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A clearer state focus on security

Published July 22, 2007 at midnight

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Six months into his term and nearly six years after the 9/11 attacks, Gov. Bill Ritter made a move that should have happened long before his election: He put a single official in charge of overseeing the state's homeland security efforts.

The appointment earlier this month of retired Colorado National Guard Maj. Gen. Mason Whitney as homeland security coordinator is welcome, and timely.

The system Ritter inherited was disjointed, with accountability for homeland security programs dispersed among several state agencies.

In 2003, the legislature made matters worse when it passed a well-intended bill that shielded virtually all homeland security documentation from the state's Open Records Act. The idea was to make it more difficult for the bad guys to get the operational details of security plans. But because agencies could not be compelled to disclose how they were spending those funds even when disclosure could not conceivably jeopardize security, the law also facilitated fiscal mischief.

The Rocky reported, for instance, that some money allocated for homeland security was spent on fitness equipment and for other purposes that had little to do with protecting the public from terrorist attacks.

In 2005, federal auditors stepped in and confirmed that the state had mismanaged those grants; the next year the feds demanded that the state return $1.5 million to Washington.

State residents and other federal taxpayers who are funding these programs deserve a direct line of accountability for them. The appointment of Gen. Whitney makes it clear where the buck stops.

Whitney will have a fresh set of grants to work with. Colorado just landed $26 million from Washington for homeland security programs and emergency radio operations.

The radio funds are long overdue. Since the communications chaos that surrounded the Columbine crisis, law enforcement officials have pleaded for an emergency radio system that first responders from any jurisdiction in the state can easily tap into.

This "interoperable" network has not been completed, even though millions have been spent to upgrade equipment over the past several years. Here's hoping this infusion of cash can finish the job.

Meantime, Denver received an additional $7.8 million from Washington, a 77 percent rise over last year. The money will be used primarily to buy equipment that would protect first responders from a chemical or biological attack and to improve anti-terrorism training.

The city and state will almost certainly qualify for additional money for security as the Democratic National Convention draws closer.

As Denver's former district attorney, Ritter undoubtedly understands that public safety is an essential component of a healthy civic life. "We concluded that a central coordinator, reporting directly to me as governor, was the best way to ensure that our programs are effective and efficient," Ritter said.

With Whitney in charge of homeland security operations, the public should expect better management of these essential programs, along with a clearer strategy for how agencies prepare for potential threats and respond to real ones.