Public Comments

I am a young 36 year old Colorado rural native, with alarming concerns for the current “mock-up” of the redistricting map recently purposed. This new map can not and would not properly reflect the “Community of Interest” our rural community unifies under. I would like to strongly urge the Commissioners to LISTEN to the residents of our rural state. My community unites and prospers among the key important interests of our district. The familial generations before me have worked tirelessly to provide a strong, prosperous agricultural progression that would be shattered if we are coupled in with the Pueblo community. Just as I can not give adequate, educated input on the interests and issues of the Pueblo community, they can not and should not have input on the very important interests and issues of my community, as we live and serve in drastically different environments. Our rural community is vastly different than the Pueblo community and the values we live by (no better or worse) only strengthens, unites and empowers us to stay strong, vibrant, diverse AND inclusive. Allow us to freely and proudly uphold our values and way of life in our rural community. All of us are proud to be Coloradans and we want to continue to be a Community of Interest for rural Colorado. I fully support the maps presented by Club 20, Action 22 and Pro 15. Again, please HEAR our concerns and represent us the way you vowed to.

Dear Commission. I heard the Map Analytics Committee note today that maps are coming having more data and detail. Please note that those of us who purchased an ArcGIS license just received access to the 2020 data this past week. In the previous redistricting cycles, such data was available to the public months before a final plan was submitted. I respectfully reiterate the idea of asking the Court to amend its order to allow for the Commission's original briefing schedule of an October 28, 2021 submission. In my view, I think this is within the Commission's power and the Constitutional amendment only gave the Court jurisdiction over the briefing schedule after the final plan was submitted. I also think a clear date should be set by which the public can submit maps. Just my two cents. Luis

Boulder County, the core of CD2, is a community that evolved naturally and cohesively. The setting of the County in the valley fronting the foothills and its long organic history, make it a community in which people share priorities, concerns and values. The community is united in its commitment to addressing Covid, climate change, gun violence prevention and strengthening our public schools. Ofcourse, not everyone agrees on these issues, but the vast majority want to see cleaner, safer and healthier communities in the Front Range. The open space of the city of Boulder and the hovering Front Range are constant reminders that we share this extraordinary and precious community, and that we are all together responsible for the welfare of the land and each other. To split this very bonded community into three parts is a total violation of a community spirit that has grown in the course of more than a century. Please do not break us apart! Sincerely, Norma Moore Resident, Boulder County, CD 2

Chairman, Madam Chair, commission members, and the nonpartisan staff, thank you for the hard work and long hours it has taken to divide the map into equal parts of people, but I would like to bring your attention to the map’s separation of Community of Interests. My name is Cassandra Kimbrell and I live in Teller County. There are no communities of interests with adding Jefferson County, a populated Denver Metro area in with Teller, Park, Chaffee, and Fremont counties, which are rural mountain communities. There is a new trend with this map versus the preliminary map by dividing rural communities and adding populated metro areas from the front range, which only dilutes the voices of our communities of interests as these populated areas will continue to grow. Like it was mentioned earlier, Jefferson, Gilpin, Clear Creek, and Summit Counties have much more in common vs. the voices of rural Colorado. We are also geographically separated from Jefferson County and are dominated by our federal public lands. Same with adding the West-slope in with Fort Collins and Boulder, those are urban Front Range communities in the I-25 corridor that do not represent the Western slope. Our communities of interests consist of federal public lands, watershed management, mining, mountain tourism, fire management, and agricultural land. If we do any commerce from Teller County, it would be Fremont County or El Paso County, which is the closest front range area, but many of our citizens, including Green Mountain Falls residents will shop in Teller County to avoid the highly dense area of the Front Range. Since COVID, more residents stay in rural areas to shop local or order online. I urge the commission and staff to consider Teller, Park, Fremont in with Southwestern rural communities, as rural communities have different needs and challenges than urban Front Range communities. I believe the preliminary map was much more in conjunction with this than the one that is presented today. Teller County is a community as a whole, not separated or split from Woodland Park. Thank you again for your time and dedicated in this process. Thank you.

This redistricting is gerrymandering at it worst. It will give all the power to Denver and leave out the equally important rest of the state. Big city liberals have now idea how life is in the country and have too muck control already.

My neighborhood (South City Park) is currently proposed to be split (literally on my street so my neighbors across the street would have a different state house representative from us). This doesn’t make any sense as our neighborhood is already small, and this would split our voices up even more. I would respectfully ask that the neighborhood be united within one state house district.

The redistricting maps drawn up by the supposed "Independent Commission" is another blatant power grab by the corrupt Democrat Party in Colorado. To contend that Denver in Dst #1 needs to remain intact because of the uniqueness of the population and then to group the West Slope Dst. in with Front Range Dsts shows what liars and frauds the Commission and their members are. THE ONLY way to draw a true fair map, is to go to the NW corner of the state and start drawing in equal population based vertical and horizontal movements until the desire population of the district is met. Then move to the next district and repeat. You would end up with 7 or 8 districts ALL in a rectangular shape and drawn solely on the Constitutions mandate..............Population numbers alone! Then to ensure NO safe districts ever exist after the next 10 year census move to the NE corner of the state and repeat the process in reverse. The Commission is drawing these maps to ensure safe Democrat seats are protected, PERIOD, and that to make sure Republican seats are in play, and EVERYONE knows it. You intend to Gerrymander this state as you have always done to keep it "Blue", and to disenfranchise the rural voter/resident and to empower the Urban areas over the rural areas. AT LEAST stop lying and admit to your fraud.

I would like to comment on the suggestion that Boulder County be divided into 3 separate districts. That doesn't make sense when people in Boulder County share interests on a wide variety of topics such a climate crisis response, transportation, affordable housing, response to Covid, equity, job creation, support for families below the poverty line, etc.

Dear Congressional Redistricting Commission and Staff: Thank you all for your service in this very important civic process for the people of Colorado. I am an unaffiliated voter in Fort Collins and am very concerned about your draft map that groups Fort Collins with the 4th congressional district instead of the 2nd congressional district. Fort Collins has a much stronger identity as a front range city, university town, high tech center, mountain access region, and environmental protective value-center, sharing community with the 2nd district and Boulder, and much less of an eastern-plains, agriculture-based identity sharing community with the 4th district. I also note that Fort Collins is the largest city in Larimer County, the county seat, judicial center, and you have carved us away from the rest of our county. You have drastically divided the population served by the Health District of Northern Larimer County. (You may have also divided the Poudre School District, but I have not double-checked that.) I realize you are juggling many priorities and constraints in seeking balanced districts, but I think the current proposed map has achieved form over substance in severing Fort Collins from the rest of Larimer County. Please group us with our proper community of interest and correct this drastic misstep in your next map. Warm regards, Celeste Holder Kling

Commissioner Tafoya’s proposed plan would split Boulder County among three Congressional districts. This is a very bad idea. The cities and towns in Boulder County work closely together on multiple critical issues, including transportation, COVID, climate and environmental issues, housing, homeless services, gun control and more. Our two school districts also collaborate on many issues. Our District Attorney and Sheriff work with all our cities and towns, and establish rules and guidelines, that involve us all. The “communities of interest” among all areas of the County are numerous and significant. All of Boulder County must remain within a single Congressional District! Thank you.