Public Comments

My community has absolutely nothing in common with Boulder. We will be ignored, and our concerns are not in line with theirs. For instance our water needs to stay on the west slope, and be fought for to keep it for the people of the west slope. We didn't want wolves they did, but not in thier back yard. So they forced them on us the people of the west slope. Maybe they should have to put them closer to the citizens who voted for them so they could enjoy them more often like in thier back yards. We will not be represented well by your propose redistricting!

I do feel the most recent map is more favorable to my communities than the previous map that split up Johnstown and Milliken. I appreciate that these communities are connected and linked to other front range communities including Greeley. I think it is wise to split Greeley from the surrounding rural areas as their shared interests are becoming fewer in number as Greeley grows into a metropolitan hub. However, I believe a disservice is done by splitting up the communities of Fort Collins, Greeley, and Loveland. The residents of these three cities and their surrounding towns (Windsor, Severance, Johnstown, Milliken, Berthoud, Mead, etc) spend much time working, shopping and recreating across this Northern Front Range area. These areas are connected by school resources, medical care facilities, emergency management organizations, and transportation concerns. I ask that the commission consider the connections these communities have and work to keep them in one congressional district rather than splitting them up.

On behalf of Voces Unidas de las Montañas, a nonprofit based in Garfield County, we write to express our opposition to the draft staff congressional map because it unfairly and ineffectively breaks our community of interest in the Greater Roaring Fork Valley -- Aspen to Parachute. We request that the communities of Rifle, New Castle and Silt not be separated from Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, Basalt and Aspen. Ideally, this valley should also be connected with the Eagle River Valley. As we have testified in the past, we believe that this staff map does not keep our community of interest together and it dilutes our Latino community's political voice by splitting us in two districts. To be clear, we are opposed to any map that splits our Latino community in the Greater Roaring Fork Valley (Rifle to Aspen) in two separate congressional districts. Voces Unidas has endorsed the CLLARO congressional map, which we helped inform. This map keeps our communities whole. Thank you.

Please consider the information from the 36 hearings held throughout the state. There is more to Colorado than the Urban front range. The wishes of the western slope should be recognized -- listen to their voices. There is more to this State than the urban areas. Please do what is right and listen to the people who live in the rural areas and those who voiced their opinions.

I respectfully request reconsideration of the proposed district boundaries splitting the western slope of Colorado resulting in no voice for the issues this area experiences, which are very different from more metropolitan areas. Thank you for your consideration.

The current map places Fort Collins in a district with Weld, Yuma, Cheyenne, and Bacca Counties, which have very different issues and priorities compared to Fort Collins. Fort Collins has more shared characteristics with Larimer County than more rural counties to the East because of its urban setting, increasing diversity, and more liberal politics. Grouping Fort Collins with more rural counties that are traditionally conservative erases many of the political opinions, priorities, and needs of Fort Collins residents -- most importantly, its BIPOC residents. It would be very difficult for a representative to adequately promote the needs of both Fort Collins and the counties to the East of it. On the other hand, Fort Collins and Boulder County have common features: large public universities, tourism, high tech industries, multi-modal transportation, and *significant* population growth. Also, the issues that need to be addressed are similar: homelessness, dismantling inequities amongst populations that are increasingly diverse and multicultural, climate action (as opposed to the oil and gas economies of the West, those that Fort Collins does not support), and wildfire prevention in the mountain range. Clearly, Fort Collins has much more in common with counties like Boulder County, not counties to our East. We need district maps that honor the massive change Fort Collins has undergone over the past several decades (it was largely agricultural and now it is more urbanized), and to group Fort Collins with Eastern counties would nullify that dynamic change.

I disagree with the proposed redistricting map. Western Colorado should be represented by agriculture people .

I am concerned that the current proposal will give us "the tyranny of the majority." The Western Slope needs to be kept intact, and not include Front Range cities. Urban folks are well-represented. The more rural areas need a strong voice s well. Keep Districts 3 and 4 whole representing folks on the Western Slope.

I’m not in favor of the redistricting map for NW CO. NW Colorado is a rural area and needs to be represented by rural representatives— not Boulder or the Front Range.

Independent commission. Really? Why are you trying to divide the west slope so much. Although I don't live there at the moment, I have family, friends and other interest there. You better get it right in the end. Most of this redistricting just seems to be a way for the front range to more easily do a "water grab."