Let's all attack Governor Ritter with lazy journalism

The breathless article from Saturday starts with a real bombshell:

Gov. Bill Ritter's administration instituted a hiring freeze, but it didn't always follow the procedures it put in place to consider exemptions, a state audit found. Of 523 exemption requests reviewed, the paperwork for 18 of them, or 3 percent, was not signed by Ritter's chief of staff as required. The audit concluded that the problems were not serious enough to issue formal recommendations.

Of course the piece is complete with complaints from two republicans. Again, not a shocker. Our current republican colleagues would like nothing more than to see Josh Penry replace Ritter. So, perhaps we should take what they say were a certain dose of salt. What is suprising is Ritter's spokesman claims a savings of $3 Million in payroll with reduction in force of 562 employees. So, why is this even an article?

The other bombshell is that Ritter just hired a new lobbyist and oh, look at his salary of $110,000. According to salary.com that's actually the average salary for lobbyists in Denver. Perhaps a little more context is in order here. I contacted the state's HR department to find out what the previous person in that position made. A simple CORA request by email got me the answer the same day, 20% more. That's right, in hiring this new lobbyist, the state is saving money by paying him less. Wouldn't this article be different knowing at every turn, the state is cutting salaries, saving money, and cutting staff?

Republican Shawn Mitchell says, "the position should have been left vacant" and questions why the position is necessary. Of course he does. He'd like nothing more than to see a hobbled governor who can't effectively communicate with the state legislature. Anyone who's followed the last legislative session (like reporter Lynn Bartles) would know communications between the Governor and legislators hasn't exactly been successful. I don't know what the previous lobbyist's relationships were like with legislators. I'm definitely not saying he or she was the problem. But, just having someone new in the position who definitely does have good relationships* under the dome is exactly what the Governor needs right now.