Public Comments

Fort Collins should NOT be redistricted into the more rural areas of eastern Colorado. Our economic, business, housing, educational, environmental, and transportation issues are vastly different than those of our neighbors on the plains. It would not be possible for these two divergent areas of needs to be addressed simultaneously.

It makes no sense for western Colorado to be tied up with Boulder etc. They have nothing in common. They need a representative that knows the area and will push to get their needs cared for. Keep western Colorado in one district!!!

I have reviewed the US congressional redistricting map released by the Commission and their staff. I am concerned about Congressional districts 2 and 3. Rural western Colorado has been part of the same district for decades. These rural counties have much in common with each other than any front range county. The new proposed 2nd district combines Boulder and Broomfield counties, as well as parts of Larimer County, with northwestern rural Colorado counties. This combination clearly favors incumbent Joe Neguse over the current 3rd congressional representative Lauren Boebert, as Garfield County is now part of the 2nd district. During the 2020 election cycle Neguse received 141,000 votes from Boulder and Broomfield counties representing 75% of those counties vote totals. He also received 117,900 votes from all of Larimer County. These voting numbers by themselves far out strip the total voters in Jackson, Routt, Garfield, Rio Blanco and Moffat counties, with combined voters participating in 2020 of 78,600. Based upon the proposed map Boulder County will elect the next representative for the 2nd. I do not believe this is the intent of congressional redistricting, having a single county dominate all elections. As an example, look at Proposition 114 in the 2020 election. All northwestern counties voted against this Proposition. Boulder County voted in favor of the Proposition with 132,600 votes representing 68% of the votes in Boulder County. All the other counties combined in the proposed district, excluding Larimer, the no votes on this Proposition were 128,100. Boulder County by itself would make all decisions for the new proposed district. Having grown up in rural Colorado, in the San Luis Valley, and attended college and lived in Boulder, I have the unique perspective of knowing the stark differences between rural Colorado and that of urban Boulder. The current 2nd district includes Boulder and Larimer counties. Based upon the 2020 census these two counties have a population of 647,758, if these counties are combined with Gilpin, Clear Creek, Summit and the eastern portion of Eagle this would result in approximately 720,000 people. Broomfield County would be included in the new 8th district along with other urban/suburban front range locations. The 3rd Congressional district would be all western Colorado counties, excluding Summit and the eastern part of Eagle, and would include the San Luis Valley, Huerfano and Pueblo counties.

Lauren Boebert absolutely DOES NOT represent my county. Please do not redistrict Grand County with the western slope.

Thank you for all your hard work! I testified via zoom at today's (9/9) hearing in support of 2 western slope districts. I STRONGLY URGE you to look at the map submitted by LULAC and slightly tweaked by Colorado Rural Voters (CORV) because these resolve the vast majority of the objections I heard today to the currently proposed Staff Map! 1. It removes Boulder from the NW district! 2. It keeps intact Larimer Co and Fort Collins as part of the NW district 3. This is balanced by the inclusion of Mesa Co/Grand Junction in the NW district adding another population center so FoCo doesn't dominate besides, both are home to Colorado universities 4 In addition, Mesa, as a major energy production center and agricultural hub has much more in common with its neighbors to the north. 5. The I 70 corridor is intact in part because Eagle and Mesa counties are included 6. Summit county is included and kept intact 7. This is a much more COMPETITIVE district (D+6 rather than D+28!!! which looks like gerrymandering although really you are struggling with population requirements) Then for the SW Congressional district 8. SW district is the most compact it's ever been while preserving communities of interest ... 9 Hispanic and Native communities of interest are included in this district 10. Western watersheds are together 11. Tourism/public lands are more logically grouped 12. Lake and Chaffee are added in because they are much more communities of interest with Gunnison, Pitkin than with the counties to their east. 13. It's more COMPETITIVE as a +1D district IN CONCLUSION, with 2 western slope and 3 eastern plains congressional districts rural voters would have the strongest voice they're ever had while maintaining competitiveness in NW and SW districts. PLEASE read the CORV and LULAC proposals and they just might solve the majority of your issues. Thank you, Laura Godfrey La Plata County resident

Fort Collins is more culturally similar to Larimer County and does not belong in a district with Weld or Yuma County. I oppose the proposed redistricting which puts Fort Collins with these counties. Fort Collins is very different from the Eastern plains and that the goals of the Commission is to preserve whole communities of interest and whole political subdivisions, such as counties, cities and towns. This map does not do that and in fact moves the county seat into a different Congressional District from the rest of the country. Weld County relies on extractive industries (oil and gas) and agriculture. Fort Collins suffers the consequences of these industries. We do not have an interest in being in the same district. Fort Collins has an extensive tourism industry, with breweries, music festivals, and biking. Tourists are not likely to wish to visit other towns to our east. How could a future representative represent such different communities as Fort Collins and the Eastern Plains? Our economies are extremely different. Fort Collins in no way would represent the population center of such a rural, agricultural district. Fort Collins has more in common with Boulder County in terms of emphasis on education, racial/social/environmental justice, and urban issues.

