The Denver Mayor

Profile

words by > Sally Howard

Rocky Mountain Mover

*Meet Mayor John Hickenlooper, the geologist-turned-restaurateur-andbrewpub owner who put the fi zz back into Denver, Colorado.

Lunching on sashimi, vivid green wasabi and Japanese salad in Rocky Mountain country? You might have expected something a little diff erent from a big city mayor out West. Where are those man’s man’s short ribs and long, malty beers? But if there’s one thing that’s defined the startling career path of John Hickenlooper—from unemployed geologist to brewpub entrepreneur, restaurateur and about the most popular mayor in Denver history—it’s an element of surprise.

Since taking office on July 21, 2003—aft er successfully leading a grassroots campaign to preserve the Mile High Stadium name, which the then city government was trying to sell—the likable Hickenlooper has dragged Denver out of a recession (overcoming a $70 million deficit to balance the city budget while averting layoff s); assembled a diverse, groundbreaking team of corporate executives and government innovators from around the country (more than half women and more than half Latino, African-American and Asian); put forth a campaign to end homelessness; and instigated the largest regional light railroad initiative in the history of the United States.

Yet despite the considerable plaudits—he was named one of the top five big city mayors by Time only 18 months aft er taking office, and regularly achieves an unheard of 90 percent public approval rating—Hickenlooper is modest about his success, putting it down to a simple application of standard business theory in the public arena, as well as the little matter of understanding “when family comes first.”

Here’s how Hickenlooper turned his business expertise into political success:

“There are many ways a businessman will deal with things differently than a politician. When you’re a businessman, you have competitors, but you don’t go out and stomp on them the way politicians do. I was an unlikely candidate when I ran for offi ce—facing a half-dozen seasoned political veterans—and I was advised to publicly tear down the opposition and the outgoing government.
But I decided to resist, to do things the business way.”

“Politicians have to learn to be aware of the power of mass media and how it can be used intelligently to get your message across. When we wanted to reform an anti-tax law, I jumped out of an airplane for an ad to demonstrate how the economy was ‘falling, falling, falling.’ It worked.”

“The normal style of building railroads has always been to run transportation lines to whatever centers of population already existed. With our initiative— Fast Tracks—we’re running the station stops to industrial sites where there’s open ground that can be redeveloped, creating new population hubs along the rail stops, like a necklace. It’s the antithesis of the spread-out car community, where there is no high density anywhere. It’s also the largest light rail initiative in American history.”

“Before I decided to run, I consulted mayors in Boston and Baltimore and met with the deputy mayor of New York. The two things I wanted to know were ‘Can I make a difference?’ and what sacrifi ces I’d have to make in taking such a high-profi le job. I have a three-year-old son, Teddy [with wife Helen Thorpe, a writer for The New Yorker], and there was so much I didn’t want to miss. So I made a deal with my wife —if I got into offi ce, I’d get home every night before 7pm. Do I manage it? Four nights out of fi ve, yes.”

“When I managed restaurants, we were like a family. So when we had deficits, I would go to the team, and we’d all tighten our belts and work together to get through it. I tried the same approach with the city defi cit. Even though there were employees who had been there for 30 years and had no chance of losing their jobs, I gave everyone a choice: to tighten their belts and there wouldn’t be layoffs, or face cuts and a thousand layoffs in the height of a recession. Every single city agency decided they’d do whatever they could to make the budget work. It was a proud day.”

“I still own the brewpub, Wynkoop Brewing Company [www.wynkoop.com], and people often ask me what my favorite beer is. I like Fat Tire and the local brew Fort Collins, and I’ve always been partial to Coors, because it’s not pasteurized. But it’s like children—you can’t help but love your own more. So I have to say my brew: Railroad.”