Public Comments

I am writing as a citizen of Longmont with respect to the newly released map for House District 11. I live in District 11 (east of Francis and north of 17th). I note that a rectangle has been cut out of the NW section of Longmont (west of Francis and north of 17th) and placed in District 13 with mountain communities and the part of the City of Boulder west of Broadway. I am supposing this change was done to equalize the populations between Districts 11 and 13. If so, I recommend adjusting the population as needed by taking some of the SW part of Longmont and putting it in District 13 instead of the NW section. The NW section of Longmont has been an integral part of Longmont much longer than the SW section. As such, there is a strong community of interest with the rest of Longmont, and not as much as with western Boulder and the mountain communities. The SW section of Longmont (in the area south of Nelson and west of Airport) is a relatively new part of Longmont and is much closer geographically to the City of Boulder. I suspect that a significant portion of the residents in that area commute to Boulder for work. They are a much better fit as a community of interest with District 13 than the NW section of Longmont. I appreciate the work the Commission and staff are putting into the redistricting process, and I thank you for considering my testimony.

While it is appreciated that the Commission has been open to public input, your best-planned map was your first map! The next revision seemed way off base, completely disenfranchising rural Colorado. Your latest map is heading back in the right direction, but fails to take into account the natural dividing line of the Continental Divide. For example, connecting mostly rural Routt County on the Western Slope with heavily populated Boulder County on the Eastern slope is not following 'communities-of-interest' parameters. There are major differences in issues between these areas, including water, agriculture, education, and economics. My advice is to return to the Preliminary Plan (and well thought out map) released in June that gives consideration to these different challenges. You got it right the first time.

With regard to Congressional Redistricting: Please, do NOT split up the City and County of Broomfield (CCOB) into two separate Congressional Districts. The CCOB is less than 35 square miles with a population of less than 80,000. It makes the most sense for the citizens living within the CCOB to be represented by ONE Congressperson. Please, keep the citizens of Broomfield within ONE Congressional District, so that we will have "unified" representation. I believe that the only other city and county entity is Denver, and the residents of Denver are represented by ONE Congressperson. Thank you. With regard to Legislative Redistricting: The people of the City and County of Broomfield wish to represented by a legislator who may also be representing other "communities of interest". We align our interests with our sister cities of Superior, Boulder, Thornton, and Westminster. We do NOT share interests with cities within Weld County. Please, assign us to districts, Senate and House, that reflect our communities of interest. Thank you.

As a resident of Fremont county, I am totally against the redistricting. To blend in Fremont and Teller counties with Jefferson county would effectively remove the voices of rural Colorado in these counties. Our beliefs, needs and political views are different than Jefferson county voters. Jefferson county has far superior numbers of voters than Fremont county and Jefferson county would be able to cancel out any opinions and votes of these rural communities effectively eliminating our voice in state and federal election. The redistricting would be in fact like placing a gag on the voters of Fremont and Teller counties. I respectively ask that the redistricting no be enacted. It is nothing more than an attempted gerrymandering to squash the voters of these rural counties.

My niece (Breanna) who lives in Boulder County came to visit me and my 84 year old mother, her grandmother, who live in Mesa County, about 3 weeks ago. She made a comment to me that I thought at the time was just causal talk, but looking back on it now I realize the signification of our conversation. We did the typical visitor tour, we went to Banana's fun park, they stayed in a hotel on main street, we walked down main street just looking at all the wonders that Grand Junction has. She saw people of all walks of life and cultures. She said to me, I did not know that Grand Junction was so diverse and it is a totally difference diversity then what she sees in Boulder. She also stated that our culture in Mesa County (Western Slope) would not mix well with Boulders (Front Range) culture. I asked why? what is the difference? She said Boulders culture is so much more liberal and controlled, I do not know how to describe it, It's like Boulder does not have the same exuberance for life and freedom as Mesa County does, you cannot even walk down the streets in Denver without being afraid of getting mugged, physical attacked or shot, you do not have that here. It is refreshing to see people saying hello, you do not get that in Boulder or Denver. With you Gerrymandering our districts, you are taking away our way of life, our freedom, and our voice to vote how we see fit. Mesa County has a political diversity consisting of Democrats, Independents, Non-affiliated, and Republicans. We do not need anyone to come in and change our diversity voting culture. We have a democratic city counsel, school board, a democratic/republican state representative, and county commissioners. With you Gerrymandering our state, which I thought Gerrymandering is not what a majority of Coloradan's wanted, you are forcing us to except your way of life for us because you think you know what is good for us, just like a typical dictatorship. When I sat in the last meeting that you all had here in Grand Junction, I remember one of your Board members asking us to raise our hands if we are/were willing to become more politically diverse by become more democratic then republican, all because a young lady had complained that Mesa County was more republican then democrat, which meant that she and others like her were not getting a fair shake. When only a hand full for people raised their hands and the look on his face, said it all! He was not happy. I knew right then and there he was bias and no matter what we said he was going to Gerrymander our state, and behold it is happening. He will be happy when we become one state that has more blue counties then red. By Gerrymandering our state, you are changing the whole geographic of our state. You are silencing Western Slopes voting voices and increasing the Front Range voting voices, which means you are changing our states morals, values and principles. If you must Gerrymander our state, then please do it according to the map that was released on June 23. It serves the Western Slope the best. I urge the Commission to adopt a map that mirrors that plan. Thank you for taking the time to read my comment. God Bless you all! Respectfully, Paulla Tillman

