Politicians preach it. City agencies say it. The grass-roots, leftist political party Progressive Dane and the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce pound the drum, too.

Sandi Torkildson, who's owned A Room of One's Own feminist bookstore off State Street for three decades, hears the love.

But she doesn't always feel it.

Torkildson, a former president of the Greater State Street Business Association, has had occasional frustrations with minor city dictates, like the design of her awning, but has become vocal against initiatives like paid sick leave.

She doesn't believe the City Council is anti-business, but "they don't always value the impact of what they're doing," she said.

City actions on seemingly small matters can be the difference between boom and bust for small businesses, she and others said.

But since the city doesn't license most businesses, no one has comprehensive data on how small businesses are really doing or why.

The smoking ban, imposed in July 2005, for example, has harmed some bars on the city's borders. A few have even closed. But there's no evidence of broad damage.

Still, many small business owners are upset.

Dan and Maria Milsted, whose family owns nearly half of the 100 block of State Street, say city initiatives on everything from historic designation to sick leave make it harder to keep rents and business costs affordable, especially for "mom and pop" places that are part of State Street's charm.

"Just leave us alone," Maria Milsted said.

Others see something different.

Richard Harris, president of Genesis Development Corp., a business incubator with a focus on minorities and revitalizing the South Side, praises the city.

The city's Community Development Block Grant office, which has helped create or expand 100 businesses and start two major incubators between 1994 and 2003, has been invaluable in nurturing Genesis, Harris said, noting it now houses 33 small businesses with 344 employees in a building on the Beltline.

Barbara Wright, who's owned the Dardanelles restaurant on Monroe Street for a decade, has complaints but likes being in the city.

"I feel like I have a voice in the government," she said.

Even Torklidson says her bookstore's biggest threat isn't City Hall.

"My biggest concern is not the city," she said. "It's Amazon.com."

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