Public Comments

I think Summit County should not be split. I prefer being part of the proposed 2nd district because we have more in common with counties such as Routt, Larimer and Grand counties.

The show maps do not sufficiently provide equity of rural representation.

Hello, I am writing to you today as a resident of Fort Collins. I am concerned that in the current redistricting map (released September 3) Fort Collins has been removed from District 2 and the rest of Larimer County, and instead is grouped in with the Eastern Plains in District 4. I am writing to request that Fort Collins remain in District 2 so that we can be in the same district as the rest of Larimer County and remain in a community of shared interest with the City of Boulder. Simply put, our community interests are vastly different from those of the Eastern Plains. Fort Collins’ economy relies on tourism, manufacturing, service-related industries, as well as tech and research-related industries. The Eastern Plains rely heavily on agricultural industries and the energy sector. With community interests such as climate action, equity and diversity, wildfire mitigation, and urban issues like affordable housing (including homing our houseless population), ozone nonattainment, Fort Collins has much more in common with the City of Boulder than we do with the communities of the Eastern Plains in District 4. Like the City of Boulder, we are also a college town—Fort Collins’ Colorado State University has a student population similar in size to Colorado University-Boulder. Regarding environmental issues (which is an important area of focus for Fort Collins residents) we would have very little in common with our neighbors to the East due to our unique geographic location along the Front Range. Again, we would have more in common with the City of Boulder in District 2, another Front Range community. Because of all of this, Fort Collins residents’ votes on important issues are guaranteed to be in opposition to those of communities in the Eastern Plains. This matters because each Congressional District must have around ~700K people in it, and with a population of around ~165,600 people, there is no way Fort Collins’ distinct voice would be heard amongst the rest of the Eastern Plains’ population. Placing Fort Collins in District 4, would effectively serve to ignore our votes. Please leave Larimer County intact and allow Fort Collins to remain in District 2 where we can be in a shared community of interest with the City of Boulder. Thank you.

I support the preliminary Moore map of June. This map combines like-minded rural communities and seems an appropriate division of political entities. I do not support the First Staff Plan that combines the counties of Boulder and Larimer with rural Colorado. These counties have nothing in common with Colorado's rural north and north-west counties. Adding Boulder and Larimer to rural north and north-west is political gerrymandering that seeks to dominate rural Colorado.

As a proud member of the westerns slope of Colorado and Rio Blanco Colorado, this issue hits pretty close to home. It is no hidden fact that rural areas like Meeker and so many more on the western slope get walked all over when it comes to voting due to our lack of population. Many issues that effect our livelihood in much more significant ways than those in more populated areas get pushed through legislation and pass due to our lack of representatives and therefore lack of say in issues that directly effect us. In a already extremely intimidating problem, the worse thing we could do for our small communities is get redistricted with a district on the other side of the state that has no like minded opinions, passions, or careers for the most part. This would lead to the little say we have now dwindling to none at all because our district would be overpowered with people that don’t understand our way of living. The only chance we have to not entirely be muted is to give us a chance to at least be well represented. Redistricting would do the exact opposite.

I am a full time resident of summit county. I attended the redistricting meeting on June29 where district 3 included all of summit county and western slope-route, Moffit, San Juan, Chafee, Lake,Clear creek, etc. I voice my approval for that redistrict not the current one splitting summit county. It would not be in the best interest of summit county or the people to split summit county.In fact it would be a travesty to our community and people-We must preserve our recreation areas, water, agriculture and education where we have community with June 29 proposed areas. We do not have common interests, recreational interest with Boulder and hardly the front range. We are a recreation destination primarily and share no commonality with Boulder. We share concerns and interests with the proposed district set forth June, 29 2021. We have no Shared public policy concerns of Boulder and front range. We do not share public policy concerns such as education, employment, environment, public health, transportation, water needs and supplies, and issues of demonstrable regional significance with Boulder and front range but we do share with June 29 proposed Congressional district. Since we are rural we do not share interests with front range and Boulder- we support and share commonality with western Colorado. To include Summit county with Boulder would be detrimental to our future and our future concerns. "Community of interest" means any group in Colorado that shares one or more substantial interests that may be the subject of federal [state] legislative action, is composed of a reasonably proximate population, and thus should be considered for inclusion within a single district for purposes of ensuring its fair and effective representation.We are not similar to front range and boulder!

