Here’s a nice, clear contrast in leadership for you. Last Thursday, Gov. Bill Ritter sent out a press release announcing ways to save state taxpayers money. First on the list:

Implementing a hiring freeze for the Executive Branch effective Oct. 1.

For those doing the math, that left a few extra days to give all departments notice to fill all open positions.

In 2002, then-Gov. Bill Owens, also facing a fiscal crunch, issued an executive order with a similar purpose:

Pursuant to C.R.S. ยง 24-2-102(4), I order a hiring freeze applicable to state government. This hiring freeze is effective immediately. [emphasis added]

It will be interesting to see how many last-minute hires came in before Bill Ritter’s “slow freeze” went into effect.