while maintaining public health and safety standards.
What Success Looks Like
- Lower commercial lease pressure and more affordable local business spaces.
- More veteran-led skilled trade jobs tied to real community projects.
- More independent restaurants and neighborhood businesses staying open and expanding.
- Improved access to fair credit for responsible borrowers and small operators.
- Communities that feel connected — where people gather, spend locally, and protect each other.
Build Local. Spend Local.
If you’re a small business owner in CA-35 — or you want to become one — I want to hear what’s holding you back. The best economic policy starts with the people living it.
Back to Issues