>> Cathy: FUNERAL SERVICES WERE HELD ARLIER THIS WEEK FOR FORMER ST. PAUL MAYER GEORGE LATIMER WHO DIED LAST WEEK AT THE AGE OF 89.

HE WAS THE LONGEST SERVING MAYOR IN THE HISTORY OF THE CAPITAL CITY.

BACK IN 1984 AT THE MIDPOINT OF HIS MAYORAL CAREER LATIMER APPEARED ON THE TPT PROGRAM "NIGHT TIME'S MAGAZINE" AND SPOKE IN GLOWING TERMS ABOUT WHY HIS CITY WAS NOT JUST THE BEST IN THE MIDWEST BUT SIMPLY THE BEST.

HERE'S A SHORT EXCERPT.

>> IF YOU WANT IN ONE PLACE IN THE MIDWEST FOR PARTS OF THE CITY WHICH ARE REMINISCENT OF EUROPE, OF THE EAST COAST, THEN IT WOULD BE ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

IF, ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU WANT TO GET A FEELING FOR A MIX OF NEIGHBORHOODS THAT IS QUINTESSENTIALLY MIDWESTERN, THEN I'D SAY TO COME TO ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

IF YOU WANT TO SEE A TREMENDOUS VARIETY OF ARCHITECTURE, THEN I'D SAY COME TO ST. PAUL.

>> Cathy: THERE AVE BEEN MANY TRIBUTES WRITTEN TO AND ABOUT FORMER MAYOR LATIMER IN THE LAST TEN DAYS OR SO BUT THIS ONE FROM MINNPOST IN THE LAST WEEK CAUGHT OUR EYE.

BILL LINDEKE IS AN AUTHOR OF MANY BOOKS INCLUDING ST. PAUL: AN URBAN BIOGRAPHY.

AN IN-DEPTH CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE LATIMER ABOUT SIX MONTHS AGO WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR THE COLUMN.

IT'S NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN.

>> THANKS FOR HAVING ME BACK.

>> Cathy: WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM GEORGE LATIMER IN HIS LAST MONTHS THAT LED YOU TO WRITE THIS COLUMN?

>> WELL, I LEARNED THAT HE WAS A TREMENDOUS MANAGER AND THAT HE IS A VERY CHARISMATIC PERSON, SO THAT'S THE FIRST THING I TOOK AWAY.

I MEAN, HE HAS A WAY WITH PEOPLE.

EVERYONE I TALKED TO WHO EXPERIENCED LATIMER AS A MAYOR OR AFTERWARD FOR ANY DECADES TALKED ABOUT HIS CHARM AND HUMOR AND THE WAY, VERY HUMBLE.

SO HE WOULD WALK INTO A ROOM AND TELL A SELF-DEPRECATING JOKE ABOUT HIMSELF AND IMMEDIATELY DISARM WHATEVER POLITICAL ISSUE YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD TO TALK TO HIM ABOUT.

AND THAT WAS TRUE TO THE END.

>> Eric: LOT OF FOCUS IN HIS ADMINISTRATIONS FOR DOWNTOWN, WORLD TRADE CENTER, TOWN SQUARE.

IN RETROSPECT, DID THAT WORK OUT?

>> WELL, I WAS JUST LISTENING TO AN INTERVIEW THAT LATIMER GAVE ABOUT TEN YEARS AGO WHERE HE SAID IN THE 1970S THAT WAS THE ONE QUESTION WHEN HE GOT ELECTED IN 1976 THAT EVERYONE ASKED HIM ABOUT.

WHAT ARE OU GOING TO DO ABOUT DOWNTOWN IN IT SOUNDS FAMILIAR BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE ASK ME ABOUT ALL THE TIME TODAY.

BUT IN A WAY THOSE PROBLEMS HAVEN'T REALLY DISAPPEARED.

THERE ARE SOME THINGS I THINK THAT IN RETROSPECT TURNED OUT REALLY WELL.

FOR EXAMPLE THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION MOVEMENT IN LOWERTOWN, MAYOR LATIMER HELPED GET A BIG RANT THAT STARTED THAT IN THE 1980S.

THE DISTRICT ENERGY SYSTEM WAS A REVOLUTIONLY THING WHEN IT WAS BUILT UNDER LATIMER'S WATCH.

>> Cathy: NOT SEXY.

>> NOT SEXY.

>> Eric: STEAM HEAT?

>> HEAT THAT HEATS THE DOWNTOWN AREA IN A VERY EFFICIENT WAY.

