Congressional candidates speak on business at Santa Maria forum

Five candidates seeking to replace Congresswoman Lois Capps as the representative of the 24th Congressional District spoke out Friday about business regulations and other economic matters at a Santa Maria forum.

The Committee to Improve North County and the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted the lunchtime forum Friday at the historic Santa Maria Inn.

Questions came from the audience of about 80 people, with Glenn Morris, CEO and president of the chamber, recommending focusing the queries on economic-driven issues.

Participants included two Republicans: Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian and businessman and rancher Justin Fareed, along with three Democrats: Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider, Santa Barbara County First District Supervisor Salud Carbajal, and San Luis Obispo County resident and farmer William “Bill” Ostrander.

Among several questions, the candidates were asked about reforms they would seek regarding regulations that hinder small businesses.

Schneider said that in her role as mayor, she worked with the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce to see how local government and businesses can ease onerous requirements and make them more efficient.

“That’s the kind of approach we need to take,” she said. “I think we all agree that we want to live in a safe environment. We don’t want things to fall apart. We want to make sure that when you turn on the water tap, the water that comes out is clean and safe.

“We do need some regulation, the question is how do you navigate through it,” she added.

Ostrander said it’s important to realize many members of Congress are career politicians.

“There’s very few people that do the things you and I do in life every day, that can bring a little bit of common sense to it,” Ostrander said, adding that he and farmers with different political beliefs could bring common sense to the farm bill.

He said businesses suffer financially because of regulations that favor large donors to political organizations.

Fareed criticized the one-size-fits-all approach to regulations for businesses.

Regulatory costs for manufacturing businesses add up to $35,000 per employee per year for firms with less than 50 people, he said.

“We need to rein in the regulatory burdens,” Fareed said.

Regulations for small businesses should be re-evaluated routinely to determine what’s working and what isn’t, he added.

“I meet with business owners and ranchers and fishermen all over the place on the Central Coast, and I keep hearing the same thing,” Fareed said. “The regulations are making it difficult for them to live their lives and to create jobs and to pass things on to the next generation.”

Carbajal said regulations must protect communities without stifling businesses, adding that the board of supervisors recently moved toward “right-sizing” a policy regarding the height of hoop houses used to grow berries and other crops.

“We always need to keep a common sense approach to regulation, but one that protects the public health, but also takes into consideration the onerous obstacles that it’s creating for our businesses,” he said.

Carbajal added that he supported a Santa Barbara County effort to look at regulations with an aim toward creating a balanced approach to protect people while helping businesses.

“That’s the type of common sense I will take into Washington,” he added.

Achadjian said that as a small-business owner, he was forced to switch fuel pumps at his gas stations from two nozzles to one, costing $200,000 to retrofit his locations.

He asked regulators why the change was required, and was told three nozzles would emit more fumes than two.

“I said, ‘but you only can use one at a time,’ ” Achadjian said. “Whose great idea was this to put a small business like myself into debt? Where do you draw the line? This is the main reason I got into politics.”

The 24th Congressional District, which includes all of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties and part of western Ventura County, has been in Democratic hands for two decades.

Voters will go to the polls in the June 7 primary election, and the top two candidates, regardless of political party affiliation, will face off in November.

After holding office since 1998, Capps announced in April she would not seek re-election for the seat previously held by her husband, Walter Capps, launching a flurry of announcements from those seeking her job.

This story was originally published February 22, 2016 at 2:17 PM with the headline "Congressional candidates speak on business at Santa Maria forum."