Public Comments

To The Colorado Independent Redistricting Commissioners, I am writing today as I am deeply concerned about the redistricting of our state and in particular the western slope. My family moved here in 1973 to pursue our rural and agricultural life. We had been in Jefferson county for decades, our family arrived as pioneers in the late 1800's and we left behind our heritage, our lands, and buried ancestors, as it was all being encroached by suburbia and the constant growth of Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, and all the way south to Pueblo. We are farmers and ranchers, not federal workers or city dwellers. We found Delta County and began anew in agricultural, farming and ranching. We have been coal miners, and some of us have worked in the oil and gas industry to supplement our incomes. Whether agriculture or energy production, public lands, water, natural resources, or cooperative businesses, most of our issues and needs in Congress differ from those of our Front Range urban and suburban friends and fellow Coloradans. We all care about education and transportation, but no rural county has (or will have) light rail, and no urban county will understand the needs of a small ranch operation. We deserve representation in Congress that isn’t forced to choose between our needs and the issues that matter to suburbia. When the map drawing process starts, we ask that you start by drawing two whole rural districts from the 53 counties that are not part of the Front Range from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins. While these counties make up nearly three fourths of the state’s land mass, they are home to only a quarter of the population. Fortunately, that should be enough for two of our expected eight congressional districts. We live in a time when our freedoms and constitutional rights are being undermined, and the threat of financial and personal ruin are faced every day. After barely surviving this current onslaught of SARS-Cov-2 mandates, we are hanging by a thread. We here in western Colorado don't have the luxury of trust funds or savings to carry us over. We have to produce! We have to work in order to create the things Coloradoans use and enjoy every day. While urban folks try to adjust to a global economy, we must keep it local. We depend upon each other here. We know our neighbors and have deep connections within many other rural communities as our kids travel for sporting events and we share common goals. Our needs are very unlike the needs of the suburban and urban dwellers. In fact, we supply much of what they eat and the places they come to recreate, and we add value every day to those who cannot do this for themselves. So do please consider the differences and ways we can complement the front range, but don's assume all needs are the same. They are not! Myself, and many in my family and community, could never thrive in the hurried mass that is the front range. We go there to visit but would never want to live there as it is now. We may be only one quarter of the overall population but you need us here doing what we do best. Thank you for your time, Augusta Boiani 20337 North Road Eckert, CO. 81418 970-835-3081

As a resident of the City Fort Collins, I think it is inappropriate to group our community of interest with the Eastern Plains of the state per the second draft released by the Commission staff. These two very different communities have many conflicting interests and public policy concerns. I much prefer Commissioner Martha Coleman's version that groups most of Larimer County, including Fort Collins, with Boulder, Jackson, Grand, etc. In Fort Collins, we care about issues like diversity, climate change, and progressive social policies. Someone like Representative Joe Neguse perfectly encompasses these values. If Fort Collins is grouped with the more rural communities in Eastern Colorado, the commission will effectively be silencing communities of color and historically disadvantaged groups. And to be perfectly honest, I live in Fort Collins so I can spend time in the mountains to the west of us in Larimer county and our western neighbors. I avoid heading east whenever I can for a multitude of reasons. Thank you for taking this input into consideration.

Our family has owned its property in Park County since 1888. We are a Centennial ranch and hope future generations will continue to raise cattle and hay here. My comment on the redistricting is that Park County has been split in half in the past, and with the new map proposed by staff we are being grouped with Jefferson County. Park County is a rural county and should be tied with the other rural counties including the western slope. thank you , John Woodward

NO LAUREN!!! NOPE NO THANK YOU. NO GRACIAS.

We are registered voters living in Fort Collins and we are very concerned that our voices will be limited or watered down if our district is joined with those of the Eastern plains. Fort Collins is a vibrant and inclusive town with much different needs and concerns than those in Weld County and East of us. If the purpose of the commission is to preserve the wants and needs of specific regions in the state than the current proposal falls short of doing that. In fact, the recent map moves Fort Collins away from Larimer County and the concerns we have in that area. Issues related to our urban environment such as the plight of the homeless, climate change, population management, and urban infrastructure are far different than the needs to those in the rural agricultural regions east of the Front Range. These factors MUST be considered when creating this map.