Please open and read the PDF, in effect this is our testimony for tonights hearing

I believe Routt county should not be joined in with Boulder County. I moved to Routt county in 2012 and my agricultural ranch is located in South Routt county about 15 miles outside of the town of Oak Creek. My property is very close to Rio Blanco County. My personal views do not line up with that of my eastern county neighbor. Very Rural and I have different issues than that of even Steamboat, especially Boulder. I am disagreement of the latest wolf reintroduction bill to firearm bans within city limits. Along with many other reasons why I feel Routt county should should not be redistributed or at least South Routt should be split from Steamboat Springs.

Boulder should have no say in what is done in any of there other counties. There is a big population discrepancy making boulder out weigh the rest of the counties. Most people in boulder are also transplants or not full time residents/ landowners making decision which is wrong. Boulder should be apart of Denver they are also on the other side of the divide so any water right decisions have no correlation with the counties. Stop being a bunch of bums and put some logic into these decisions.

I want to see Western slope counties stay as one district… it is not fair to put our low population counties with Boulder which will always dictate Who is elected. Please keep mountain communities together so there so we can have a voice. Gussie Ross. Resident Eagle County 45 years.

First House Staff Plan Map HD36 As drawn, this incorporates north Aurora/Adams County (north of Colfax) with Arapahoe County; this a DRASTIC change in representation at the state legislative level. The north Aurora/Adams County (north of Colfax) has NEVER been incorporated with Arapahoe County. This area is the most densely populated in Aurora and has the most communities of diversity. This area should incorporate the rural and urban aspects of Adams County. This area should follow the county lines, going west to east and north, incorporating the area around DIA (Adams County). This should be as similar to present day HD30 as possible. The north Aurora area has no similarities with south/southeast Arapahoe County. The north Aurora area has more similarities with Adams County and the surrounding Adams County communities (to the north). The north Aurora/Adams County should be incorporated with Adams County communities and not Arapahoe County. Adams County has the lowest income per capital in the state. https://www.denverpost.com/2021/08/27/colorado-wealth-gap-asset-income-disparity/ There are differences in items such as, but, not limited to school districts, income level, housing, county funding, county resources, community resources, RTD districts, community interests, community diversity. The further south/southeast into Arapahoe County, there is less diversity and culturally competent services. The area south/southeast Arapahoe is filled with HOAs, metropolitan districts, private country clubs, private golf courses. This is an area that is part of the issues of systemic racism, structural racism and institutional racism. There have been hate incidents and bullying in this area. This area lacks diversity, culturally competent services. This area contributes to the lack of equity and the growth of gentrification and disparities that is found in north Aurora (north of Colfax)/Adams County. This dilutes and diminishes the voices of the communities in north Aurora/Adams County (north of Colfax). None of the “Aurora HD” (35, 36, 40, 41, 42) incorporate urban and rural; the HD lines should go west to east and not north to south for all of these HDs. The Adams County portion of Aurora needs to be considered compact and whole. This area needs to be part of Adams County and not Arapahoe County. This area is a long standing community, one county-Adams. This area contains many communities of interest, including, but, not limited to: Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Burmese), people of Hispanic origin, people of African descent. There are many multi-generational households, there are many languages spoken and many cultures. This area does not consist of HOA's nor Metropolitan Districts. This area has been effected by gentrification. This area of north Aurora/Adams County is in the Aurora Public Schools district (28J). There are many community based resources and services located in the north Aurora/Adams County that provide culturally sensitive and culturally appropriate services to the residents. This area consists of, but not limited to: retired citizens, elderly, fixed incomes, current and retired military, higher education students, working class families, newly immigrated, established ties to this community, established familes. This area is considered RTD District B-this area includes the area that is part of north/northeast Denver and the DIA area, including the Green Valley Ranch area. DIA and the DIA area is an employer of many residents. This needs to be redrawn to restore the area as HD30 exists currently to encompass Adams County and the surrounding DIA area (Adams County) and the Adams County communities. Per The Washington Post, Aug. 13, 2021-“A Colorado county offers a glimpse of America’s future” (this article highlights Adams county) https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/13/colorado-race-census-adams-county/