For Mayor John Hickenlooper, much of the business community and thousands of Coloradans who care passionately about the fiscal future of their state, Tuesday’s voter approval of a new justice center in Denver was the preliminary bout. They know the main event will be on Nov. 1, when voters statewide will be asked to revive Colorado’s embattled higher-education system, unsnarl our highways and fund key health care programs.
Such progress is packaged as Referendums C and D.
In that fight, Hickenlooper will join a statewide coalition that includes his friend Gov. Bill Owens and a bipartisan constellation of political, business and civic leaders. Hickenlooper’s personal popularity makes him an important part of that coalition, but the tactics he perfected in the justice center campaign are even more valuable in pointing the way to victory.
Hickenlooper discussed those tactics with The Post Tuesday as he relaxed at a victory dinner at the Strings restaurant. They blended community outreach, active listening and reasonable accommodations into a potent politics of inclusion.
Four years ago, Denver voters rejected Mayor Wellington Webb’s plan for a new jail near Interstate 25 and West 6th Avenue after leaders of the Baker neighborhood fought the proposal. Hickenlooper forestalled similar opposition by working with the neighborhood groups and Councilwoman Jeanne Robb, who represents the area where the jail will be built, to allay their concerns.
“It’s my restaurant experience,” the mayor explained. “I’m used to working with neighbors. You can’t just go through the motions, you have to use active listening and respond to their concerns. We made many changes in the plan after discussions with neighborhood groups.”
The value of this approach was realized when the Golden Triangle Neighborhood Association directors voted 13-1 to endorse the justice center. The City Council gave the plan its unanimous support.
Backers of the two state referenda have already begun a similar process of inclusion by working closely with business and civic leaders and leaders from both parties and melding a stellar staff into a campaign organization. Now, local government officials, agricultural organizations, unions, senior citizens, students and other citizens will be courted. As Hickenlooper’s latest victory showed, the politics of inclusion can be doubly effective by converting potential adversaries into vital allies.
A few councilmembers reacted to Tuesday’s vote by musing about other projects that might deserve attention. But the mayor wisely spiked such talk. C and D deserve everyone’s full attention.
