Colorado’s approach to protecting citizens from a potential terrorist attack is backward and should be overhauled, a legislative panel investigating Colorado’s homeland security efforts said Monday.
Specifically, the committee headed by Sen. Dan Grossman, D-Denver, calls for putting all homeland security functions under one executive-level department that reports to the governor.
The recommendation is a shot at Gov. Bill Owens, who split the duties in 2004.
Since then, Grossman said, Owens’ administration has allocated about $130 million in federal homeland-security grants without properly evaluating needs.
“I’m not saying that the money hasn’t done any good; I think it has,” Grossman said. “But we don’t have a comprehensive understanding of our vulnerabilities. That’s – pardon the phrase – kind of …backwards.”
In 2002, lawmakers directed the governor to create the Office of Preparedness, Security and Fire Safety to oversee homeland security efforts in the state.
After establishing the office, Owens concluded that the state Department of Local Affairs could handle funding requests better than an agency focused on deploying police, fire and other emergency responders.
In a two-page report Monday, the Senate Select Committee on Homeland Security called for putting all homeland security functions – from protecting the public to writing grant funding applications – under one executive-level department that reports to the governor.
Michael Beasley, director of the state Department of Local Affairs, denied there were problems with the state’s system for allocating federal homeland-security grants.
“I can guarantee you that the federal government would not be granting money if that were the case,” Beasley said. “This committee has taken homeland security and made it a political football and this report fumbles the ball.”
Grossman said his committee’s investigation has already pressured the Owens administration into making several changes.
He said the governor has replaced the top manager in the office of preparedness and reactivated a committee of business executives and security experts evaluating the places in the state that need to be protected.
Grossman said the committee likely will meet informally between now and next year’s legislative session in January.
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-820-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
