DENVER, Colorado – No sooner was it evident that Russell George of Rifle would not be the new governor’s pick to continue heading the Colorado Department of Transportation than another new opportunity presented itself.

George, the former Republican state representative turned state government official, was announced last week as the front-runner to become the new president of Colorado Northwestern Community College (CNCC), which has campuses in Rangely and Craig.

Gov.-elect John Hickenlooper, who officially takes office today, on Friday tabbed Don Hunt to be executive director of the Colorado Transportation Department, also effective today.

Hunt, until now the president of Denver-based Antero Resources, will replace George, who has been the CDOT director for the past four years under outgoing Gov. Bill Ritter.

George, a former attorney from Rifle, represented Garfield, Pitkin, Rio Blanco and Moffat counties in the Colorado House of Representatives from 1993 to 2000, serving as House Speaker from 1999 to 2000.

Prior to heading up CDOT, he was director of the Colorado Division of Wildlife from 2001-04, and executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources from 2004 to 2007, under former Gov. Bill Owens.

Last week, Colorado Community College System President Nancy McCallin announced George as the finalist under consideration to succeed former CNCC president Dr. John Boyd, who resigned late last year to assume the presidency of Mayland Community College in North Carolina.

McCallin and George are planning to visit the CNCC campuses on Thursday to seek college and community input before the appointment is officially made.

“I’ve watched the state community college system since the time I was in the Legislature, and have been involved with higher education issues for a number of years,” George said Monday.

“I’ve had the same strong feelings for Colorado Mountain College over the years,” he said of the special community college district based in Glenwood Springs, which is not part of the state system.

Last year, Ritter asked George to work on the governor’s Higher Education Strategic Planning Commission, which looked at the structure and funding for higher education in the state.

“A lot of K-12 issues were rolled into that process as well, on the recognition that education starts with our youngsters and continues as an opportunity to achieve and accomplish through college,” George said.

As a legislator, George was instrumental in helping to preserve CNCC by sponsoring legislation in 1998 to bring the college into the state community college system.

George put in with the Hickenlooper transition team to stay on as CDOT director, but was not interviewed for the job, he said.

“The Department of Transportation has been a complex and difficult organization to head, and the subject matter is as important as anything we do in government,” he said. “It has been one of the most intellectually stimulating jobs I’ve done, but I wouldn’t say it’s been fun.”

That’s mostly due to the financial difficulties of the past four years, when CDOT essentially lost of third of its budget just after George became director.

“To lose what had been a 30-year budget looking ahead in the course of one year was very difficult and had a lot of repercussion,” he said.

The influx of some $500 million in federal stimulus dollars for highway construction and related infrastructure during the last two years helped, but was hard to administer at the state level, George said.

“There were a lot of short time lines that added to the stress of administering those funds,” he said.

George said he stood behind Ritter’s blue ribbon panel recommendations to increase motor vehicle registrations to fund what became the FASTER bill, which was approved by the state Legislature last year.

“It was absolutely the right thing to do,” he said. “And I think most people are beginning to agree on that.

“On balance, I’ve really appreciated being involved at this level,” George said. “I’ve been pretty lucky to have worked closely with two very fine governors for the last 10 years. It’s an honor not many people get to have.”

George is a graduate of Rifle High School, and went on to receive his bachelor of arts degree in economics from Colorado State University and his law degree from Harvard Law School. He and his wife, Neal, a retired teacher, maintain a home in Rifle.

jstroud@postindependent.com