June 24, 2009 11:42 PM UTC

Gov. Ritter Picketed in DC

• 0 Comments
• by: Adam Schrager

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

From: www.9News.com

WASHINGTON – Governor Bill Ritter’s problems with Colorado firefighters and grocery workers followed him to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday where he was holding two separate fundraisers for his 2010 re-election campaign.

Roughly 40 union members, including some from Colorado, picketed outside two downtown buildings in the nation’s capital where the first-term Democrat was meeting with potential donors.

The signs they carried said “Why does Ritter hate firefighters?” on one side and “Why does Ritter hate working families?” on the other.  

The governor did not have to cross the picket line to enter either event held in his honor.

Ritter has been at odds with both groups over vetoes he issued at the end of the 2009 legislative session. Firefighters have accused him of reneging on a campaign pledge to support Senate Bill 180 which would have given certain firefighters the right to collectively bargain. Ritter said in some of those jurisdictions local voters have already refused the concept of collective bargaining for their firefighters.

“To us, it’s a matter of integrity,” said Steve Clapham, an Aurora firefighter for 25 years who attended a meeting where he says Ritter committed to collective bargaining for firefighters. “His word has to stand for something.”

The public spat with the firefighter unions came after grocery store workers criticized him vocally at one of his bill signings for vetoing a measure that would have given locked-out employees access to unemployment benefits. The governor said it would have placed the state in the middle of on-going negotiations between Colorado’s grocery stores and its workers.

“I voted for Bill Ritter and encouraged my family to vote for him too,” said Ashton Santos, a United Food and Commercial Worker Local 7 member and Safeway employee. “He said he would support Colorado’s middle class, and he failed to do so. That’s why I travelled all the way to Washington, DC to talk to him – but ended up standing outside a luxury hotel while he raised money with his Beltway lobbyist buddies.”

The governor’s campaign manager was not in Washington for the fundraisers on Wednesday, but issued a statement on the campaign’s behalf:

“The governor supports firefighters and has done a great deal to support firefighters in their important service,” wrote David Kenney in an e-mail to 9NEWS. “When making decisions the governor always acts in what he believes is in the best interest of the entire state of Colorado – and sometimes leadership means having to say no to your friends – we respect the right of firefighters – and everyone – to express their position on issues.”

9NEWS political analyst Floyd Ciruli said the image of picketers outside fundraisers in Washington, D.C. sends the message to the public of a “governor who is embattled, who is not able to lead.” Ritter acknowledged in an interview earlier this month with 9NEWS that he knew his poll numbers were down, but Ciruli said that might be an understatement.

“It sends a message that this governor has moved from being vulnerable which he’s been for some time to actually being in deep trouble,” Ciruli said. “Right now, he ought to be focused on and would like to be focused on his overall message, (but) he has to be worried about the base of the party, the labor unions in particular who have shown they are willing to go and disrupt his speeches. Nothing could be more distracting.”

Ritter formally announced earlier this month that he would run for re-election in 2010. Former Congressman Scott McInnis and Evergreen businessman Dan Maes have announced their candidacies as Republicans. Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry is also considering a run.

(Copyright KUSA*TV, All Rights Reserved)