> Was the point small business owners at establishments like Dales are facing troubles because they're fat-cat capitalist Trumpian Covid deniers whose problems aren't valid as such?

You still have to understand the workers are also the one who's getting fucked here. The owner of the grill in the article is deliberately worsening working conditions because of his beliefs on Covid, and it's perfectly reasonable that the workers will leave you to get a new job where your boss doesn't spread Covid on you by not wearing masks. I understand businesses are hard right now, but business owners should care a bit about hygiene, it's not something that would cost you a lot.

> This city is amid a dire housing shortage, expedited by lack of new construction and a migration of buyers from more lucrative economies. The median home price increased by 57% in the last 10 years, 8.6% in the last year alone to $315k. In the meantime the median family income remains only $46k.

But I think you've correctly diagnosed the real issue here - skyrocketing housing costs. Everyone suffers from this, both the workers and the small businesses. And it's a shame that the Dems and Reps are making this an "us vs. them" issue. (There's a similar dynamic in my country too, where liberals try to raise the minimum wage a bit, and then the conservatives fiercely oppose it and latch onto small business owners for support. Of course both the establishment liberals and conservatives are totally incompetent at solving skyrocketing housing costs and general economic inequality, yada yada.)

I think the real issue here is not about workers or small businesses, but just plain-old economic inequality - in the sense that the minority rich at the top can invest on housing at their heart's content (numbers seem to always go UP!) but the majority can't afford those prices. So even though the majority at the bottom knows that the price is bullshit, the bubble will not burst unless the rich realizes that those prices are bullshit (And do they really have to realize? They can still afford those investments though! They can stay being delusional and still enjoy all the luxuries they have!) Market price is now not an objective measure of value, but instead becomes a power that real estate investors can collectively impose onto the poor. Ah, communism for the rich, capitalism for the poor...