Public Comments

I already submitted a comment but I labeled it incorrectly as Legislative. It should have been Congressional. Please put it in the correct “bin”. Thankyou Del Lockhart

Thank you commissioners for the staff map, for listening to constituents and communities of interest. I think your latest map released on 9/3/21 is a good one, and I hope it moves forward.

Hi, I am writing to voice concern regarding the structure of the Northern Colorado districts that have been proposed. My zip code will be in District 2, but Fort Collins will be in District 4. My town, LaPorte has much more in common with Fort Collins than it has in common with a town like Steamboat Springs. I hope some consideration is given over how to assuring that a community like LaPorte, which shares many common interests with our neighboring Fort Collins, are in the same district. Best Regards, Reid Hayhow

The Congressional redistricting map released last Friday destroys rural communities of interest in the Eastern Plains, San Luis Valley and the Western Slope of Colorado by diluting them with large metropolitan areas. I have heard that this new map is to increase Hispanic representation throughout the 8 districts. I find that a false premise. The 3rd CD has been represented by Hispanics in the recent past without having to dilute rural districts with large metropolitan areas. The proposed 2nd CD extending from Moffat and Rio Blanco Counties to Boulder is definitely not a community of interest. I am much more comfortable with the previous Congressional map released in June.

Dear Redistricting Commissioners, I am very unhappy with your latest map. To be honest it is so ludicrously biased that I’d think you’d be embarrassed to even suggest it. It essentially neutralizes the western slope from having any influence. What does Boulder county have in common with rural Colorado? Very little if any. The residents of Rural Colorado have unique interests and therefore we need our own representation in Congress. You will be diluting our voice. We want representation in Congress that isn’t forced to choose between our unique rural needs and the needs in urban cities. This September map is obviously partisan. Who else would come up with such a one sided map. The September map is to be blunt an insult to Rural Colorado. Please create a new map that is fair to all of Colorado. NL

Commission, I do not believe that it is appropriate to include Fort Collins in the same district as the Eastern plains as part of this redistricting effort. These areas are vastly different and each has unique needs amongst constituents. It would be fair to constituents of neither area to proceed as proposed. Since one of the goals of the Commission is to preserve whole communities of interest and whole political subdivisions, such as counties, cities, and towns, this proposed map does not do so and in fact moves the county seat into a different Congressional District than the rest of the county. Fort Collins is physically and logically part of the Front Range, and our North Front Range urban area is home to high tech companies, a tier one research university, and a robust Multi Modal Transportation system that includes transit, EV infrastructure, and Bus Rapid Transit. We thus have little in common with our neighbors to the East, especially those in the extreme Southeast Corner of our state. Fort Collins is over 300 miles away from Campo in Baca county, and our needs as communities are so very different. In Larimer County we are focused on issues like wildfire mitigation, watershed restoration, multi-modal connections, climate action, equity and diversity, and dealing with urban issues like homelessness, high population growth, ozone non-attainment, and air quality issues, etc. We have much more in common with counties like Boulder County. Our economies also do not look at alike in any way and Fort would in no way would appropriately represent the population center of such a rural, agricultural district. Please reconsider your proposal based on these factors and the citizens in these areas. Thank you, Kevin Krause

I am overwhelmingly concerned that Douglas County will end the redistricting process with no competitive congressional or legislative seats. Douglas County citizens are being steamrolled by the GOP for another decade and are not treated as a Front Range Community from the looks of the boundaries drawn. The boundaries show the east District 4 boundary all the way to Kansas. We have lived 23 years in Highlands Ranch, a suburban metropolis associated with urban, industrial and trade areas. What is going on? Highlands Ranch citizens are not farmers and ranchers, rural people. The legislative seats in the State House have been held by the GOP for 23 years. All the county electoral offices are held by the GOP. The 6th district congressional seat has been held most of the 23 years by the GOP. The boundary drawn shows that Douglas County will end the redistricting process with no competitive congressional or legislative seats is not fair.

Please do not move forward with the redistricting. You are leaving rural Colorado to hang out to dry with no representation. Rural Colorado, farmers and ranchers are the life blood of the state. This part of the state grows the food and fiber that sustain urban America. Do not move forward with the proposed redistricting!

The current proposed redistricting of Fort Collins placing it within the 4th Congressional District is a disservice to both communities. While Fort Collins is made up primarily of densely populated, urban and suburban neighborhoods, the sprawling 4th District couldn't be more different. Fort Collins is a heavily populated environment with an immense array of citizenry matched by and equally diverse set of supporting businesses. This is in stark contrast to the Eastern plains where a few large industries such as agriculture, ranching and extractive endeavors and their supporting services provide the largest gross income for residents. The large scale issues facing Fort Collins and the current 4th District are at opposite ends of a wide spectrum. Fort Collins must manage the presence of a major university, housing and providing for a wide age-span of citizens, managing tourism, short and long-term planning for rapid and inevitable growth while providing for the safety and welfare of those citizens. The issues faced by the 4th District are resource driven. Services must cover many counties to meet the needs of a network of far less dense populations who's needs center more around land use, environmental integrity, water allocation and other specifically rural issues. It is difficult to see where there is major overlap in the scale of each population's set of concerns that warrant this inclusion of Fort Collins into the 4th District. It is impossible to imagine how the needs of both entities could be fairly represented should Fort Collins' be included in the 4th District as proposed.

As a 17-year resident of Steamboat Springs in Routt County, I believe the proposed map that adds Routt to CO-02 is an excellent plan. Routt relies primarily on our outdoor tourism as an economic base. Accordingly, we have much in common with Boulder/Eldora. The traditional Congressional representation from Boulder County is more in line with the needs and concerns for us in Steamboat, as opposed to the needs and concerns of other counties in the district we are currently part of (CO-03), which is heavy with extraction-based industries.