Public Comments

Please do not split Broomfield. We are one community and need to stay that way. Thank you.

Custer County is a rural ranching community. It has little to nothing in common with Denver area communities. It should be left in the same district with similar counties, like those on the western slope. Moving it to the district outlined on this map will give Custer County no voice in the issues that matter most to its residents. Please consider the needs of this small community before enacting this problematic redistributing map.

1 I oppose the 2nd Staff Map because it is too big, Las Animas County will be ignored, and it is not competitive. 2. I support the Tafoya.005 map because it is more compact, preserves our community of interest, includes the headwaters of our river basins and emphasizes water, and is more competitive

We only have 2-3 days left, so please open this in pdf and read, this may be the most important document that Cornerned Citizens of True Soutehrn /Colorado has submitted.

Hello Commissioners, Please consider a Southern, mountainous district because combining us to the city of Denver does not unite any communities of interest. I'll continue to discuss our large amount of federal land use, mining, and the extraction industries that connect us more with the Western and Southern districts. Woodland Park is a small city of around 8,000 people and 25,000 throughout the 5 cities. Our needs and challenges are much different than the Denver metro area. Geographically, the Palmer-Divide separates Teller County away from the Denver metro area, but more with the Southern, mountainous regions. Please consider more of the P.005 Tafoya map. Competitiveness. Combing rural Teller County to Jeffco, with no real direct highway, is not thinking of our communities of interest. Hwy 24 heads West and then North, but many will connect to Hwy 285, then to Hwy 50. We are not heading to Denver, but the closest large metro area, would be Colorado Springs, as we are a bedroom community to some in Teller and Park County. Some residents also travel to Canon City (Fremont County) for work. Please consider a Southern region, similar to the one P.005. Tafoya has created. Thank you, Cassie Kimbrell Teller County

Dear Commission, The map that was published in the Colorado Sun 9/15/21 is a really good map. No map will be perfect but this does capture the the diversity of our state. Western Slope Eastern Plains North Mountain - Rural Central Mountain - ski areas Urban Areas Thank you for sticking with the process and listening to our comments. https://lede-admin.coloradosun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-15-at-5.05.07-PM.png Sue Werner

Thank you, Commissioners, for serving on the Redistricting Commission and for working so hard to include the voices of Coloradans. My name is Karen Tonso. I live in northern Arvada and represent myself. Earlier, in the first State Senate map, I strongly urged you to unify Arvada and to keep the part of Westminster that is also in Jeffco in the same district, because we have the same school district and share the same county services. I also recommended beginning the SD19 redistricting by starting with the current district map and making minor adjustments to account for census numbers. Thank you for listening to comments about SD19 in earlier testimony. The new map is a definite improvement. Today’s comments on the First Staff Plan map concern SD19, and HD 27/HD24. First Staff Plan, as it relates to Senate District 19: Interstate-70 serves as a physical and approximate city boundary between Arvada and Wheat Ridge. The area where SD19, SD20, and SD22 converge seems to violate communities of interest, political subdivisions, and compactness dictates. Might the southern boundary of SD19 be realigned? For instance, portions of SW Arvada (which is north of I-70) is disconnected from Arvada and combined with areas to the south. Similarly, the northeast part of Wheat Ridge that lies south of I-70 is combined with the part of Arvada that lies north of I-70. Both Arvada and Wheat Ridge would be better served to have their political boundaries better recognized in separate Senate Districts. I strongly urge you to smooth out the boundary and better align it with city boundaries. First Staff Plan, as it relates to House Districts 27 and 24, and surrounding areas that could be affected by changes: Focusing on the Arvada House Districts, I have concerns about the north and south boundaries of HD27. First consider the southern boundary between HD27 and HD 24. On the west side, the HD24/HD27 boundary seems too far north and on the east side it seems too far south. This suggests that the HD27/24 boundary run more east-west, probably between 58th/64th Avenues, depending on population balance and how the northern boundary is handled (see below). In addition, combining the southern part of Arvada with Wheat Ridge seems likely to interfere with Arvada’s affordable housing plans, which are focused along the Gold Line transportation corridor south of 58th Ave and north of I-70. Having that band of southern Arvada together with more of Arvada would be important to provide the best chance that these Arvada residents would be well-served in the state legislature, since combining Arvada with Wheat Ridge seems likely to diminish the opportunities for south Arvada residents to have their housing interests well represented at the state level. Arvada and Wheat Ridge are separate cities and have separate interests, and both deserve to have a decent chance at good representation. As to the northern boundary of HD27, historically Arvada City Council meetings more often speak about shared Intergovernmental Agreements with Jeffco-Westminster, than with Wheat Ridge. Tonight, I heard some concerns from Westminster residents about the ways that Westminster had been subdivided, and earlier heard comments recommending that Jeffco-Westminster be combined with north Arvada. In north Arvada and southwestern Westminster, we share a common school district and all other county-wide services, and have a common environmental concern related to being downwind of Rocky Flats. The Jeffco section of Westminster will lose that advocacy in this map. Please relook at this area of the House District map and see if there is a way to unite --all of AdCo-Westminster in the same HD (now in HDs 29 and 32), --keep north Arvada and Jeffco-Westminster together (in HD27), and --meld Wheat Ridge, Fairmount, Applewood, and Golden into HD24. This may provide an opportunity to unite Thornton into one separate district (now in HDs 30, 34, and 63). Finally, thank you for all your hard work and for your continued efforts to redistrict in ways that preserve communities of interest. I look forward to seeing the next revision. Overall, though no doubt minor disagreements will remain, I believe that almost everyone who has taken the time to testify and demonstrated an interest in studying the maps that the Legislative Commission has presented believes the Commission is trying its best to redistrict in ways that remain true to the legal requirements and to the input of residents who often have a better sense of on-the-ground realities. For that, all Coloradans should be most grateful. I certainly am.

Dear Redistricting Staff, The Second Staff Plan for Colorado Congressional Districts is Fair and Balanced and should be selected (and the First Staff Plan was terrible), i.e. the Western Slope should be kept whole and in CD3. 2) For the Legislative Senate District map – All of Delta should be kept whole and placed with Mesa County. It shares the same watershed and most of the Grand Mesa. They are much more unified communities of interest. Place Montrose County with Gunnison County, they have more shared interests then Mesa and Montrose Counties. 3) For the Legislative District map - All of Delta County should be kept whole and placed with Mesa County. It shares the same watershed and most of the Grand Mesa. As described above, splitting Delta County reduces its voice and places undue hardship on the citizens, businesses and governing officials of our county. Thank you for your time.

Delta county should never be split. Mesa county shares the same water shed, and grand mesa as well. As described above, splitting Delta County reduces its voice and places undue hardship on the citizens, businesses and governing officials of our county. The more one works on this issue the more apparent it becomes that using population as the primary factor in creating these district the more difficult it is to create fair and balanced districts. Sincerely, Dakota E Mills

This is absolutely rediclous and Pueblo does not fit in with that western slope nor does the southern half of the state. This map has gerrymandering written all over it. Things need to change with this and the redistricting need to be fair.