Public Comments

Taking the current 3rd Congressional District and splitting it in two is completely unacceptable to the citizens of western Colorado. How convenient that you took the county where Laren Bobert resides and put it in with Boulder and Larimer counties. Looks like pure politics to me.

While I can only imagine how challenging drawing the district maps is and my assumption is Fort Collins would be moved out of its current district because it's an easy numbers grab (due to our growing population), the disparity between who Fort Collins is and the rest of District 4 is so huge, the shift doesn't make sense and would be a gross negligence.  Fort Collins should remain in the district with Larimer County for the following reasons: 1) Except for Fort Collins, all areas in the new district #4 are the Colorado Eastern Plains which is rural and agricultural-based. Fort Collins is a Northern Colorado city. Agricultural communities have very different needs and concerns than urban communities. 2) Related to the above, Fort Collins' culture and economic foundation are very different from the Eastern plains communities. Our culture arises out of being a university town with access to live music, the arts, good coffee and restaurants, countless microbreweries, and easy access to unique outdoor recreation. Our economic foundation is rooted in the university, tourism (because of our culture), extensive healthcare system and high tech local industries. These attributes and benefits create their own set of concerns, for example, our current housing crisis and increasing rates of homelessness and food insecurity. In high contrast, the Eastern plains' economics are rooted in agriculture, as mentioned, and extraction. The latter of which is very counter to Fort Collins' focus on preserving the health of our environment. 3) Our vast cultural differences extend to the pandemic. In general, Fort Collins' public health concerns differ from the Eastern plains in terms of masking and vaccination rates. 4) Though it is a unique asset, Fort Collins currently resides in the same district as its water sources. Water, and the decision-making involved in its care, is a huge concern in Colorado. With the new redistricting, we would no longer be in the same district as our water sources. Because of these fundamental differences, we should be kept with Loveland, Longmont, Boulder, etc. with which we are more deeply aligned culturally and economically. Thank you for your consideration and effort.

Colorado is an immensely geographically diverse state that has citizens and businesses equally as diverse. Seeking to politically manipulate our state’s congressional districts is not only irresponsible but completely unethical. Let’s us rise above the fray and responsibly recognize that we all need elected members of congress that can and will represent our areas and interests. The staff submitted map is a transparent attempt to eliminate rural Colorado’s needs and voice. We must continue to have districts that represent the east and west of the state where rural interests deserve representation. On behalf of the vast minority of Colorado’s population that feeds, and fuels our state, please oppose the staff drawn map and support a framework that creates good governance like the 3 and 4th congressional districts do today. Thank you for your consideration.

As the Assessor of a Rural County in Northwest Colorado, Rio Blanco - I would ask that you look at not combining our County with two urban counties. The interest and needs of the Front Range Counties are much different than those of the Rural. As an Assessor since 1991 I have worked with many urban county assessors. Although they listen to our needs they do not understand us when we talk about energy production, pipelines, agriculture, water, natural resources and public lands. I hope that you will reconsider putting counties in Northwest Colorado into the area you have proposed. We deserve to be represented.

The proposed Congressional redistricting does not adequately provide for representation of Chaffee County, a rural low-density mountain county with a solid recreational, vacation, and ranching base. Chaffee County needs to be grouped with other similar rural counties and not included with Jefferson County, or other highly populated counties along the front range. Please consider a different redistricting where Chaffee County is included with other western/central mountain, rural counties and not front range counties.

Thank you for taking my comments. My name is Savannah Wolfson, and I live in a tiny little town called Oak Creek, which is on the Western Slope, in Routt County. The last time I testified was when you came to Routt County, and I thanked you for your first map. I believed you had the good of my region in mind and wanted fair maps, where each region with a unique identity had a say in Washington. I still hope this is true. I am testifying again because I believe this new map would wipe out the voice of rural Coloradans like me. I implore you to change it. I moved here to get away from the big city, not because I have commonality with the city. There is a distinct way of life in rural America, and it’s not an exaggeration to say everyone in this entire country knows that. I’m sorry to state the obvious, but I’m afraid I felt it was necessary when I saw your latest map. By splitting the Western Slope, you are saying you do not want rural Coloradans to have a representative in Washington. You do not mind if our voices are split in half and drowned out by the big cities. There are enough of us to make us our own district, but you split us so that we have no district that is just our own, and larger, Front Range population centers will be determining our way forward. A politician campaigning in my district in your current map would likely ignore the needs of people like me and go straight to more populated areas, host a big campaign event, and get all the votes they need without thinking of Oak Creek once. The people in Boulder don’t know about our town. For contrast, many people who live in my geographical region know my small town by name. Here’s how the Front Range is different from us. Number 1 Higher population, more bustle and hustle. Those front rangers come out here to vacation, not because our lifestyle is the same as theirs. Number 2 They compete for our water. How can we unify and speak out about what is happening with our water if we are split in two and enormous front range cities have a say in each of our Western Slope’s districts? Number 3 Agricultural interests vs the interests of the cities. Boulder voted wolves in and we did not. Our livestock is threatened because the big cities are trying to run our side of the state. This shows you clearly that my interests are continually drowned out by Front Range politics on the state level. Please do not allow this to happen to me in Washington as well. Please go back to a model where the Western Slope is whole, whether it is with your original map or The Club 20 Map. A friend described this map as a fox in the hen house, but I believe it is worse. It’s like the hens were divided into two houses and a fox was put in each one. We belong together. And we don’t want a city that competes with us and tries to take our water to have all the say. Thanks again for your time and I hope to see a change in the direction of your work.

I object to the redistricting. As someone who lives in Larimer County, we couldn’t be more different from the western slope communities. And Boulder is a totally different world. This is definitely not connected communities. This map seems like you are trying to make it more difficult to elect Republicans and for rural communities to have a voice. This redistricting plan is not appropriate.

Please see the attached letter from the Garfield County Commissioners, John Martin, Mike Samson and Tom Jankovsky.

I support the latest map with all of Park County in district 7. Please adopt this. Finally our county is not split up into fragments.

What shared interest does Eagle and Pitkin County have with the other Rural counties in the proposed 3rd District, bad idea! In regards to the proposed 2nd District, what shared interest does Boulder County have with the west Slope Rural Counties? This proposed plan will submit the west Slope Community’s to Boulders progressive overreach! Boulder and Moffat Counties in the same Congress District? Bad idea!