By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff Wednesday, September 24th, 2008

Small-business owners can do many things: create jobs, make payroll and turn a profit, or at least break even, in trying times.

But can they do all that while juggling city politics?

Two tri-county small-business owners – Don Gilman in Goleta and Sylvia Muñoz Schnopp in Port Hueneme – are betting they can. Both are running for city council seats in their respective communities.

They bring with them decades of experience in business and management. They also bring a desire to introduce some of the qualities that made them successful – flexibility, efficiency and broadness of vision – into city government.