The benefits of an elected mayor

One of the benefits of traveling is seeing how other states, cities and communities address their pressing issues. 

The following was the lead editorial in Sept. 23’s Colorado Springs Gazette, entitled: “A strong mayor attests to the Springs’ success.” 

Sarasotans, take note.

— Editor

----

Mayor John Suthers had an enviable task Friday, reporting the “State of the City” during this pinnacle era for Colorado Springs.

Other cities and towns should look to the Springs to learn how we got here.

Suthers summarized a long list of positive cultural and economic indicators by citing the country’s undisputed leader in best-of rankings.

“U.S. News and World Report rated Colorado Springs the second best place in America to live and the number one most desirable city in America...” Suthers said. “Colorado Springs has taken its place among the great cities of America.”

Suthers — advised and inspired by his wife, Janet — can take a fair share of credit for this trajectory. To quote the contemplative former City Councilman John Hazlehurst, Suthers came into local government as if “Michael Jordan had joined your pickup basketball team.”

He ran on a promise to fix roads, resolve a stormwater infrastructure crisis and improve public safety by hiring more firefighters and cops. Check, check and check. When he needed voters to approve more money, he made the case and won. It’s called leadership.

“Next month we will have paved 700 miles…” Suthers reported. “Our voters passed Issue 2 and Issue 2A, agreeing to invest in our stormwater program… to create the best stormwater program in Colorado… general fund dollars freed up by the passage of the stormwater fee will allow us to hire 120 police officers and 32 firefighters over the next four years.”

He talked about growth of local colleges and hospitals, the resurgent airport, a proliferation of hotels, new affordable housing, actions to help the homeless, two new sports venues, the looming completion of the country’s pre-eminent Olympic museum and other public-private developments improving downtown and other areas. Any mayor in the U.S. would love to give a talk like this.

Then Suthers delivered the most important line of the day.

“Our citizens deserve great credit,” he said.

This is what the other cities should learn about.

Back in 2010, Colorado Springs was in the dumps. We languished in the aftermath of national and international stories that had the community’s image in the gutter.

“Times are tough in the Springs,” said a 2010 Governing magazine article about the media’s yearlong-plus negative obsession with “politically conservative” Colorado Springs.

“One-third of the city’s streetlights were turned off…,” the article explains.

“The city stopped mowing the medians in the streets… In addition to closing the pools and restroom facilities, the city pulled out all the trash cans from its parks… Four community centers and three museums were put on the chopping block… the vast majority of the city’s parks were left to wither and brown… the city has cut some 550 employees... bus service has been reduced by 100,000 hours… The police department auctioned its three helicopters... It’s a crisis, to be sure.”

The propagandist New York Times featured a Springs woman selling her TV to buy a gun because the city turned off streetlights, leaving her scared of the dark.

This was Colorado Springs under the old city manager system. The City Council hired a manager from Southern California. She had not paid her property taxes back home but wanted a tax increase soon after arriving here. When voters rejected it, she launched a campaign to deny them services. The Gazette’s editorial board proved the manager instructed her staff to run a negative national media campaign against Colorado Springs.

The public ensured this would never happen again by overhauling local governance. It voted in 2010 to create the office of executive mayor. Voters would choose a local person to manage government, negating the need for an out-of-town expert.

Without that vote, we would not have Suthers — or any other elected mayor — managing the city. We would likely have another imported “expert” lacking love for this community.

Once a cautionary tale, Colorado Springs quickly became the country’s “most desirable city.” It involved placing local decisions in the hands of a local. Other cities, with appointed managers, should study the foundation of our success and assess their options.