Changemaker: Betty Ann Dittemore
In 1973, during the 49th Colorado General Assembly, Representative Betty Ann Dittemore of Englewood introduced House Bill 1111 establishing CHFA to address the growing need for affordable housing in the state.
Born Betty Ann Harper in Trinidad, Colorado in 1919, Betty Ann married Richard Dittemore, an attorney, in 1945. They had two daughters and moved to Englewood in 1957. Betty Ann ran for public office in 1968, becoming the first woman from Arapahoe County to serve in the General Assembly.
House Bill 1111 was signed into law by Governor John Arthur Love in March 1973, establishing CHFA’s initial leadership structure to include a nine-member Board of Directors. One member of the Board was to be a state legislator appointed by heads of the state House and Senate for a two-year term. Betty Ann was appointed to that role, serving as the first and only woman on CHFA’s inaugural Board of Directors.
At the time, the concept of a quasi-governmental state housing authority was still relatively new and untested. “In the beginning…there were concerns, primarily about the state’s liability in the event of default and about pledging the good faith of Colorado…which we didn’t,” wrote Betty Ann in a quote featured in CHFA’s 1983 Annual Report. “We were charting new waters.” Betty Ann maintained a vested interest in CHFA’s successful launch into uncharted territory, serving two consecutive terms on its Board until her fifth term as a state legislator in the General Assembly concluded in 1978.
“As Mrs. Dittemore did not seek re-election to her House seat and will be leaving the Board at the end of December,” wrote then-Board Chair Charles Henning in a letter to Governor Richard Lamm and the General Assembly in 1978, “I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the Board of Directors and staff to publicly acknowledge Mrs. Dittemore’s valued counsel and commitment in helping guide the Authority during its first five years. She will be missed.” CHFA’s Executive Director David Herlinger echoed these remarks in a letter penned for that same year’s Annual Report. “Mrs. Dittemore provided invaluable wisdom and advice to the Authority during her term on the Board,” he wrote.
Toward the end of her tenure as a state legislator, Betty Ann rose to a leadership position, becoming the Assistant Minority Leader from 1975 to 1976, and Assistant Majority Leader in 1977 and 1978. In 1977, she sought a bid for lieutenant governor, becoming the first Republican woman to do so. Following her time in the Colorado General Assembly, Betty Ann was elected as a county commissioner in Arapahoe County, the first woman to hold the position. She served as a county commissioner for eight years.
In addition to her legacy as the sponsor of CHFA’s enabling legislation, Betty Ann is known for her sponsorship of House Bill 1041 in 1974. The landmark bill defined the authority of state and local governments in making planning decisions for matters of statewide interest. Today, the authorities enacted by this bill are still referred to as “1041 powers.”
I am proud to have been a part of creating an agency such as this, one that has done so much for so many parts of the state.
She was also a fierce advocate for the equal rights of women. In 1972, she led efforts to amend Colorado’s constitution to guarantee equal treatment for women in public employment, an amendment adopted by voters that November. “Originally, the amendment proposed by Mrs. Dittemore would have applied to both public and private employment,” wrote Gordon Gauss of the Associated Press in March 1973, “but the male-dominated legislature eventually limited it to the public sector.”
In 1983, CHFA’s Annual Report featured a timeline of the organization’s first decade in operation. Betty Ann was interviewed for the report. “I’m glad to see the Authority is still alive and well and functioning,” said Betty Ann. “I am proud to have been a part of creating an agency such as this, one that has done so much for so many parts of the state.”
Betty Ann passed away in 2001, and was honored by the Colorado General Assembly through the passage of a resolution in April of that year: “Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Sixty-third General Assembly of the State of Colorado that, in the death of Betty Ann Dittemore, the people of the state of Colorado have lost a dedicated public servant and outstanding citizen, and that we, the members of the House of Representatives of the Sixty-third General Assembly, do hereby extend our deep and heartfelt sympathy to the members of her family and pay tribute to a woman who served this state and our nation well and faithfully.”