What leadership can do

COLORADO SPRINGS — Spending time away from home is always an enlightening experience. It’s good to see how others live.

Here in Colorado Springs and its surrounding county of El Paso, there are similarities with Greater Sarasota. Total county population is 660,000 compared with 710,000 in Sarasota-Manatee. Tourism is big here. Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods (the most visited city park in the nation), Cheyenne Mountain and the five-star Broadmoor Resort are big economic engines. Like Sarasota, there is no major university, but there are thriving colleges — the private Colorado College, the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and, of course, the U.S. Air Force Academy. 

One major difference: Colorado Springs is a big military town. It has the Air Force Academy, Peterson Air Force Base, Shriever Air Force Base, the Army’s Fort Carson and NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command). 

With its proximity to the mountains — a bike or short car ride away — and temperate weather, population growth is strong. Colorado Springs rose from the 42nd to 40th most populous city (440,000 population). This growth has created one of healthiest residential real estate and job-growth markets in the country. Median home prices have risen 6.5% so far this year, and the region has added 8,826 new jobs. 

(That compares to 13% increases in median home prices in Sarasota-Manatee and 7,100 new jobs.)

When Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers delivered his annual State of the City address Sept. 8, he started out by saying: “I am very pleased to report that in the last 12 months, our city has moved forward significantly on the continuum from good to great.”

In addition to the above growth statistics, Suthers went on to cite a list of city improvements: “221 miles of repaved lanes, 177,082 tons of asphalt poured, 93,015 lineal feet of curb and gutter replaced and 240 pedestrian ramps repaired or replaced; “… eight of 71 proposed stormwater projects are underway to address a longstanding and crushing need for better flood control.”

And in the private sector, Suthers reported:

• 500 hotel rooms under construction; 
• A 5% increase in airline passengers at the airport; 
• $1 billion in health care investments at two hospitals and construction of a new children’s hospital;
• “The U.S. Olympic Museum and Hall of Fame will soon join the U.S. Olympic Committee, the Olympic Training Center and 23 national governing bodies to bolster our community’s status as Olympic City USA and hub of the country’s Olympic pride.”

And he added: “The cybersecurity industry is ablaze, putting the community on a fast track to becoming the country’s cybersecurity capital.”

Perhaps you see where this is going. In fact, when you see the Colorado Springs metro area firsthand, one of the obvious differences between it and Sarasota is that the citizens of Colorado Springs and its government embrace population and economic growth — far more than Greater Sarasota-Manatee. 

We couldn’t help but notice this, too: The region’s daily newspaper is a staunch supporter of this growth. In fact, you probably could say the same about the residents of Colorado Springs in general. And here’s the proof: 

A day after Mayor Suthers delivered his State of the City address, the lead editorial in the Colorado Springs Gazette praised Suthers for “restoring a collaborative relationship between the mayor and the City Council; investing in public assets, such as roads and stormwater infrastructure; and allowing the economy to create jobs.”

The Gazette said: “He gets an ‘A’ report card for meeting his main goals in short order and deserves credit for a cultural and economic renaissance Colorado Springs has long been capable of.”

But the following paragraph was the one that resonated most:

“Voters also deserve great credit, for choosing in November 2010 to scrap the old city manager form of governance and create a separate executive branch run by a popularly elected mayor. It was a move that favors local leadership. It facilitated difficult reforms enacted by former Mayor Steve Bach and today’s nationally recognized leadership of Suthers. Without an elected executive, we might not be on this upward trajectory … 

“[The] State of the City address was a factual, detailed, substantive description of a community emerging as a world-class destination for new residents, businesses and tourists. We see no limits to how far this may go.”

When you experience Colorado Springs firsthand, you see that economic growth and geographic, environmental beauty can indeed co-exist. But you also see an essential key ingredient to that is having a strong elected leader who sets the tone and executes.