Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper knows how to make a sale, even when the odds might seem against him.

Before he ran for office, Hickenlooper made a fortune by persuading people to venture into LoDo, then a slummy part of town, to taste his freshly brewed beer.

When he campaigned for mayor the first time in 2003, the novice politician earned the trust of voters, leaving several bureaucrats with longer résumés in the dust.

After he was elected, he convinced Denverites to invest in a new jail and courthouse when others before him had failed.

The $378 million justice center project is just one of several initiatives that Hickenlooper has successfully sold to the public.

In coming months, the mayor will have to put his salesmanship to the test when he asks voters to tax themselves again, this time to pay for decades of deferred maintenance and $550 million worth of infrastructure projects.

But unlike when he was an unemployed geologist - even his mother wouldn't invest in his brewpub - Hickenlooper has a well-padded bank account now.

As of July 6, the mayor had $791,547 in his re-election campaign - cash he could choose to use to market his proposed package of bond projects in the Nov. 6 election.

"It's possible that he could use some of it, but as we have always done with these ballot initiatives, there will be a separate fundraising component specifically for this initiative," Lindy Eichenbaum Lent, a senior adviser to the mayor, said Friday.

Lent said fundraising plans haven't been finalized but that Hickenlooper will embark on an aggressive campaign.

"This bond package represents very important issues for the community, so we're going to work very hard to get the message out," she said.

"The mayor is going to invest a great deal of time and energy into personally educating the community in getting all of the facts out. You'll see him at numerous community meetings and speaking engagements, really kind of laying out all of the facts and explaining the proposal to voters as he does before any of these proposals that we're involved in," she said.

In the past, Hickenlooper has pulled all sorts of stunts to get his message across.

He donned a blue bear costume to promote a tourism tax.

He leapt out of a twin-engine turboprop to promote Referendums C and D.

He poked fun at his wardrobe and strapped on a belt changer to feed parking meters in 2003.

His strategy for the proposed bond issue remains to be seen.

"On a number of important community issues, we've seen the mayor take some really complex, detailed proposals and effectively communicate them to the voters," Lent said. "That will be the goal here."

The mayor's proposal

Mayor John Hickenlooper will ask voters Nov. 6 to approve a 2.5 mill levy to pay for deferred maintenance and a $550 million package of bonds to rejuvenate the city's ailing infrastructure.

Voters will consider eight separate questions. If all are approved, the owner of a home valued at $255,000 would pay $61.66 more in property taxes annually. The Denver City Council will consider the mayor's proposal on first reading tonight.

• Question 1: Tax increase

Would increase property taxes and generate $27 million annually to pay for ongoing maintenance.

• Question 2: Refurbishing buildings

The city wants to spend $70.1 million to improve buildings, from replacing windows to remodeling rest-rooms.

• Question 3: Health and human services

Hickenlooper's proposal calls for $48.6 million for such projects as $3.5 million to expand the Westwood Child Development Center.

• Question 4: Parks and recreation centers

This measure calls for $93.4 million for such projects as completing the restoration of the Greek Amphitheatre in Civic Center.

• Question 5: Public safety

A new police crime lab and a new fire station in the Lowry neighborhood are among the $65.2 million worth of projects in this category.

• Question 6: Streets, transportation and public works

Voters would be asked to approve $149.8 million for street improvements and other public works projects.

• Question 7: Libraries

The mayor is proposing to spend $51.9 million to build three new libraries and to maintain and upgrade other library buildings.

• Question 8: Cultural facilities

The Boettcher Concert Hall and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science would get a combined $70 million for renovations and other construction projects.

chacond@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5099

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