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THINKING BIG FOR THE FUTURE
“One legacy of the New Deal people don’t recognize was that long-range planning became more prevalent, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper says. “The value of planning, the sense you could create a place that was beautiful, that place matters — that idea emerged.” Ben Stapleton, Denver’s mayor from 1923 to 1931 and 1935 to 1947, took the opportunity to finish the “City Beautiful” projects of Robert Speer, Stapleton’s mayoral predecessor in the early 20th century. “They also put a lot of effort into Denver Mountain Parks and improving the parkway system,” Hickenlooper says. Hickenlooper believes $1 billion in bonds for infrastructure passed in the last two years put Denver in a good position to weather the storm. The $550 million Better Denver Bond funds more than 200 projects, and Denver Public Schools’ $454 million bond will fund critical repairs and upgrades at existing schools and construction of two new ones. “We are well situated,” Hickenlooper says. “We have the opportunity to have our own stimulus. We didn’t think it was going to get this bad, but we started accelerating (Better Denver) six months ago. “We recently rolled out our Strategic Transportation Plan” that looks ahead to 2015 and 2030, he adds. “The key ingredient is that it’s regional. Like FasTracks, it’s not a state project, and it’s not a city project. That collaborative approach is going to be the model for planning in the future. City- and state-level planning is kind of a dinosaur.” Hickenlooper says he’s hopeful there won’t be a mismatch between the unemployed and the jobs created by an Obama stimulus package. “I don’t think they’ll stop at just roads and bridges,” he says, while noting the “need to create jobs for those who take showers at the end of the day” first and foremost.
NEW DEAL FOR NEW ENERGY
Alternative and conservation-oriented energy projects will likely see increased funding under the Obama administration’s plan, with a heightened focus on wind, solar and geothermal generation in Colorado. Experts say the U.S. is in need of a new nationwide grid that’s both smart and sustainable. But it would require every bit of the $1 trillion. Smaller investments could spur energy-efficient retrofitting of existing structures. Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer highlights natural gas pipelines and transmission lines for wind power as Colorado’s top priorities. Federal investment also could cover FasTracks shortfalls locally and spur more public transportation nationally. It could also improve the nation’s school lunch program, as advised by writer Michael Pollan, in tandem with a mandate for locally grown ingredients, rather than treating the school lunch program as a dumping ground for surplus. Such an initiative would not only be a booster shot in the arm for small farms, but it also could contribute to long-term unburdening of the health-care system by teaching students healthy eating habits at a young age.
New Deal-like breadth might well be necessary, considering 2008 saw staggering job losses at automobile dealerships (more than 100,000 jobs lost), newspapers (more than 15,000), and financial services (150,000). ColoradoBiz’s two cents to the architects of New Deal II: Think big — and think about how investment now could correct systemic problems in health care and energy in the future.
WILL FIX PARKS FOR FOOD
Historian Tom Noel has words of advice for Obama as well. “They ought to beef up AmeriCorps and turn it into a new CCC,” he says. “All the people with ‘will work for food’ signs, why not round them up and put them to work? Denver’s city parks are $93 million in arrears in delayed maintenance. Our infrastructure is in bad shape. Fixing inner-city schools, I’d like to see a lot of that kind of work. You’d like to think even conservatives would be open to that. “The New Deal put money into the bottom, and now we’re putting money into the top with these bailouts and golden parachutes,” says Noel, noting that New Deal-era CCC workers received $30 in monthly salary and sent $25 of it back to their parents. “They were really hiring unemployed teenagers.” Noel is hoping the new administration will take that cue, shifting the government’s focus from corporate bailouts to the workers who fuel the economy. “You’re priming the pump at the top and hoping it will trickle down to the bottom. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that works too well. I’m just hoping that Obama will put the money in at the bottom and not at the top.”
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