Coleman invokes a hockey legend to rally St. Paul pride

The strong, confident drum beats thumped by kids from SteppingStone Theatre were a fitting introduction to St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman's state of the city address Wednesday.

Like the sound from the drums, he came out confident, optimistic about the future of Minnesota's capital city. He sounded a call for community pride and partnership. He cited progress in the Central Corridor light-rail line, downtown development projects and after-school initiatives. The tone was upbeat, but the mayor refrained from making any grand promises or launching any sweeping new initiatives during his unscripted speech at the new Wilder Center at Lexington and University avenues.

"This is our time," he said.

But by no means, he acknowledged, is it a perfect time for anyone. The nation's economy is slowing, the state's budget is short and, well, so is the city's. Health care costs keep rising, and the foreclosure epidemic keeps spreading.

Closer to home, and largely unmentioned in Coleman's speech, a $17 million budget deficit led to a 15 percent increase in St. Paul's property tax levy. More than 1,600 buildings -- most of them single-family houses and duplexes -- sit vacant. Some development projects aren't moving as fast as some would like.

"In spite of all the challenges, I have so much optimism," Coleman said.

The key, he said, is that people are working together to confront the many obstacles.

A prime example of teamwork, he said, was the progress on the 11-mile Central Corridor, from downtown St. Paul to downtown Minneapolis. St. Paul, Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota and Ramsey and Hennepin counties all made compromises to pare the project's costs.

He said residents, governmental bodies and developers alike share in a vision to make St. Paul better and recognize the opportunities in the Ford Plant site in Highland Park and the old West Publishing complex along the downtown river bluff.

He ramped up the rhetoric in his advocacy for children and education.

"We are making St. Paul the education city in America," he said.

From early childhood help, to after-school programs to college awareness, Coleman ran down a list of projects, many of which fall under his office's Second Shift Initiative.

Coleman opened his speech invoking no-respect comedian Rodney Dangerfield but closed it invoking inspirational East Side native and legendary hockey coach Herb Brooks.

"This is our time. This is our city. It's our miracle," he said. "Let's go out and create it."

The mayor next will hold a series of community meetings:

• 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Wellstone Center for Community Building at Neighborhood House, 179 Robie St.

• 7 p.m. Wednesday, Hubbs Center for Lifelong Learning, 1030 W. University Av.

• 5:30 p.m. March 26, Ecolab Room at Metropolitan State University, 645 E. 7th St.

• 5:30 p.m. March 27, Weyerhaeuser Hall boardroom, Macalester College, 62 Macalester St.