Small Business Support & Empowerment
Audit Verdict · Mixed Authority
Most operational support tools are within city control, but local wage or hiring mandates on contractors do not survive state preemption.
Parts deliverable. Headline promise runs into preemption, fragility, or outside control.
The Promise
Streamline permitting, create business disruption assistance, maintain a microgrant fund, expand language access, activate vacant storefronts, prioritize local vendors, and support worker-owned businesses.
Analysis
This plank is strongest where it focuses on service delivery: faster permits, technical assistance, small grants, and storefront activation. The more coercive labor conditions are the part the city cannot safely enforce.
Legislative Record
She filed a state Business Disruption Assistance Act, but it did not pass.
Implementation Barriers
Several headline proposals depend on tools Florida has already preempted, turning them into immediate legal barriers rather than municipal implementation choices.
- Rent control and expanded tenant protections despite F.S. 125.0103 and HB 1417
- Living wage and local hiring mandates blocked by HB 433/SB 742
- Gun regulations and Citizen Review Board pledges under F.S. 790.33 and HB 601
Several commitments overlap with programs or funding streams the city already operates, which changes the question from creation to scale, administration, and measurable improvement.
- CRA retail grants, façade improvements, and conversion incentives already exist
- Community Violence Intervention programs funded with $5.1M ARPA dollars are active today
- Electronic permitting, business assistance grants, and startup partnerships are already live
Many pledges across the audited inventory arrive without cost estimates or recurring funding sources — even as the existing city budget is already heavily committed.
- No cost estimate for universal childcare, transit pass subsidies, or a new disability office
- No funding source for expanded CVI, legal aid, or business disruption insurance
- Ignores personnel-heavy budget: 62% of general fund is payroll and 55% goes to public safety