Departing council member to seek a new way to serve

No doubt about it, Debbie Montgomery loves St. Paul.

It's the city she has lived in all her life. It's the city where she spent 40 years of her working life. And for the past four years, she has served the people as a City Council member.

Indeed, she's only leaving office because she lost a reelection bid in November.

"I can leave here knowing I did the best I could do in the period of time I was here," she said recently.

Montgomery, 61, came into office a veteran cop but a political newcomer promising jobs and economic development for the First Ward, an ethnically and economically diverse area of town that stretches from Summit Avenue to north of University Avenue.

During her reelection campaign, she touted bringing 1,350 new jobs, $109 million of new investment and 400 housing units to the ward. Progressive challenger Melvin Carter III unseated her by 700 votes in the contest.

"I think she certainly served our community well," said Nick Khaliq, president of the St. Paul Chapter of the NAACP and someone who has known Montgomery since "school days."

Council Member Dan Bostrom said Montgomery helped to get some lingering projects on track, such as the Jimmy Lee Recreation Center.

The rec center has been on the city's capital improvements list since 1992, but dirt didn't turn until 2006. The $12 million facility -- set to open next year -- has more than $2 million in cost overruns, and Montgomery has been spending the last weeks of her term trying to get sponsorships and donations. "I will finish that task, that's all I can tell you," she said.

Serving her city

Running for St. Paul City Council was never on Montgomery's to-do list.

But after friends and neighbors urged her to run in 2003, she did. She won by just more than 350 votes.

Montgomery, who is black and the first minority woman to serve on the council, filled a seat that had been held by black men since 1980.

She's not big on firsts, but it should be noted that she was the city's first female patrol officer and rose through the ranks to retire after 28 years on the force as a commander.

"I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly of all that goes on in this city," she said.

She also lived through the destruction of Rondo Avenue, once the backbone of the city's black community, when Interstate 94 was built.

Montgomery has lived in the same house in the Aurora/St. Anthony neighborhood for 40 years, and it's only a half-block from the house she in which she grew up. She was an avid athlete and got involved in the civil rights movement.

Montgomery said she found the politics in politics -- negotiating among different groups and articulating different issues -- and learning the processes to be stressful at times.

"I was a little robust in wanting to jump into issues," she said.

But Bostrom helped her learn to slow down, she said.

"Sometimes being smooth is not exactly her strong suit, but you never wonder what side of the issue she's on," Bostrom said. "One thing with Debbie is she's a person not hung up on process, she wanted to get stuff done."

That Montgomery is independent and carries no hidden agendas probably hurt her in the long run, Khaliq said.

Still, she has no major regrets, just incomplete plans. She had hoped to build more housing for seniors and develop the area near the Minnehaha Mall.

"One thing this ward has is a lot of land. There's a lot of potential and a lot of opportunity here," she said.

While she won't be in the public spotlight, Montgomery said she will keep busy helping her priest get resources for at-risk kids.

"I will continue to be committed to making sure that the voices of those who feel they're not heard are heard."