Public Comments

Why would you consider splitting up Broomfield? We are one community. Do not do this.

I am writing to ask you to reconsider splitting Broomfield into two different districts. While there have been arguments made that the current proposed map groups eastern Broomfield with SW Weld County (CD-8) due to similar interests around oil and gas, the areas most impacted by oil and gas are in western Broomfield - I live in the west Broadlands/Wildgrass/SilverLeaf area, which is directly impacted by oil and gas development, but would be in CD-7, which doesn't support the "oil and gas interests" argument as the other communities in CD-7 do not deal with the same oil and gas challenges that we have dealt with in western Broomfield. Broomfield is a suburban community of interest, not a rural community of interest (as is much of Weld County) and should be grouped with similar communities to protect our interests and our voices. Grouping us with a more rural population dilutes our voices, as well as theirs. As the commission's own comments state, "Broomfield could fit in either CD", I would suggest that our interests are more in line with CD-2 than CD-7, but definitely not CD-8. In addition, Broomfield voted to become a county 20 years ago because the city was divided across 4 counties, which was negatively impacting residents' ability to obtain services (police, fire, social services, etc) and divided our community based on which county you fell into. Broomfield is a single community, with diverse populations and interests, but with one thing in common - we are all part of the Broomfield community and should be represented as a community, which is called for in the state constitution. Article 5, Section 44.3 directs the commissions as follows - As much is reasonably possible, the commission's plan MUST (my emphasis) preserve whole communities of interest and whole political subdivisions, such as counties, cities and towns. The CITY and COUNTY of Broomfield is a "whole community of interest" and should be left intact. Thank you for the difficult work that you are doing and for providing a forum for citizens and community members to share their comments and concerns.

Attached letter and map.

Broomfield is one community of interest that should NOT be divided.

I'm commenting to oppose the redistricting of the city and county of Broomfield. We are a small city and county and it makes no sense whatsoever to divide it. By doing so you will effectively silence our community on what matters to us as a whole. Please do not divide broomfield into two separate districts. Consider leaving this alone until we grow to a point that it actually makes sense to redistrict. We have not reached that point yet. Thank you for your time

With regard to the House District Map section 54 and 55 the boundary for 54 should include all of Fruitvale up to 32 road and move the majority of the Redlands area to District 55 as it is more in line with Fruita Colorado.

There is no equality of political voice for the small community or even the small county in Colorado anymore! Of the 5.7 million +/- people living in our state... 5 million +/- live in major urban areas that encompass 17% of the state geographical area. It is no secret that urbanites and suburbanites are almost never of the same mindset nor do they share the same interests as their rural counterparts regardless if they are in the same county or localized area. It is not just Colorado facing this dilemma of the voice of rural people being extinguished by disproportionately populated and politicized majority urban centers. If something is not changed to recover the voices of the minority populated areas in Colorado... which encompasses 83% of the state... the lie that "every" vote is equal will continue to proliferate unchecked until a utopian "democratic" regime is realized. The truth is that urban centers HAVE ALMOST NOTHING IN COMMON WITH RURAL AREAS... and it's laughable to assume they actually do! So what if the numbers are divided as "numerically" equal... whoop tee do... mentally, emotionally and physically they show no community commonality! It's time to admit that any large or small model of a constitutional republic is long dead and the rise of the so called "democracy" model is swallowing up any and all opposition voices. I don't have the answers... but this "system" of equal representation is BROKEN! Maybe we should look at leveling the "legislating" field and removing the controlling power of the urban centered block that is absolutely denying the right... of equal representation... to the rural people. Maybe the leveling of the vote comes to this... a weighted value vote! Whereas in a county with a population density of 4887 people per square mile a single vote is only on average worth 1/100th the value of vote in a county with a population density of 428 people per square mile. Maybe then the equality of the "vote" will become more of a reality... than the illusion it is today! I will pray truth will guide this commission into righting the injustices being done to those who have been lost in the statistical data of "group power over individual rights". At least until recently... individuals were guaranteed protection of a minority voice as citizens of this nation and this state. I offer no apologies for speaking truth to this matter.

This makes no sense for you to divide Broomfield, except for political reasons. I don’t understand why in this day and age of Republicans taking away our right to vote,that this is happening.I have been a conservative all my life and I will NEVER vote trumplublican .

I listened in on your marathon LONG meeting yesterday. Thank you for all of the time and energy that you are putting in on redistributing. Commissioner Espinosa stated yesterday that “everyone on the West Slope” wants one west slope district. That is not accurate. I heard oral testimony from several west slope residents asking for TWO west slope districts, including my own testimony. As a resident of the west slope I have many friends, neighbors and acquaintances who want a competitive CD 3. If that means two districts on the west slope that is the way the map should be drawn. There are several proposed maps that create two competitive districts on west slope. These maps follow the criteria set out for compactness and communities of interest. Please choose one of those. We need competitive districts on the west slope! Thank you.

Broomfield is one "community of interest", "city" and "county" that should not be divided. This is clearly going against the guidelines of the commission.- (2) (a) As much as is reasonably possible, the commission's plan must preserve whole communities of interest and whole political subdivisions, such as counties, cities, and towns.