DENVER -- Reporter Sally Sears is in Denver along with about 100 metro Atlanta leaders looking at how the Colorado city is solving problems such as traffic, water and explosive growth.

Denver’s mayor spoke to the group over a delicate dinner salad of mozzarella and yuppie greens. For a man who built a career making micro-beer and riding a Vespa, this was about right. But John Hickenlooper won over all the Georgians who might have an Arugula-aversion. Sam Olens, the chair of the Cobb County Commission, and the head of the Atlanta Regional Commission, introduced Hickenlooper by saying he’s ended homelessness, built regional transit, and would he mind coming to Georgia to talk to our governor? Loud applause and laughter from the crowd, not one of whom has yet said a really good thing about Sonny Perdue in my earshot.

Hickenlooper reminded the crowd that he’s A HUGE fan of Shirley Franklin, widely admired by all big city mayors as first among equals. He also told us he is not a fighter, he’s a restaurateur. And in that business, he says there’s no benefit in having enemies. That is why he helped encourage all the other mayors to work together. Among his first steps was taking down the sign at the airport where the mayor welcomes arriving passengers to Denver. Instead, they see three billboards, one an exciting urban photograph, one suburban and the third mountain and country scenery from across the state.

He said sharing is tough, but much better than not sharing, even if you have to make people do it. One way is getting science and art institutions to share their paid attendance records. Imagine if the High Museum, the Zoo, Fernbank Natural History Museum and the Botanical Garden divvied up sales tax dollars on a per-visitor basis. That’s how they do it in Denver, and it seems to work. I imagine science and art institutions in north Georgia would faint with joy at the thought of any taxpayer support, even though they create a vigorous cultural tourism all year long. But the working together model is how Denver sold to the voters a new highway and transit tax.

How do you sell mass transit? The mayor says we make a mistake when we sell transit simply as a good thing to do, like taking medicine. He reminded us the real benefit most voters can agree with is to support better mass transit for other people, so that they can stay in their cars and find the highways less crowded. He calculates in Denver, 26 minutes saved each way of a 90 minute commute costs that commuter 23 cents a day in extra taxes, and is a clear benefit even if they never go NEAR a light rail car.