"For big business and corporations, yes. For the independent mom and pop business, no."
Oct. 1, 2014 Whitney Scott Bain

"We suffer from over-regulation, confusing ordinances, too much taxation and a business climate that is charitably described in California as one of the worst in our state.

We must condense our regulations and make them clear and concise. We need to have clear-cut standards for new development in our city. A developer must know at the outset what they can build on a parcel of land. The height, the density and the setbacks have to be a given, not something to be negotiated. From permit inspectors to the Planning Department, a common sense approach needs to be implemented. We’re not fair to residents or to developers.

When something as simple as a plumbing inspection can go awry, when a restaurant has to hire an expediter to get through our red tape, then something is dramatically wrong with our process. Expediters and lawyers have established a thriving business addressing problems that should have been solved by city staff quickly and efficiently.

We need to be mindful of helping individual small businesses flourish in Santa Monica. Let's not think of residents or business owners as targets to be continually milked. I believe we need to use common sense in City Hall!"
Oct. 1, 2014 Phil Brock

"Santa Monica provides a clean, safe and green environment that is highly attractive in which to do business. Our pro-business infrastructure includes our City NetSM broadband fiber optic network (which I voted to establish on the City Council), which helps local businesses compete in the global economy, including the many tech and entertainment businesses headquartered here, by providing low-cost opportunities to integrate, manage and exchange data, voice, and video.

We feature high quality police and fire service, a well-funded/highly accomplished Convention and Visitors Bureau, an award-winning Big Blue Bus company, city funding for Downtown Santa Monica Inc. to promote our downtown, and support for local business improvement organizations along Main St., Pico Bl. and Montana Ave.

To promote an educated local work force, we provide $17 million annually to the school district; along with funding our groundbreaking 'Cradle to Career' initiative, to ensure every Santa Monica child has the full opportunity to succeed in school and work.

We need to improve our jobs/housing balance, including 'work force' and service worker housing, so people can live closer to work and work closer to where they live, reducing congestion and commute times, making this a greater draw to top talent and business."
Oct. 1, 2014 Michael Feinstein

"Absolutely. That is exactly why our city's business community and our local economy are both so prosperous. Yes, the development community occasionally complains that the city can be tough. But, we should be tough. We are in high demand and can afford to be tough. Perhaps the real question should be: is Santa Monica friendly enough to small businesses and is it too friendly to national chains? We need to encourage mom-and-pop businesses that are being replaced at an alarming rate by large corporate interests with higher price points.

More to the point, the City cannot afford not to be tough and it can afford to be picky. The level of development pressure is extraordinary and businesses are paying a premium to locate here. When pressure is high, we can afford to be choosy. But we must be cautious not to sell our soul to the highest bidder. We need to establish sound policies – smaller footprints, local incentives, buy local programs, and the like – to prevent our tilt to homogenous mediocrity."
Oct. 1, 2014 Sue Himmelrich

"Yes, but I am concerned that our locally owned small businesses are threatened by pressure for massive, regional-serving commercial development. I'm focused on supporting small, neighborhood friendly businesses on our boulevards that residents can walk to. I support standards in the new zoning code update that can preserve locally-owned, small businesses and encourage new small business, not drive them out of town. In addition, we should find ways to ease the process for small, locally owned businesses to open and to thrive. Small businesses can be environmentally friendly by improving the walk appeal of our neighborhoods and providing more opportunities for people to get what they need without getting in a car."
Oct. 1, 2014 Jennifer Kennedy

"Santa Monica should actually have rent protections for businesses/commercial properties. The businesses are not geared for the residents, they're geared for tourists and outside visitors. Very little considerations are made for the longtime businesses in Santa Monica. Some, like Chez Jays, were lucky to be landmarked. But others, such as Callahan's, have been driven from existence."
Oct. 1, 2014 Terence Later

"Most Santa Monica businesses do very well, enjoying many of the same benefits from being here that residents enjoy. I've supported more business-friendly signage and display rules for Main Street, Pico, and Montana, our neighborhood-serving commercial areas.

Our emergence as a major tech center is gratifying to me because many years ago I was on Santa Monica's Telecommunications Task Force, and helped with our master plan to install internet-ready fiber under city streets for future use. We're now able to provide local businesses with super-fast 100 Gigabit connectivity, with absolute net neutrality — no access denial, and no throttling.

City Hall 'buys local,' just as we urge residents to do: I instituted a City policy favoring local businesses for City bids. We use our local newspaper, the Daily Press, for legal and other announcements.

I've helped save small resident-serving businesses like neighborhood food markets and our Aero Theatre.

I also ended the City tax on small home businesses, encouraging small entrepreneurs, and allowing a more sustainable, family-friendly lifestyle. People working at home don't have to drive so much, relieving traffic problems, and they tend to shop and dine close to home. Keeping Santa Monica dollars in Santa Monica benefits us all."
Oct. 1, 2014 Kevin McKeown

"Santa Monica often prizes the process over the outcome. It takes too long to get permission or denial here for many ordinary permits. Every business has stories of multiple City hall departments not working together to get a good outcome. Predictability is hard to achieve it needs to be the goal."
Oct. 1, 2014 Richard McKinnon

"The attitude is the business owner makes money so the city takes the money from the business owner. The general perception of the people I interviewed tells me that there is a punitive attitude towards business owners. One of the reasons I joined the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce as Compassionate Santa Monica and we will work to develop a Compassionate Business initiative with a membership program."
Oct. 1, 2014 Zoë Muntaner

"Businesses want to be in Santa Monica—especially the creative, technology and entertainment sectors along with health care providers. The Santa Monica City Net provides high speed broadband network services for governments and local businesses and institutions. The City has a business ombudsman program to connect business owners with key contacts in the City Departments to provide detailed information on start-up processes and these efforts were recognized by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation in 2013."
Oct. 1, 2014 Pam O'Connor