Apr. 21--Facing his first re-election campaign for St. Paul mayor this fall, Chris Coleman sought Monday to soar above the economic realities of a recession-troubled city and focus on the positives of the recovery expected to follow.

While acknowledging in his State of the City address that the economy can feel "excruciating," he said he is optimistic. He pointed to current expansions of the city's four largest hospitals, the prospects for the planned Central Corridor light rail linking St. Paul and Minneapolis, and an envisioned high-speed rail from Union Depot to Chicago. It's a view supported by business leaders and his Democratic colleagues in this one-party town.

Coleman focused less on specifics and programs and more on philosophy and tone than he did in his previous three such speeches. At less than 20 minutes, Monday's was the shortest State of the City address in recent memory.

Rhetoric Vs. Reality

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman often saw the glass as half full. Others might see it as half empty. A reality check:

Downtown Projects

COLEMAN: "Over $400 million are being invested as we speak in new health care facilities in St. Paul."

REALITY: True, but millions of dollars in other projects -- from redeveloping the former county jail and West Publishing building to constructing the Penfield condo high-rise -- have been shelved temporarily or for good.

Industrial Legacy

COLEMAN: "The 3M site will be cleaned,

planned and ready for new businesses that will be the building blocks of a green economy."

REALITY: Plans to redevelop the 3M site and the destined-for-closing Ford plant are in various stages -- of planning only. Private investors aren't champing at the bit to jump in, and we can expect to live with these vacant industrial icons for some time.

Housing

COLEMAN: "The long-term solution rests in attracting responsible private capital back into the real estate market, and it is our job to ensure that those investments add value to our neighborhoods."

REALITY: Pockets of St. Paul have been wracked by the housing crisis, and its aging stock adds costs to rehab. What if irresponsible private capital wants to invest? Can the city risk turning it away?

Excerpts From The Mayor's Speech A Tribute To The City By St. Paul's Poet Laureate Page 5a / St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman State Of The City / A message of optimism and hope

Excerpts from St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman's State of the City address Monday:

Importance Of Transportation

"This is why the Central Corridor is so critical to the future of St. Paul. ... It will connect our city with communities from Big Lake to Bloomington, creating access to more jobs and new markets. ... Just as James J. Hill ushered in a new era to St. Paul based on rail, we will see a renaissance of our community through a high-speed rail connection to Chicago."

Neighborhoods

"In St. Paul, strong neighborhoods are an essential part of our infrastructure. We know companies and colleges looking to attract the best and brightest depend on us to seal the deal by offering great places to live. Whether it is our historic homes, our parks and trails, the diversity of our music and theater, or our clean streets and downtown flower baskets, St. Paul is a city that is well-loved and carefully tended."

Volunteerism

"The state of our city is strong, because we understand our obligation

to one another and the community we serve. This is demonstrated every day by thousands of residents who give freely of their time to help our city."

St. Paul's poet laureate marks the occasion

As has become tradition, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman's State of the City address Monday also featured a reading by the city's poet laureate, Carol Connolly, who wrote a poem specifically for the event.

Poem For The State Of The City April 21, 2009 For Mayor Chris Coleman

Fire flood torture greed. Our world came close to crashing in this avalanche of disasters.

Some man made. Some not.

We bid adieu now to what is past.

We stand here above sea level, safe on ground solid for over a century.

Safe, we are, but not naive. We know tough times when we see them. We know, too, that greed, at last, has lost its gloss.

Workers arrive at just the right moment, the sun pours light into the deep holes they dig with grace of an Andahazy, the precision of a brain surgeon, holes big enough to bury a dead horse.

Their parked trucks, flashing lights, do not stop traffic.

Their growing pyramids of excavated dirt do not stop commerce. Passersby push strollers, step into shops, carry packages, wait for a bus.

This dig will deliver all sorts of new power soon to this old neighborhood. Soon these mighty excavations will be invisible under a sidewalk of fresh concrete.

Somewhere in this city, someone is working on a poem full of hope and resolve.

It will be stamped into this new concrete soon.

At noon on a sunny day, with his part in delivering new power nearly done, a young man tips his hardhat, lifts a small folding chair from his truck, sits with his lunchbox, and for a while, turns his face to the sun.

The trees, long out of leaf on this city street, are beginning to green.

The decades-old lilac bushes are in bud once more, and we know for certain.

We will keep our world moving.