Press Release- Nov 17, 2007
FOR RELEASE:
FRIDAY, NOV. 17, 2006
9NEWS INTERVIEW WITH GOV.-ELECT RITTER
'Ritter prepares to put together whole new government'
The following article was posted on 9News.com. Click here to watch the video of the interview with Gov.-Elect Ritter by reporter Adam Schrager. Governor-elect Bill Ritter says he understands the hope his campaign fostered, but wants Colorado to understand it will take time to solve all of the state's major problems.
In his first sit-down interview since winning the state's top spot last week, Ritter spoke about working diligently on issues like education, health care and transportation, but cautioned Coloradans that he views the challenge in terms of a marathon and not a sprint.
"We have to manage people's expectations around this because we articulated hope," Ritter said in his downtown Denver transition office filled with resumes, folders, chairs, desks, phones, and little else. "There are things we're going to work very hard on, but no matter how hard we work, we won't change them on a dime.
"If we do it right, it'll take a while," he said.
The campaign office is being swamped with job applications from people wanting to "put together a whole new government."
Ritter said during his career he has seen politicians act out of expedience and political gain and not necessarily in the best interest of citizens. He favors a deliberate, thoughtful approach that brings people together rather than separating them apart.
Already, the governor-elect named former Senate Majority Leader Norma Anderson, a Republican lawmaker at the State Capitol for 19 years, to help run his transition team. "It's my hope that we just find common ground and that we be about problem-solving," said Ritter. "There are people who are Republicans who are going to be part of our decision-making process for sure."
After a family vacation along the Colorado River, he says he is excited and energized to fulfill the mandate he feels he was given by voters; to give every resident the chance at what he calls the "Colorado Promise." His mood is reminiscent of when he finished law school.
"My first job out of law school was as a Deputy District Attorney," he said. "I was sworn in as a lawyer on a Wednesday, as a prosecutor on a Thursday and I tried my first case on a Monday. I was frightened, daunted by the task and I had a sense that that was the most important case that had ever been tried in a criminal courtroom in the City and County of Denver. It was a bootlegging case. There was this overarching sense, this is all new and I have a responsibility to the people and I enjoy a trust relationship.
"There are some similarities here. It is about a trust people have placed in me to do this and do it well. There is a sense about it that seems daunting, but we'll put it all together."