In an article on downtown areas in the September issue of the Commerce magazine, Chris Leinberger, vi
siting fellow, Metropolitan Policy for the Brookings Institution, relates the story of how Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, brought 32 suburban mayors into the Wynkoop, his LoDo (Lower Downtown) Denver brewpub/restaurant, got them lubricated, and then convinced them to support a $4 billion light rail system for Denver.Leinberger's story didn't surprise me at all. I had the opportunity to spend an evening with Hickenlooper back in the ‘90s when he was still putting LoDo on the map. His equal in our town would probably be Joe Edwards, but Hickenlooper is a LOT less shy and self-effacing than Edwards.
Through a hospitality magazine I owned at the time I was producing a beer dinner at the Denver Athletic Club. My original presenter for the dinner, the CEO of the brewers association, developed a conflict and asked Hickenlooper to sub for him. I should have known that I was in for a wild ride when John showed up with a handler in tow who turned out to be his ex-wife.
After the dinner he invited me to hang with him for the evening at the Wynkoop. When Hickenlooper arrived at the Wynkoop a party atmosphere erupted. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but the next thing I knew Hickenlooper had agreed to swap boxer shorts with another guy in the bar. John ducked into the restroom and came out waving a brightly-colored pair of boxers.
John Hickenlooper's taste in clothing has apparently evolved a little bit in the past decade (he appeared in Esquire magazine), but his "let's do it" attitude has proven infectious in Denver - whether he's supporting mass transit or early childhood education. In 2005, two years into his first term, Time magazine named him one of the top five "big city" mayors in America.
In November we've got the opportunity to show that our industry has the same kind of can do creativity displayed by John Hickenlooper when he invited the suburban mayors to his brewpub. The Greater St. Louis Transit Alliance, a coalition of business, labor and transit users advocating the passage of Proposition M. Proposition M will ask St. Louis County voters on the Nov. 4 general election ballot to approve a half-cent tax to fund Metro operations and future expansions. Construction industry supporters of the Transit Alliance include AGC of St. Louis, Missouri Growth Association, St. Louis Labor Council, and St. Louis Realtors Association.
If the ballot measures passes, Metro will have a stable funding source and will plan for major system expansions such as: increased express buses, high-speed bus service and bus rapid transit lines, and an expanded Metrolink line to north and west St. Louis County.
If Proposition M fails, Metro will be forced to eliminate 28 of its 60 existing bus routes, including all service west of I-270. Metro could eliminate all express routes and night service in two years, if new revenue is not found.
Nobody is asking you to drop your boxers: But I AM asking you to consider - particularly in light of the pressures from fuel costs that are not going away - the repercussions that the lack of decent mass transit can have on our St. Louis region. We need to do everything we can to support this measure.
