Portland is a small business city. The stores, restaurants, coffee shops, music venues, and breweries are the backbone of our neighborhoods. But running your own business in the City of Portland is a nightmare. I know this not only because of my five years in Portland City Hall as liaison to the small business community, but also as a former small business owner myself. My wife and I owned and operated a little coffee shop and sandwich restaurant called Lovecup in Sellwood.

Being a small business owner is an incredibly demanding job in the best of circumstances. But Portland’s permitting system makes it almost impossible to even start. The process can take months and months with no clear timelines and no urgency. There’s no resources available to help the average person figure out what permits and applications they might need for their businesses. Portland is not somehow more complicated than other major US cities; our system just doesn’t work. Small businesses are why Portland is special, so as a city councilor I will bend over backwards to fix these policies and create the investments, the jobs, and the sense of place that our community needs.