The city communities that have the majority have no idea how rural communities that provide them food for their survival even function! This redistricting will only cause harm, confusion and a hindering of provisions for the masses. The smaller communities will not have the say of how to best represent the needs of the minority as it will silence them. The Founding of our country was a Republic where Laws rule best for all, the majority and the minority. But like much of the country, these foolish idea of redistricting now is an attempt to function as a Democracy where the majority rules to the detriment of the minority. However, since the Rural populace provides for the survival of the Majority in the cities as well as their own communities, this ultimately will harm ALL the populous, the minority as will as the majority! Hesperus CO.

I’ve been participating in the public comments meeting and am so disappointed in how many people keep talking about, and even promoting, the “urban/rural” divide. Really, ALL Coloradans share many of the same values. I appreciate the exceedingly difficult and challenging process all of you have been engaged in and am so sorry there have been so many negative comments. I do like the new map and how the west slope will get TWO congressional representatives, a big improvement from the current situation. Currently, the 3rd District covers a gigantic territory. Dividing into north and south s an improvement. My suggestion echoes that of 4 or 5 other participants - to amend your current map by looking at the recently-released LULAC map. This map satisfies the voices that are screaming about how Boulder will dominate and drown their voices. It keeps indigenous and Spanish-speaking communities in southern Colorado intact. It preserves the I-70 corridor by moving Garfield into the northern part. It leaves both districts pretty darn competitive. I think our state is extremely fortunate to have this re-districting done by a non-partisan committee. We could have followed the lead of all the other states and allowed the party in control to draw the maps. Please keep the faith and keep up the important work you’ve been doing.

I live in Highlands Ranch and testified in person twice. But that testimony does not appear to have been heeded for the First Staff Plan. And as I scrolled through the written comments for everyone with a zip code that begins with 801 on your website, it appears that the heavy weight of the entire community is concerned about the planned suburban community of Highlands Ranch/Lone Tree being paired up with other areas of Douglas County or the Eastern Plains. That is not fair to Highlands Ranch nor to our more rural neighbors. And while many of our interests as separate communities of interest do not directly “conflict” with our rural members, there is only so much bandwidth and time any representative has to spend on issues and only so much expertise that they can develop. So, for example, any person representing the Eastern Plains will want/need to spend 50-70% of their time on agricultural issues. But if even one minute of time is spent on agricultural issues by a representative of Highlands Ranch, it is a minute wasted. Whereas Highlands Ranch being at the outer periphery of the main RTD light rail and bus routes has significant interests in both state and federal policy on public transportation for metropolitan areas, an issue not of much relevance to our neighbors in Fort Morgan, Limon, or La Junta. A commissioner asked at the hearing if Highlands Ranch did not have shared interests with our rural neighbors in National Security, Anti-Terrorism, Environmental, Immigration and Tax issues. But even here, our interests are not congruent. Every district in the state and nation should have a similar interest in National Security. But does one really believe that Kiowa County would be the target of a terrorist attack to knock out the power grid or commuter rail service? Highlands Ranch, however, is far more vulnerable to such an attack. Environmental air and water quality issues are also different for Highlands Ranch, with dense CO2 vehicle emissions, surface water supplies and municipal water and sewage systems, as compared to our rural neighbors more concerned about towing/lift capacity than emissions and ground water/septic issues. Immigration is also different with more social support networks in the Metro area for both papered and unpapered residents, while the rural areas still find some need for the difficult labor that many newly arrived immigrants can provide. And for tax issues, there is probably no greater disparity in interests than between the planned suburbs of Highlands Ranch and the communities to its East and South. Whole sections of the tax code are devoted to agricultural issues that have no basis or meaning to anyone in Highlands Ranch, but which are fundamental to the way of life of our neighbors. While the tax subsidies for home ownership and real estate depreciation are key to the development of the suburbs but have little meaning to our rural neighbors (e.g., one cannot depreciate land). Finally, federal and state policy on public transportation is of immense importance to Highlands Ranch that is an integral part of the Metro-Denver region with broad swathes of residents heading north on Light Rail, car, and RTD each day for work and shopping and the opposite occurring with residents in Littleton, Englewood, and Denver coming south to work and shop. That does not exist in the same manner for the rest of Douglas County, including Parker which has actively sought to leave RTD. So it is difficult to see what common or community interests Highlands Ranch/Lone Tree have with the state and federal legislative districts you have made it share with rural areas. So please keep Highlands Ranch intact as one entity, particularly as that is how it was planned from its beginning and how it has functioned ever since. And please put it with the suburban areas of Metro Denver to the North and not with the far less densely populated areas in the rest of the County and to the South and West. Thank you.

We live in the southwest corner of Colorado near Durango. Our needs in rural communities are vastly different than metropolitan communities. Do not place us in the same district limiting us and changing our way of life. We all know that the metropolitan communities will change our way of life in the rural communities, which will negatively affect agriculture and the future of it in Colorado. Our voice matters and we need to be able to make those decision in order to better each of our communities (rural for rural and metropolitan for metropolitan). Thank you