SO IT WAS A REALLY GROUNDBREAKING IDEA THAT NOW WHEN CLIMATE CHANGE IS SUCH A PROBLEM SEEMS LIKE A REALLY BRILLIANT MOVE.

>> Cathy: HOW DOES THE ST. PAUL OF TODAY MAYBE FIT INTO WHAT LATIMER SAW 40 YEARS AGO?

>> I THINK IT'S A LOT OF THE SAME PROBLEMS OF MOVING ENOUGH MONEY AND DISINVESTMENT AND PEOPLE AND BUSINESSES LEAVING THE CITY FOR WHATEVER REASON, SO YOU LOOK AT ALL THE MAYORS SINCE LATIMER, THAT'S A LOT OF YEARS, THEY'VE ALL BEEN STRUGGLING WITH THE SAME THINGS.

WHAT MAYOR LATIMER HAD AT HIS DISPOSAL WAS A LOT OF NEW NOVEL TOOLS IN THE 1980S THAT HADN'T REALLY BEEN USED BEFORE LIKE TAX FINANCING THAT GAVE THE CITY AN ABILITY TO HROW MONEY AT PROBLEMS, AND THEY DIDN'T ALWAYS WORK OUT SO THERE ARE SOME BUILDINGS LIKE THE TOWN SQUARE THAT USED TO BE IN THE '80s AN URBAN MALL WITH A BEAUTIFUL PARK AND NOW IT'S PRETTY MUCH ABANDONED.

BUT THEN THERE ARE OTHER THINGS THAT WORKED OUT PRETTY WELL.

SO BUT IT'S A LOT OF THE SAME PROBLEMS BOUT HOW DO YOU GET MORE PEOPLE BACK TO THE CITY.

>> Eric: DID HE TALK ABOUT WHAT WHAT HE WAS MOST PROUD OF AND THINGS HE MAY AVE SWUNG AND MISSED ON?

>> HE LIKED TO TALK ABOUT HIS MISTAKES.

SAME THING WHERE HE WAS VERY HUMBLE PERSON AND IT WASN'T I DON'T THINK JUST AN ACT.

EVERYONE NEW HE WAS VERY SMART AND REALLY TERRIFIC POLITICIAN, BUT HE REALLY DID HAVE A HUMILITY, AND THIS CAME ACROSS WHAT HE WOULD TALK ABOUT GIVING CREDIT TO PEOPLE THAT WORKED FOR HIM ALL THE TIME HE WOULD TALK ABOUT THIS STAFFER OR THIS PERSON WHO RAN THIS DEPARTMENT AND HOW BRILLIANT THEY WERE AND HOW GREAT THEY WERE.

AND NEVER ABOUT HIMSELF, ND SO, YEAH, HE TALKED ABOUT HIS MISTAKES QUITE A BIT TOO.

FOR XAMPLE, THE DOWNTOWN PEOPLE MOVER, HE WAS THE BIGGEST CHAMPION, IT WAS THIS, GOING TO BE THIS LIKE TRAIN MONORAIL THING THAT WOULD BE UP -- >> Eric: ELEVATED.

>> -- YEAH, ELEVATED OVER THE STREETS OF ST. PAUL AND HE KEPT FOR YEARS TRYING TO GET THAT MONEY, THERE WAS A FEDERAL PROGRAM THAT WOULD PAY FOR IT AND HE TRIED TO GET ST. PAUL VOTERS TO GO FOR IT AND THEY JUST WOULDN'T DO IT.

SO THAT GOT KILLED AND THAT WAS AN EARLY MISTAKE OF HIS I GUESS.

>> Cathy: KIND OF A PERSONAL QUESTION HERE BECAUSE YOU SPENT SO MUCH TIME ABOUT WITH HIM AND HE HAD BEEN IN HOSPICE AND THEN NOT IN HOSPICE, DID HE INDICATE HOW HE WAS LOOKING AT THE END OF HIS LIFE?

>> OSH, YOU KNOW, HE ASKED E -- SO I WROTE A BOOK ABOUT THE HISTORY OF ST. PAUL AND I LOOKED IT UP JUST YESTERDAY I ONLY MENTIONED LATIMER ONE TIME IN THERE, BUT THERE'S A PHOTO OF HIM.

BUT SO HE SAID THAT SOMEONE SHOULD WRITE A HISTORY OF ST. PAUL FROM 1978 TO THE PRESENT FOCUSING ON WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN THAT LAST 50, 60 YEARS AND I THINK THAT'S A GREAT IDEA.

I DON'T THINK IT WILL BE ME, THOUGH.

>> Eric: INNPOST.COM?

AND IT'S ARCHIVED THERE, OU CAN TAKE A LOOK AT IT.

>>