5 questions for Gov. Bill Ritter

Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 29, 2007 at midnight

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Today marks Democrat Bill Ritter's 21st day as Colorado's 41st governor.

Last week, he talked to four business groups, where he repeated his mantra that transportation, health care and education are critical to Colorado's economic development. He took heat over a Democratic labor union bill that would amend the Labor Peace Act, which business honchos think would be bad for Colorado, but supporters say would help workers.

1. You said in your State of the State speech that you were going to spend one-fourth of your time on economic development. What have you done so far?

Does all the time I've spent on the Labor Peace Act controversy count? Seriously, I spent a lot of time on the phone trying to work on the (National Center for Atmospheric Research) supercomputer selection. Unfortunately for Colorado, our good friends in Wyoming prevailed, but this will be good for the region. My staff and I also have spent a significant amount of time looking at the business-personal property tax issue.

2. Two phones are ringing at the same time. One is House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, the other Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald. Which one would you answer first?

"You've reached the Office of Gov. Bill Ritter. Please leave a message at the tone . . . "

3. Colorado is first in the nation again in foreclosures. What is your role in turning that around?

It all goes back to growing our economy, creating good jobs and running a government that intersects with people's struggles and then eases those struggles.

4. What is the most painful story you've heard from a Colorado citizen since you were elected governor?

There have been so many. I heard from a woman in Durango whose daughter is developmentally disabled, and they've had a terrible time obtaining health care. I've also talked with families who lost soldiers in Iraq. And last weekend a woman in La Junta told me she and her husband are afraid some of their cattle are buried in a canyon that's covered over with 50-foot snow drifts.

5. Who is your favorite person in Colorado history?

Ralph Carr, who showed uncommon political courage. (Carr, right, was governor from 1939 to 1943, and while he favored the U.S. getting into World War II, he opposed how Japanese-Americans were treated afterward.) I had the opportunity to meet the guy who was his driver, Wayne Patterson. He took Ralph Carr to the internment camp, where Carr stood among the interned Japanese.

Spotlight on Durango

• TV stations: Durango wants Colorado news, but gets New Mexico news stations. Ritter is working with U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, and the Federal Communications Commission on the issue.

"Durango would really like to be included in Colorado broadcasting," Ritter said. "They watch the Dallas Cowboys on Albuquerque TV and remain mad the entire football game - and rightly so."

• Health care: Ritter wants to update La Plata County's designation as "medically underserved" to help it obtain federal grants to deal with a potential crisis. A Durango clinic that serves an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people, many on Medicare, is shutting down March 31.

On lockdown

• Poor Greg Kolomitz, Ritter's campaign manager. During a three-day inaugural and business swing through the state, Kolomitz locked the keys in a van being used by the governor. It was a snowy Saturday morning in La Junta, and inside the van was first lady Jeannie Ritter's purse, the governor's briefcase and their luggage.

"Man, I was about to break a window," he said.

Luckily, a La Junta locksmith saved the day.

Talk about timing

The governor:

• Appointed Russ George, a graduate of the Harvard School of Law, to head the Transportation Department two days before he was to speak at a Harvard alum meeting.

• Delivered four speeches to business groups last week that veteran politicos deemed lasted too long. Some lasted half an hour.

• Invited the Capitol press corps in to talk with him and U.S. Rep. John Salazar but was running late. Bad move - reporters aren't in the best of moods on Fridays to begin with.

What others say

"Bill Ritter as governor is the same Bill Ritter who was a candidate for governor, the same Bill Ritter who was Denver district attorney, the same Bill Ritter who is a friend, a neighbor, a constituent. What you see is what you get."

House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver

"The governor is very well spoken. He really has the issues down. He knows what he wants to say. He gives a great, assertive compelling message, on education, on health care, on transportation. And I particularly like his proposal to stop prison recidivism. Again, I just have to say, 'Where is the money coming from?' I think I smell a tax increase coming on."

Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, who sat in when Ritter spoke to the Colorado Contractors Association

What Ritter says

"It's the elephant in the middle of the room. Or maybe it's the donkey in the middle of the room."

The governor, to the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, about the labor union measure that business opposes

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