Des Moines Business Record
12-24-06
Bright ideas
By Sarah Bzdega
sarahbzdega@bpcdm.com
The day after Frank Cownie won a tight race for mayor, he walked into the Polk
County Administration Building and asked for a sit-down with the Board of
Supervisors.
Although Angela Connolly, a member of the board, was a little surprised at the
time, "we sat down and he said, 'I want to do things differently, I want us to be at
the table,' which I think has been helpful," she said. "And that's what we've done."
Other Des Moines leaders say Cownie's efforts to collaborate with government
and city stakeholders have led to him becoming more than a figurehead in city
government. He has developed momentum for many initiatives, including his
most progressive: making Des Moines a leader in sustainable and environmental
efforts.
"I think if I've been successful at anything," Cownie said as he sat in the office of
his Ingersoll Avenue shop, Cownie Furs, "I've been successful at convening
these folks to work together on the issues. I don't pretend to be the expert or
have all the answers."
Looking long term
Cownie may not have a clear idea of what the future of Des Moines should be,
but he is adamant that community leaders should start thinking about it today.
By encouraging dialogue and new ideas about sustainability, he has attracted a
fast-growing crowd. His Task Force on Sustainability has grown to nearly 100
members from the 12 that joined when he started the group early this year, and
more than 200 people attended a town hall meeting on the subject this fall. The
people he has brought together come from all sectors of the community,
including government, health care, religion and business.
But Cownie isn't surprised by the response. He said the ideology for these
initiatives began during events such as the oil crisis and first Earth Day in the
1970s, and scientific research supporting those beliefs is now leading to action.
Nationally, Cownie is one of about 10 mayors aggressively focusing on
sustainability. He was invited to actor and environmentalist Robert Redford's
resort for a summit on global warming with 38 other U.S. mayors, he is a leader
of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, and he spoke at
the Mayor's Institute on City Design this December in Washington, D.C.
Besides being an advocate for this cause, Cownie has encouraged city
government to lead by example. Des Moines recently replaced its traffic lights
with light-emitting diodes, which Cownie said has reduced energy costs by about
$120,000 a year. The mayor also has been working with different departments on
using hybrid vehicles.
These efforts will pick up next year, as Des Moines becomes the fourth regional
capacity center in the United States through The International Council for Local
Environmental Initiatives - Local Governments for Sustainability. As a regional
capacity center, the organization will work with the city to measure city-level
emissions and will test ways to reduce emissions. Des Moines also will work with
other governments in the region to implement environmental projects.
Cownie also is keenly interested in the ethanol plant that will be built in the
Agrimergent Park on the Southeast Side. The city is working with Iowa State
University to develop ways that all companies in the industrial park can build on
one another's success and the park itself can become sustainable. Cownie
originally supported the plan for a coal-powered ethanol plant, which was
criticized by residents and some environmental organizations, but he believes it
could have been a more viable option than a plant powered by natural gas,
because natural gas is in shorter supply than coal and it's harder to transport.
These initial efforts have only been the first step for what Cownie believes is
possible in the future. "It may cause us to rethink what shelter is," he said, "It's
not just redesigning the box that we live in. It's about maybe creating a new box."
But to get business leaders involved, which has "in some cases been a struggle,"
Cownie said, he often talks about how certain changes affect their pocketbooks.
David Caris, vice president of state government affairs for MidAmerican Energy
Co. and chair of the Task Force on Sustainability's subcommittee on energy, said
larger businesses have participated in energy-efficiency programs since
MidAmerican Energy started offering them 15 years ago, because it's a huge
savings to them, but smaller businesses don't always have the expertise to
implement such programs.
However, being with a company that has several energy-efficiency programs and
has even worked with the city to implement some of them, Caris said, "I think it's
exciting to see a mayor be passionate about something like this. All mayors have
different interests for their communities, but Mayor Cownie has really spent a lot
of time with this task force. He's very passionate about it and that's very exciting."
Ted Townsend, a business leader and longtime friend of Cownie's, believes
these issues are critical to everyone, including business leaders. "I greatly admire
the fact that he has brought ecological literacy to the forefront of this community's
planning process," Townsend said. "He is beginning a dialogue that can put Des
Moines, Central Iowa and the whole state on the map about the most critical
threats and challenges of all humanity."
Cownie's efforts so far are a way to generate interest at the grassroots level and
influence changes at the state and federal levels. He especially looks forward to
working with Iowa's governor-elect, Chet Culver. "I think that's going to be one of
the biggest pieces that he's going to have to address," Cownie said.
Although Cownie won't call his sustainability initiatives the hallmark of his career,
he says, "it's what I'm most excited about."
The big picture
Sustainability is only one part - although a major part - of looking at the entire
future of downtown Des Moines, Cownie said.
As a member of the Des Moines Plan and Zoning Commission and chair of the
committee that created the Des Moines' 2020 Community Character Plan,
Cownie said the one thing that bothered him about the initial plan was that it
didn't address downtown issues. "It's so critical that we look at [downtown]," he
said. "It's the largest economic generator in the state of Iowa."
As a result, he has been a part of a yearlong study commissioned by the city and
county to develop a new vision plan for downtown Des Moines, which is
especially focused on how everything downtown can be better connected.
Cownie is chair of the steering committee composed of business and
government leaders that is working closely with Erin Olson-Douglas, a consultant
who was hired by the city and county.
"I think the joint effort in the downtown planning has been one of the bigger steps
we've taken on," said the Board of Supervisors' Connolly. "We're both financially
committed to it and are sitting on the committee with a larger group."
Cownie said the city and county have worked together on about 17 other
initiatives. Connolly said representatives of the two governments meet about
once a month to talk about the progress of those initiatives and other cooperative
projects.
"Whether it's little things like establishing sidewalks in front of Broadlawns
[Medical Center] to get to the hospital or doing a joint study on downtown … I
think it's just amazing how we really do get along," Connolly said.
Cownie believes this relationship has been effective in overcoming problems
such as those caused by the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium
scandal this year. He said the city and county reacted quickly to plug the hole in
what he described as a sinking ship by putting policies and procedures in place
to oversee the management and financial actions of the organization.
He also believes he has been a leader in better managing Des Moines' debt. For
example, he supports the city and county's decision to use money generated by
Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino on infrastructure improvements on a
pay-as-you-go basis, rather than bonding the money and using it on a single
large project.
Impressions
Although Cownie raised far less campaign money than his opponent, Christine
Hensley, who is currently on the City Council, he was elected mayor in
November 2003 with 54 percent of the votes.
"I think it was because it was a grassroots initiative (that I won)," Cownie said. "I
think a lot of people thought it's dollars and contributors that win races."
But he adds, "While the race was hard fought and close, I think we walked away
with the ability to move forward and make a lot of good things happen."
Many business leaders praise him for his efforts so far, especially because of his
leadership on sustainability and environmental issues.
"My impression is he very much recognizes the need for the community to have a
vibrant downtown and he takes part in a lot of activities to lead in that direction,"
said G. David Hurd, retired CEO for Principal Financial Group Inc. and member
of the steering committee working on the downtown vision plan. "Also something
that I'm very happy about is he's an environmentalist. He has an interest in
seeing that we behave in a way that can be sustained for the long term."
"I think he's done a good job," Caris of MidAmerican Energy said. "Mayor Cownie
is very visible in the community. I would say he's also very accessible. He wants
to seek out people's ideas."
But though Cownie is pleased with his efforts so far, he has bigger dreams as
well.
"As you find more stuff that needs to be done, it's hard to rate [my
administration]," he said. "I would tell you that I am happy that we've got a lot of
these initiatives done and we're actually making progress."