 On Point Vincent Carroll, editor of the editorial pages, writes his On Point column most weekdays. He is also an author and freelance writer. Reach Vincent Carroll at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com. |
Carroll: Is likability a liability?
Is Mayor John Hickenlooper afraid to mix it up? Does his pursuit of popularity trump his principles?
Does the mayor, in short, like too much to be liked?
Andrew Wallach is not the first person to offer this critique of Hickenlooper, but the former administration consultant who worked as well for the previous two mayors might be uniquely placed to reach this judgment.
“As soon as anybody pushes back, he just goes into default position, which is the status quo,” Wallach told The Denver Post.
Wallach is undoubtedly correct that Hickenlooper prizes his popularity and values political consensus. The mayor even confessed as much in his inaugural address Monday.
“As every good restaurateur learns, there is no margin in having enemies,” he quipped.
You can see how this attitude might occasionally be a handicap, too: in reforming a balky bureaucracy, for example, or getting rid of feckless appointees.
But Wallach chose a lousy example, as it happens, to prove his point: He cited the fact that the mayor had heeded the concerns of the real-estate community and distanced himself from the Greenprint Denver Advisory Council’s recommendation that sellers be forced to retrofit their homes for energy efficiency at the time of sale.
Costly local mandates in the name of slowing global warming are precisely the sort of initiatives for which the mayor should be seeking the widest possible support before marching forward. A task force dedicated to a single goal — “sustainability” — may well overlook the full effects of a seemingly attractive idea. Why rush to judgment when there is plenty of time to reach out and attempt to find an alternative that appeals across the board?
Admittedly, equating political leadership with running a restaurant may not be the best idea. If you’re in the public arena and haven’t managed to cultivate at least a few serious enemies, it sometimes means you don’t stand for much.
Still, I’d rather have a consensus builder as mayor than a bully any day. Former Gov. Roy Romer once pledged to “roll over” and “crush” those who opposed building Denver International Airport — a George Patton moment he had trouble living down.
Voters admire strong leaders, but they also bitterly resent leaders who refuse to listen. As they should.
Higher-ed’s nouveau riche
When Gordon Gee left Ohio State in 1997, he was making $232,000 as its president, according to The Associated Press.
Last week he returned to the same job — for the tidy package of $775,000 in annual salary plus $225,000 a year in deferred compensation if he sticks around for five years.
In other words, the former University of Colorado chief will make $1 million a year. As a public servant, remember.
Yes, the drumbeat of alarm over soaring corporate salaries has been so loud in recent years — sometimes for good reason — it has obscured the fact of ballooning compensation for the elite in other fields, too. Salaries of a half-million dollars are commonplace for the presidents of public research institutions and public-college systems. And salaries at many private universities are even higher. Gee actually took a pay cut to move from Vanderbilt back to Ohio State.
Here in Colorado, fortunately, we’re not quite so extravagant. CU president Hank Brown has a package of $378,000 in salary ($18,000 of which he donates back to the university) and a $49,500 housing allowance, while CU-Boulder Chancellor G.P. “Bud” Peterson earns $356,830.
Chump change, obviously, in the nouveau riche world of higher education.
Vincent Carroll is editor of the editorial pages. Reach him at carrollv@RockyMountain
News.com.
So which is it mr. free market rethuglicon?
There should be a competititve market for salaries in all fields, or educators should be happy to take less than they could make in business?
If the latter, then stop bitching about teachers being liberal. When you glorify money making, cons will go into business, liberals into improving the world.
Posted by Caroll's a putz on July 17, 2007 10:48 AMRegarding the above comment: Obviously it is from the school of persoanl attack as it is illogical and without content. Sounds like a Howard Dean acolyte.
Posted by CC on July 17, 2007 01:37 PMRegarding the above comment: Obviously it is from the school of persoanl attack as it is illogical and without content. Sounds like a Howard Dean acolyte.
Posted by CC on July 17, 2007 01:37 PMLiberals think that corporations don't have a right to spend the money they earn as they see fit, but have no problem spending the money the steal from taxpayers as lavishly as makes them feel powerful. Privatize all education and these bums will be begging on the street corners.
Posted by Hogar De Vuelta (العودة) on September 21, 2007 09:42 AM