First, as the Chair of Colorado Springs Utilities and an at-large member of the City Council of Colorado Springs, thank you for keeping Colorado Springs whole and with the military bases in El Paso County to which we provide water and other utility services. I've testified previously on a number of the reasons why this should be done and won't repeat those here. Second, in the First Staff Plan there is a hopscotch patchwork of districts along I-70. Traveling east to west along I-70 you go from Summit (2) to Eagle (3) to Garfield (2) to Mesa (3). From a constituent service perspective, this unnecessary patchwork would make traveling to district offices unduly burdensome (particularly when Glenwood Canyon is closed). I favor trying to keep more of the Western Slope together, but at a minimum, Garfield should be moved into the same district as Mesa. The easiest way to do this is by switching Eagle and Garfield. Doing this would also increase the percentage of Hispanic citizens in the 3rd district, which was one of the stated goals in the maps (because Garfield has a higher percentage of Hispanic residents than the Eagle).

I am a full time resident of summit county. I attended the redistricting meeting on June29 where district 3 included all of summit county and western slope-route, Moffit, San Juan, Chafee, Lake,Clear creek, etc. I voice my approval for that redistrict not the current one splitting summit county. It would not be in the best interest of summit county or the people to split summit county.In fact it would be a travesty to our community and people-We must preserve our recreation areas, water, agriculture and education where we have community with June 29 proposed areas. We do not have common interests, recreational interest with Boulder and hardly the front range. We are a recreation destination primarily and share no commonality with Boulder. We share concerns and interests with the proposed district set forth June, 29 2021. We have Shared public policy concerns of urban, rural, agricultural, industrial, and trade areas. Shared public policy concerns such as education, employment, environment, public health, transportation, water needs and supplies, and issues of demonstrable regional significance. Since we are rural we do not share interests with front range and Boulder- we support and share commonality with western Colorado. To include Summit county with Boulder would be detrimental to our future and our future concerns.

September 8, 2021 Colorado Congressional Redistricting Commission 200 East Colfax #091 Denver, CO 80203 Dear Members of the Colorado Congressional Redistricting Commission, As part of a third generation rural Colorado ranching family in Otero County, I am extremely disappointed in the new/ first staff map released September 3, 2021. By incorporating metropolitan areas into all three rural districts you have basically ensured there will be little to no rural representation and most likely all 8 Colorado Congressional Districts will have representatives from urban or suburban areas. Agriculture and the oil and gas industries contribute billions to the Colorado economy; yet our voice will be diluted by citizens of Breckenridge, Boulder, Fort Collins and Pueblo to name a few. The interests of rural Colorado certainly deserve representation that is not diluted by urban and suburban issues. The sheep ranchers in the west, the cow calf operations, farmers and mineral rights owners are a community of interest. The businesses in rural Colorado and the farms and ranches are mutually dependent. Rural banks, schools, hospitals and grocery stores all rely on the success of agricultural industries. For example, if the watermelon, canteloup and green chile farmers fail so does much of eastern Colorado. That food now has to be imported from another state at great expense to the citizens of Colorado. The same will be true for beef, lamb and fuel. This may not matter to the citizens of Fort Collins but it matters to rural Colorado. Our rural voice only has strength when we are united. There are 53 rural counties in Colorado. Certainly, there must be a way to redistrict and map Colorado’s Congressional Districts so the urban communities of the I-25 corridor are separated from the rural communities. The initial proposed map did just this. Rural Colorado needs representation in Congress. Two rural districts divided by the front range provide a voice to one quarter of Colorado’s population and three fourth’s of the land mass that provides the #1 and #2 source of income to Colorado. Without much needed Congressional representation, rural Colorado will likely have no voice in Congress on the issues of food security, energy policy and environmental policies. The new/first staff map released Friday September 3rd almost guarantees representation for all 8 Colorado Congressional Districts will come from an urban area. These representatives will not be familiar with sheep or cattle ranching, farm water issues, the effects of drought and climate change to rural citizens, rural energy requirements and more. Please reevaluate the concerns of our community of interest. We need a voice and this map does not provide us with representation. Sincerely, Patricia Leone

I an concerned that the redistricting map put rural Colorado at a huge disadvantage. It looks like the Urban areas will be make decisions for and about Eastern Colorado that they will have no interest in or knowledge about. Please take into account the fact that rural and urban do not understand each other’s issues and should not be making decisions for each other. Please work to allow rural Colorado have a voice. The agriculture community deserve better. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter Cynthia Ness 303-229-9509 71980 E 38th Ave Byers Colorado 80103