Public Comments

Comments in regard to initial testimony made today 9/9/21 by 4 Grand County Residents concerned with wildfire mitigation: forests are managed by US Forest Service, Dept. of Interior, BLM, State Parks - not by your Congressional legislator. Last year's wildfires were devastating to the communities involved. However, Governor Polis did virtually nothing to bring in more firefighters, and essentially let the fires burn themselves out. Fire mitigation is conducted or not by the federal government agencies involved in the 'ownership' of the land. So concerns of Grand County Residents regarding fire mitigation need to somehow convince Federal agencies to actually manage the forests. Water rights to Grand Lake were determined decades ago. Grand County is an outlier in that it depends mostly on tourism/outdoor recreation, construction (of those 2nd homes for the wealthy Coloradans, Texans, etc.), and public administration. I suggest Grand County can stay in District 2, but not the rest of the rural counties of N/W Colorado. I agree that Ft. Collins belongs in District 2 - it is no long an "Ag" school or city but an extension of liberal Boulder. I support the 6/23/21 preliminary map if Fort Collins is put into District 2, and taken out of District 1 which seems designed only to dilute the conservative vote of the eastern plains. I support keeping the Western Slope in 1 district. From Jessika Shipley to Me, All Panelists: 02:47 PM The 6/23/21 Preliminary map kept communities of similar economic drivers and political subdivisions (per "constitutional criteria") together in District 1 and District 3. The current UNACCEPTABLE 9/3/21 (First Staff Plan) map for District 2 has divided the rural conservative 3rd district essentially in half and thrown together disparate communities and political subdivisions effectively favoring Democrats who hold a majority in the ultra-liberal urban Boulder/Broomfield counties. It also makes no sense to move the Democrat-leaning, urban City of Fort Collins into District 1. It seems the objective of the "non-partisan staff" is to also dilute the conservative rural vote of the 1st Congressional District by including liberal Ft. Collins. I agree with Commissioner Stone's comments wholeheartedly.

Thanks for your work but I see major issues in what is being proposed: 1. There truly is an Urban/Rural Divide. The interests and beliefs of rural living people do not conform with those of the high population areas. East of I-25 and South of Denver voters should be kept together. 2. I consider myself a conservative, rural voter (living in the Fort Collins Zip Code). I have seen the shift of the power fulcrum of my area far to the liberal left, resulting in the constant undermining of my beliefs and interests. What I have read seeks to make that phenomena statewide. 3. The physical features of Mountain, Plateaus, and Plains each drive a certain economy and lifestyle. Again, if I see anything, I see that fact out of tune with the proposed districting. Thanks Steve Zelenak

September 9, 2021. As Revised and Presented to the Commission Today: I am Gregory Petruska, a registered voter in Loveland, Colorado, District 2. I worked in Colorado from 1980 through 1984, when I was job transferred to California, then returned to Colorado in 1994 to raise our family and leave California’s skyrocketing costs of living and deteriorating public policies behind. I am very concerned to see many of the same things happening now at breakneck speed in Colorado. The Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission Staff “first staff plan map” released on 9/3/2021 is an outrageous attempt by the liberal (not to be confused with progressive) majority of District 2 to overwhelm and negate the voters of northwestern Colorado in District 3 and eastern Colorado in District 1 with their proposed revisions to the “preliminary Congressional maps” released in June after 36 hearings across Colorado. Do the mystery proposal revisers really think that by writing over-and-over again “nonpartisan staff” throughout the notes, it will somehow trick we the voters into believing this is anything but a shamelessly biased power grab attempt? How dare they think we are that stupid! The proposed “first staff plan map” brazenly ignores the stated purpose of, “Preservation of communities of interests and political subdivisions” … and “attempted to keep communities of interest together”, by gerrymandering the major Front Range metropolises of Boulder combined with northwest Colorado, and for no reason moving District 2 Fort Collins into District 1 and reducing that territory to the south and west but to ensure liberal majorities in the resultant Districts 1 and 2. I have lived and worked in major metropolitan areas all my life but have also worked in rural areas with natural resources development and management. I greatly admire and appreciate America’s backbone agrarian and natural resource development communities that feed, fuel and drive our economy and comfortable urban lifestyles. I can state with certainty that most of the liberal city dwellers in Boulder and Fort Collins have little knowledge of or frankly care about the needs of Americans living in agrarian and natural resource producing areas. The “first staff plan map” would ensure the overwhelming and silencing of the voices and concerns of 2/3rds of our rural Colorado! There is simply no reason but for underhanded political redistricting to nullify the majority conservative voters in smaller population Districts 1 and 3 by overwhelming their voices and concerns by the metropolitan liberal majorities in much more populated District 2. I urge the Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission to reject the “first staff plan map” as the deceitful ploy that it is and retain the preliminary Congressional maps released in June.

