Emergency preparedness and response is a Colorado PRIORITY

Governor Bill Ritter visited the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment on Friday, specifically to express his thanks to all the staff who helped Alamosa recover from its water emergency.


Governor Ritter was involved from the start, making a quick trip to Alamosa to help distributed bottled water as soon as the boil-water order came down. He is a very involved governor who really seems to enjoy meeting Coloradans of all ilks. He wanted the people in the Alamosa water district to know that the state was behind them, and we were all in it for the long haul.


OK, you say, status quo for a politician, right?


Wrong. Not around here.


The next day was Easter. Not knowing what support would be needed, the CDPHE Operations Center was staffed very early and ready to go when in strolls Governor Ritter, legendary cowboy boots and all, with coffee cup in hand. He sat down with us and asked questions, genuinely interested in how we were providing support to the local nursing service in Alamosa County.


When we told him we were sorry he had to interrupt his Easter family time, he said "no problem," that he had been to church in the evening. But with young children still at home, we knew he was making his own sacrifices for no other reason than to show his support for us.


There were no television cameras, no reporters, nobody but us. He didn't have to do it, but we really felt like he was behind us and it made it more rewarding to be there that Easter Sunday. (Full disclosure: this writer doesn't celebrate the holiday and was glad to help out when Christian colleagues wanted to be with their families.)


So fast-forward to last Friday, when all staff who helped with Alamosa were invited to a little reception during which our executive staff, led by director Jim Martin, wanted to take a moment to express their appreciation for the eager response from CDPHE employees. There were a lot of people, even many who never set foot in the Department Operations Center during that response effort. It just goes to show you what is involved in making everything click in a response. For every "subject-matter expert" who voices his or her expert opinion during a highly publicized conference call, there may be three other people at their desks doing research, outreach, and even photocopying to keep things going.


We were mingling and enjoying some lemonade when Governor Ritter strolled in. He had not gotten two steps into the room before staff starting noticing and approaching him - I don't know how many hands he shook that morning, but it was darn near everyone.


When he finally was able to make his way to the front of the room, he spoke briefly. And he had just the right words to make every person in that room feel understood and appreciated.


Now it is our turn to appreciate him. Thank you, Governor Ritter, for going out of your way to make us feel like what we did made a difference for the people of Alamosa.