City Council President, Rosemary Rodriguez started off today's State of the City celebration by introducing special guests, including Governor Owens. She remarked that she was happy to be in the Wellington E. Webb building so that employees could be part of the crowd. Rodriquez said, "Can you feel the energy of our workforce?"
She told a story about the Mayor whom she now calls, "My Mayor." Early in their first term she was passionate about getting the alleys paved in Denver. When the mayor asked her what they might work on together she mentioned the alleys. "He found a way."
When it was time for Mayor Hickenlooper to speak he rose and remarked, "The state of the city is good," thanked us, and turned away as if the speech was over. Of course he couldn't disappoint the faithful so he continued. Here's the link to the Mayor's speech. Readers can get all the dizzying statistics there.
As an employee of the city we always love to hear the Mayor talk about employees in a positive vein, and he did not disappoint, saying, "Thank you to our city employees for your flexibility, innovation and ability to grow."
The Mayor introduced a new effort dubbed "Greenprint Denver." This will be a, "bold action plan to provide a strong environmental and economic legacy for Denver." One aspect of the program will be to reduce energy consumption in the city by 1% per square foot annually.
No one can talk about sustainability without mentioning Coyote Gulch's favorite topic - water. Quoting from the speech, "In addition to significantly improving water quality in the South Platte River by 2011...the City of Denver, in partnership with Denver Water, intends to embark on the most aggressive water conservation program in the history of Colorado. We will work to help Denver Water achieve a 22% reduction in system-wide water use in the next decade - accelerating their original 2050 goals by 35 years. We will do this by fostering a new water conservation ethic in Denver - and ultimately across the Front Range - balancing the moral imperative of conservation with the fiscal benefits of avoiding costly new storage projects."
The Mayor is hoping to get a measure on the fall ballot in Denver to raise property taxes by .12% to, "fund a high quality, parental choice preschool program for Denver's four-year-olds."
Financial problems still plague the city but revenues are holding and there will be a modest expansion of programs and some that have been cut, have, and will, be restored gradually. The Mayor commended the workforce for finding efficiencies and savings.
The Mayor closed with, "If our city is to become truly sustainable, we must evolve continuously. Our ability to sustain our present quality of life will be a function of how well and how quickly we can adapt. The speed with which we need to change allows no room for ego. It demands collaboration. For the next generation to be able to see farther than we have, we are going to need many shoulders [to stand on].
"This is an opportunity to be part of something bigger than all of us. An opportunity to connect with a history that long preceded us and to help shape a future that will long succeed us.
"We are but temporary stewards of this city - and as such - we must commit ourselves to leaving an even better economy and future for the generations that follow.
"As our administration - and many on this stage - enter the final year of our first term, let me assure you - there will be no slowing down. In the days to come, we intend to sustain our sense of urgency and maintain the same high expectations for what can be accomplished. Creating a city that is truly sustainable - in all senses of the word - requires nothing less."
Update: The Wash Park Prophet points out a not so rosy story about the Mayor's tenure. Andrew writes, "Delays in permitting new business often take months and can cost them thousands of dollars of month in lost profits, interest on business loans, and cost somebody, either a landlord or a new business, months of lost revenues in spaces left empty until a permit arrives, yet businesses like the downtown Perk and Pub and a restaurant planned on Sante Fe near the I-25 exit, have collapsed in he face not of permit denials, but permit delays, and other have been delayed for months before eventually getting permission to open."
Update:Here's the coverage of Mayor Hickenlooper's State of the City Address yesterday from the Denver Post. They write, "Hybrid vehicles, a million new trees and a 22 percent reduction in water use marked ambitious, long-term initiatives outlined by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper Wednesday in his State of the City address...
"[The Mayor hopes to] Embark on the most aggressive water-conservation program in the history of Colorado, with the goal of reducing water use by 22 percent over the next decade; Expand the city's 'Green Fleet' by replacing light-duty vehicles wherever possible with hybrid vehicles - or the highest-efficiency vehicles available; Triple Denver's tree canopy from 6 percent to 18 percent tree cover by planting a million new trees over the next 20 years; Construct solar and methane power plants capable of powering and heating the equivalent of more than 2,500 homes by 2007; Refer a question to the November ballot asking Denver voters to raise the sales tax rate 0.12 percent - or 12 cents on every $100 purchase - to fund a high-quality, parental-choice preschool program for Denver's 4-year-olds."
Here's the story from the Rocky Mountain News.
Category: Denver May 2007 Election
5:53:19 PM 
|
