EAGLE COUNTY \u2014 Jill Ryan\u2019s world was upended on Election Day 2018.<\/p>\n
But it took a few weeks before she actually knew it had happened.<\/p>\n
On Nov. 5, Ryan was at work as an Eagle County commissioner, a post she was elected to in 2012 and re-elected to in 2016. But on Nov. 6, Jared Polis was elected governor of Colorado and shortly thereafter, he began the process of vetting and appointing his new cabinet members. On Jan. 9, Polis announced Ryan was his choice to serve as the executive director for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.<\/p>\n
Ryan\u2019s resignation as county commissioner was effective Sunday, Jan. 27, and she began work at her new post on Monday, Jan. 28. She now oversees a state agency that numbers more than 1,400 employees.<\/p>\n
Ryan\u2019s new gig is actually a return to her professional roots. For 10 years she worked for the state health department.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I previously worked as the public health manager here for nearly five years. That\u2019s what brought\u00a0me to Eagle County,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
A Front Range native and a graduate of the University of Colorado, Ryan worked for the county\u2019s public health department until 2009 when she decided to start a family and launch her own public health consulting firm. By that time she had fallen in love with both the area and a fellow Eagle County employee named Ty Ryan.<\/p>\n
But running for public office had always held an allure for Ryan and she decided to launch her county commissioner campaign in 2012, while she was pregnant with son Daxton.<\/p>\n
From the beginning, Ryan had a number of priorities as county commissioner \u2014 affordable housing, affordable health care, affordable child care and early childhood education, climate action and economic vitality topped her list.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of those things are very complex issues. It takes a while to move the needle with them,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n
But as she looks back on her tenure as a commissioner, Ryan is proud of all that the county did manage to accomplish.<\/p>\n
Ryan calls the county\u2019s adoption of its first-ever\u00a0environmental\u00a0policy statement, with goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, one of her proudest accomplishments as a county commissioner.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a county, warming climate is so tied to our economy,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cEagle County\u00a0has a lot to lose with warming temperatures.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the Trump administration\u2019s 2017 decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, Ryan said climate action has to come from the state and local level. But sustainable\u00a0energy policy is also good business policy, Ryan said.<\/p>\n
By offsetting more than half of its carbon footprint with solar energy sources and efficiency measures, Ryan said the county is saving taxpayers more than $300,000 annually.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a fiscally responsible thing for local governments to do and Eagle County has become a statewide leader\u00a0in this effort,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ryan also became a leader in the work, serving as the president of Colorado Communities for Climate Action.<\/p>\n
Throughout her time as a county commissioner, Ryan has worked on one of the toughest local issues \u2014 affordable housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cProviding affordable housing is so difficult\u00a0because our land prices are so expensive up here,\u201d said Ryan. \u201cDevelopers have a hard time making the numbers work.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is even true when the county owns the land, Ryan said. In 2018, the county did ink a deal with Cassia (formerly known as Augustana Care) to build Two10 at Castle Peak \u2014 a 22-unit project that will initially function as local employee housing before transitioning to a senior citizen independent living center. But that project required a lot of heavy lifting from the county. Moving forward, Ryan believes both public and private resources will need to share that load.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere just won\u2019t be that many projects that the county can develop,\u201d she said. \u201cI just think partnership is the strategy going\u00a0forward \u2014 local communities combining resources and working with\u00a0developers.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, she stressed, finding answers to the local housing need will remain a vital need.<\/p>\n
\u201cAffordable housing is a key economic success,\u201d said Ryan. \u201cYou have to have a place for the workforce that makes minimum wage and on up. Otherwise, you can\u2019t attract and retain the workers you need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond needing a place to live, Ryan noted that Eagle County residents need access to available and affordable health care.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe county has been working with Mountain Family Health Center, Vail Health and Mind Springs for a facility where we can co-locate all these services with enough capacity to serve the local need,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She pointed to other efforts, including the MIRA bus program that travels the county to bring public health and human\u00a0services to people where they live.\u00a0 The program was launched last summer. The county has also been working with state legislators on regulations to stabilize Colorado\u2019s health care market.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really was a coalition of county commissioners advocating that brought that issue to the forefront and made it a priority for the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a part of overall health, improving mental health resources has been a big priority for Eagle County, Ryan added. Passing the ballot initiative to fund mental health was an important local step.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not going to fund all our needs, but it is going to help us leverage with other partners to help meet the local need.\u201d<\/p>\n
As she looks at all the work the county has accomplished during the last six years, Ryan said that open space efforts may be the most popular. Last November, a 25-year extension of the county\u2019s open space tax was approved with 82 percent of voters in favor of the ballot question.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels good to know the community likes what we are doing with open space,\u201d said Ryan.\u201dWhat a wonderful gift to our kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of her fondest memories as an Eagle County commissioner has an open space tie-in. She recalled the day when former Gov. John Hickenlooper visited the area for the Horn Ranch trail ribbon cutting.<\/p>\n
\u201cA group of Eagle County employees dressed up in 10th Mountain Division costumes and rode their bikes to the ceremony. It was just so cool,\u201d Ryan said.<\/p>\n
Ryan was never more proud to represent Eagle County than during the Lake Christine Fire last summer. She noted local firefighters literally saved the Basalt and El Jebel communities and government workers and private citizens banded together to help their neighbors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had more than 200 staff members working around the clock on that, for more than a month. It was the biggest emergency response we have ever had,\u201d Ryan said.<\/p>\n
Even after the fire was no longer a threat to lives and property, Ryan noted county employees were there to help impacted residents negotiate issues related to air quality, insurance, flood mitigation and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really was Eagle County\u2019s finest hour,\u201d Ryan said.<\/p>\n
While Ryan is now working for the state, she plans to split her time between Eagle County and Denver. Just as she did when she began work as a commissioner, she has a list of priorities for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment \u2014 saving people money on health care, expanding health care options, eliminating the Front Ranch brown cloud, improving health behaviors statewide and increasing immunization rates \u2014 for example.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of Gov. Polis\u2019s values is to be bold and that has really stuck with my staff,\u201d she said. \u201cThey really want to do big stuff to improve people\u2019s health.\u201d<\/p>\n
She is excited about the challenges ahead and believes that she is the right person in the right place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI bring a rural lens to the position. I just felt\u00a0confident I could make a difference in this role, for the state,\u201d Ryan said.<\/p>\n
At the same time, she said it has been hard to step away from a job that she loved.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am going to miss the employees of Eagle County. They are a committed, mission-driven group of professionals,\u201d she said. \u201cCounty residents should\u00a0know that they are in good hands.\u201d<\/p>\n