Public Comments

Commisioners it is important that you read and review this pdf entitle "Doyou really want to help Southern Colorado or is it just lip servide" and we are asking you, the Redistricting Commission some very hard questions. Please be honest

Regarding Congressional Redistricting, do not split the Western Slope into different districts. The needs and interests of Western Slope communities are too closely aligned to divide us. The Western Slope is better united. Likewise, don't divide the Grand Valley when it comes to Colorado Senate Districts. Mesa County should be kept whole.

I am commenting on the proposed 2nd redistricting draft of Congressional Districts, specifically the proposal to place Loveland in Congressional District 4. Loveland is a suburban area along the Front Range, west of I-25 and currently part of District 2. The entire corridor along the Front Range and west of I-25 is composed of similar communities. Because of their location along the Front Range these communities share the same geographic and climate properties and necessarily face the same problems presented by the climate, environment, and water supply. In addition to sharing these natural challenges they also share the problem of, and solution to, public and private transportation along the corridor. To pretend that Loveland is unique among all the communities along the Front Range and is not part of the same community of interest defies reality. We have everything in common with these other towns and cities while we have nothing in common with District 4. The entire corridor along the Front Range and west of I-25 is one community of interest and its collective interests will be best served when they are in the same Congressional District.

The most recent (Second Staff Plan) redistricting map has Teller County lumped in with a few adjoining counties and extends through Jefferson County. Jefferson County, as you are aware, is a bedroom community for Denver. Teller County is very different, being mostly rural, with commercial mining, gaming and farming as it's principle focuses. One of the missions of the Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission was to group "communities of interest". In this case, it is clear that we are lumped with an area that couldn't be more of the opposite. Teller County needs to be lumped in with other counties to the south or west that are communities of interest, without being diluted by a larger, more disparate Denver bedroom community. Please reassess so that the interests of Teller County are not marginalized. Rural Colorado needs to be represented!!

I am from Highlands Ranch and commenting on the 2nd Staff Congressional plan as it seems that the concerns of our community are not being taken into account. Placing Highlands Ranch with the rural Eastern plains makes absolutely no sense at all. Any Congressperson in the current Eastern plains 5th district will have to spend a large amount of time on agricultural issues, including looking at public transportation, water, and environmental issues through that lens. Any minute spent on such issues is wasted for Highlands Ranch which is a high density suburban district, by design, that belongs with the South Metro Denver suburbs whether that is in the 6th or 7th Districts. From the 1st Staff Plan, the Fort Collins/Larimar County area was moved out of the 5th, but the entirety of Highlands Ranch was placed in the 5th. Fort Collins has far more of a connection to the agricultural Eastern plains than Highlands Ranch. CSU is a world renowned agricultural school, has the veterinarian school, was founded to as a land grant university to disseminate agricultural and mechanical knowledge, and has a US Department of Agricultural Research center. (Not to mention the rest of Larimar County that has far more agricultural connections than Highlands Ranch). One simply has to do some simple google searches to find MULTIPLE farms and agricultural businesses in Fort Collins proper. By contrast, a search for farms in Highlands Ranch yields hits like the Botanic Gardens at Chatfield. So please reconsider the communities of interest and put the suburbs where the suburbs belong and the agricultural communities, and the cities and institutions that support them like Fort Collins and CSU, where they belong: Together. Thanks! https://www.colorado.com/co/fort-collins/attractions-entertainment/farm-ranch-activities

I hope that you do not split the City and County of Broomfield into 2 different Congressional districts. I've lived in Broomfield for 35 years and I hope to die here too. We are a very young County (20 years) and we are doing a pretty decent job of trying to figure out how to build an equitable and cohesive community. Please don't screw that up by throwing a major political division into the middle of us.

Just read an article on the various maps in the Walsenberg paper. I think the commission is doing the right thing with the Coleman.P004.V1 map, keeping the east and west rural areas split almost vertically. The "Headwaters Map" looks blatantly political to me.

There is no reason the Western Slope should have Boulder included in the district. We have nothing in common with Boulder.

I’m a Routt County full time resident & home owner. I’ve lived here since purchasing my home in Oak Creek,CO in 2017. I’m asking that we are not combined with Boulder for redistricting. As a whole our community differs greatly & widely on all aspects of life & voting in comparison to those in Boulder. We’re hunters who don’t want wolves in our national forests. We’re ranchers & farmers who don’t need laws on how to take care of our live stock. We have small schools, churches & stores that don’t want government telling us what to do. Keep Routt County and Boulder Separate in Districting!

Dear persons involved in redistricting, I am writing to voice my opinion on redistricting Teller County. I think it is NOT appropriate to mesh us with Denver, or Golden or areas on the front range north of Elpaso County. Preferred would be the present district 3 or district 5. We are a MOUNTAIN county quite rural - with agriculture, ranching, mining, and yes gambling business's. Water rights and land use are key issues for us. Please consider my opinion to put Teller county with either district 3 or 5.