I am extremely unhappy about being grouped in a congressional district with the Eastern Plains as you could not find a more polar opposite way to throw a district together. Larimer County has nothing in common with Weld County as indicative of how we have addressed the pandemic and safety measures of our community. As a small business owner and healthcare worker, I am not interested in being represented by the "we wish to succeed to Wyoming crowd" who literally wish to let their small businesses and people die rather than follow science or rely on sensible legislation. They wish to collect big dollars from big oil to enrich their families but pollute the land, air and water for the rest of us. CSU and the educated of Fort Collins/Larimer County appreciate what Joe Neguese has done in representing our needs and collective desires for focus on clean environment/air/water, protecting us from climate change/fires/floods, affordable healthcare, speaking up against big oil/fracking, COVID relief for those impacted, small business focused, affordable housing, maintaining recreational outdoor spaces and so on. DO NOT lump us in with the eastern plains. They have made it very clear where they stand and it isn't with the west side of I-25, it is with a completely different state.

Residents of rural Colorado have unique interests and need representation in Congress whose constituency does not have divided priorities. Our voices deserve to be heard, undiluted by inclusion in a district with suburban and urban residents. 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 know you have to start drawing lines somewhere; how about a West Slope-oriented district and another that is an agricultural community of interest? Even without access to the census block level information for being fully prescriptive, we trust that if you start with a goal of two rural seats, one as a west slope community of interest and one concentrating on agriculture and energy production, you will be able to draw two seats that won’t dilute the voices of the many people living in vast stretches of rural Colorado. Please be certain that these vital – and vast – regions of Colorado garner the representation they need and deserve.

I believe the front range democrats abd their views are trying to squash the rights of the conservative western slope and this "redistricting" is certainly NOT what what we want.

Don't do it. Don't redistrict Colorado’s congressional districts or if you need to, at least put Boulder, Longmont and Loveland in their own district like Denver. We have a large mountain range separating us Boulder and Longmont, and we have very little common interest with the front range in general. This makes no common sense: We DO NOT Share this: (A) Shared public policy concerns of urban, rural, agricultural, industrial, or trade areas; and We DO NOT Share this: (B) Shared public policy concerns such as education, employment, environment, public health, transportation, water needs and supplies, and issues of demonstrable regional significance. It's a power push for the Liberal vote.

I am submitting this comment in opposition to the newly-drawn Congressional District 4 (as of Sept 3, 2021). This new district would include the populations of the agricultural eastern plains and the urban population of Fort Collins. This is a total mismatch in regards to the community values and practices of these two areas. Fort Collins' economy is based on tourism, Colorado State University and is promoting the expansion of high-tech industries such as solar power. The eastern plains' economy is based mostly on agriculture and extractive industries. Neither economic focus is better than the other but they're too different to be included in one representative district. A Representative elected based on this proposed map would not be able to accommodate the very different needs of these two areas.

I am a resident of Montezuma Co. and I do not support removing Cortez from our district. I think our district was fine the way it was and should not be changed. Also I do not support the plan to change our district and remove Lauren Boebert’s residence from our district. I am disappointed in the proposed maps because I thought the Commission would propose politically neutral maps. It appears that is not the case.

I believe our community is united by integrity in our elections first, working for others in agriculture, service and manufacturing. We turn to elected officials for fair, objective and honest scrutiny on how our electorate can be separated into districts that truly support balance in the two political parties. Please set aside party immediate Party agendas for the bigger picture, breakdown division in our state by balancing District representation with geographic areas that contain both rural and urban areas, a true diverse "community of interest". Re-districting Colorado by creating Districts that are all urban or all rural increases political/governmental division instead of creating boundaries that endorse campaigns that support unity and the seeking of common ground. Please, for the good of our people and the State they love, bring us together instead of creating a political feudal system with legislated motes around strongholds. With deep commitment to our State and it's citizenry, Mark Blaszkiewicz