Priorities for Kerman

Responsible Growth While Protecting Kerman's Character

Kerman has changed significantly since Yazmine moved here at age 11.

Growth can bring new businesses, families and opportunities. It also raises an important question: how does Kerman continue moving forward without losing the community character that made people proud to call it home?

Yazmine hears that concern from longtime residents, who express pride in how far Kerman has come while wanting its history and small-town identity protected.

For Yazmine, responsible growth means looking forward while understanding where Kerman came from.

Families and Quality of Life

A man, woman, and three young girls are standing inside a restaurant, smiling at the camera. The girls are wearing red and white sports jerseys, and the woman is dressed in a black top and jeans. The man is wearing a black T-shirt and gray shorts. In the background, there is a bright pink menu board, some certificates on the wall, and a counter with stacks of cups and ice cream cones.

Parents have shared concerns with Yazmine about bullying, limited activities for children and families, rising living costs, employment opportunities and finding ways for young people to remain engaged.

Yazmine believes families should have opportunities to spend time together, participate in their community and create memories close to home.

People attending a business meeting or workshop in a conference room, seated around tables with name tags, notebooks, and water bottles, with presentation posters on the wall.

A Stronger Environment for Small Business

Yazmine knows firsthand how much work goes into opening, maintaining and growing a small business.

She has heard concerns about slow foot traffic, rising competition, permitting and the complexity of navigating requirements.

Yazmine would like to see:

  • Clearer information about business requirements

  • Better communication regarding application status

  • Reasonable permit-processing times

  • More opportunities for event-driven local commerce

  • Local business owners included in conversations about Kerman's future

These priorities directly reflect the concerns she describes hearing from local business owners.

Accessible and Responsive Local Leadership

Group of young diverse people standing in a room with a large screen overhead that reads 'Young Legislators Program, Session One' and features the California Legislature logo. They are posing for a photo, some holding a seal of California or a plaque, with flags in the background.

Owning a business changed the way Yazmine views local government.

She has experienced how permitting, communication, demographics, development and other local decisions can affect businesses and residents.

She believes local leaders should be accessible, responsive and willing to listen.

Her approach to leadership is straightforward: hear people out, understand the problem, gather the facts, make a decision and be willing to take responsibility for it.

A group of people standing outside a storefront with a sign that reads 'Fruita Fresca Ice Cream Shop.' There is another sign below that says 'Lemonade.' The storefront has a porch with white columns, and there are trees and cars in the background on a sunny day.

More Opportunities for Youth

Yazmine's experiences with bullying as a young person shaped the importance she places on empathy, inclusion and ensuring young people feel seen.

Through Fruta Fresca, she regularly interacts with students and enjoys hearing about their classes, sports, projects and ambitions.

She wants Kerman's young people to have more ways to discover their interests, participate in the community, develop skills and envision a future for themselves locally.

People gathered around a table with backpacks and supplies outdoors, with fire trucks and vehicles in the background, likely at a community event or disaster preparedness activity.

A Community Where People Participate

Yazmine Enriquez, 2026 Kerman Mayor Candidate and a Group of five people in black uniforms and blue gloves standing behind a table with food trays, taking a selfie, with a man in a blue shirt in the foreground wearing sunglasses.

One thing Yazmine has learned through community involvement is that Kerman has no shortage of people who care.

Sometimes people simply don't know where to start.

She wants residents, businesses, young people, organizations and community partners to have more opportunities to participate and connect.

Because a stronger Kerman isn't something any one person builds.

It's something a community builds together.