Dear Commissioners: When it comes to election time, it is not fair to Grand County, with its tiny population of 15,305 to be in the same district with Boulder County's population of 326, 196. That means the mostly conservative citizens of Grand County are effectively disenfranchised by the mostly liberal citizens of Boulder County. For example, in 2020, Grand County voted for President Trump and Boulder County voted for Joe Biden*. Granted, Grand County and Boulder County are contiguous but only continuous in a small area on top of the Continental Divide where there is no road of any kind and is only accessible to hardy mountain climbers. Ergo: no ground link between the two counties that the General Assembly probably intended in the statute. Actually, to drive a car from Grand County to Boulder Count takes over two hours. To be fair, Grand County needs to be in the 3d Congressional District. Respectively submitted, William A. Hamilton, J.D., Ph.D. and Penny R. Hamilton Ph.D. citizens of Grand County, CO

I'm deeply concerned about the redistricting map that cuts the city of Fort Collins away from the rest of Larimer County. By isolating Fort Collins from other urban areas, the needs of rural communities will overshadow the priorities of the Fort Collins area. Local tech businesses contribute significantly to the economy, and many of those jobs and employees may be lost by not representing the workers and the needs of that distinct business and social ecosystem. Fort Collins is more similar to Boulder County and should remain with the rest of Larimer county in the redistricting.

As a resident if Rio Blanco county and agricultural supporter is both Moffat and Garfield I strongly oppose the first staff drawn map due to a lack of rural representation. As presented, Moffat and Rio Blanco counties are included in the same district as Boulder and Larimer counties even though the latter counties are not representative of the needs of Moffat and Rio Blanco counties. As a resident of Rio Blanco County I would prefer to keep the western slope third congressional district and eastern plains fourth congressional district as is because these districts are appropriately serving rural communities. Sincerely, Margaret Granzella

Fort Collins is part of the "Front Range". We have Nothing in common with the Eastern Plains which is almost entirely ranching (partly on our severely overgrazed National grasslands) and agriculture and oil . It would make more sense to "lump" the eastern plains with the western slope whose interests and desires are more closely aligned . I see the new map for what it is : a blatant attempt to "dilute" Colorado's democratic "clout" and give Colorado's Republican Minority control of our votes! My Wife and I are Colorado natives and are Not happy with this supposedly "neutral" re-districting gang. The eastern plains interests are Oil, ranching, farming, and more Oil. This is simply the Republicans "gaming" the system AGAIN!!! All involved with this plot should be deeply ashamed! Gary Schneider, Fort Collins, Colorado

The congressional District 3 map released Sept 3 is an improvement over a previous map that proposed moving part of the Western Slope to a district that included eastern and southern Colorado. Please consider a switch of counties I propose at the end of these comments. I identify with communities of interest in southern and southwestern Colorado, having lived or worked in those areas (Pueblo, Durango, Grand Junction and nearby). Large communities of interest here look southward. They include Native American and Hispanic communities. The Arkansas River, across much of southern Colorado, was a border of the Spanish Empire. Hispanic influences remain strong in southern Colorado because of that history and continuing commerce. Ties of Pueblo, the San Luis Valley, and other southern Colorado communities to places farther south, in New Mexico, exemplify the current and historic connections. Native American communities of interest also connect southern Colorado across its southern border. The Southern Ute Indian Tribe lies there, and the Ute Mountain Tribe reaches from there into New Mexico (as well as into Utah). The Navajo Nation borders southern Colorado, southwestern Colorado and areas in Arizona southwest of Colorado. Fort Lewis College in Durango offers a tuition waiver for Native American students because of the historic and current ties to American Indian communities. History traces to prehistory. For example, ruins of the prehistoric Anasazi Indians, which relate to the continuing pueblos of Arizona and New Mexico today, are heritage sites across southwestern Colorado. (Note Mesa Verde National Park for an example.) Pueblo Community College's Southwest campuses serve in the counties of Archuleta, Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma and San Juan. Of course it is a strong academic presence in Pueblo County, along with Colorado State University, which has a southern Colorado reach. Soutwestern Colorado rivers drain southward; a diversion from the San Juan River Basin adds to the water from the Rio Grande, another Colorado river that heads southward. Business and media entities reach across the southern Colorado border. For example, KSUT Public Radio, on the Southern Ute Reservation in Ignacio, Colo., reaches Native American audiences and others in Colorado and nearby. Thank you for your work on the redistricting commission for Colorado congressional districts. Here are changes to the Sept. 3 map that could be beneficial for southern Colorado interests: Move Eagle and Pitkin Counties to within the District 2 boundaries. Add Fremont, Chaffee and Teller Counties into the new District 3. I realize border adjustments might be necessary. Perhaps expansion is practical from the proposed District 7 into the proposed District 2 or District 8 in order to accommodate my suggestions.