Public Comments

I have made the decision to live in rural Colorado and expect my rights as a state citizen to be recognized and not lost because you want the liberal votes from the more heavily populated areas. Do the RIGHT thing for every constituent that you represent.

Rural communities are not the same as urban communities nor is the employment base and the voters. They should be considered as a community of interest and not lumped into the rest of the urban population of voters. The latest map drafts disenfranchise small rural and diverse populations and should not be considered and the original proposed map should be brought back to the front for greater consideration. It is important that this commission consider the vast differences between these sectors of the population and not group them together as if they can be equally represented.

I live in the City of Aurora, Arapaho County. I don't understand how I am placed into a district that encompasses almost all of the Eastern portion of the state. How do you justify giving Denver a district, but not one to Aurora, the largest city (by land area) ? Please rethink this map and give Aurora a voice in the Colorado Congressional representation.

I am writing to request your review and modification of the Congressional map of CD2, specifically the inclusion of the city of Fort Collins in CD4. As a former resident of Fort Morgan for ten years and a current resident of Fort Collins for 32 years, I can tell you that Fort Collins has very little in common with the eastern plains of Colorado. I also represented CD4 on the Colorado Commission on Aging from 2010 to 2013 and was then appointed to represent CD2, so I am familiar with the needs of the citizens of both districts, especially seniors. CD4 is primarily rural, agricultural and has the highest gas and oil production in the state. Fort Collins is primarily in the foothills, home to high tech companies, a tier one research university and a highly educated population. Northeast Colorado has attempted to cede from Colorado; Fort Collins is proud to be an urban center in the north central part of the state. Weld County welcomes gas and oil exploration and drilling; Fort Collins voted to restrict gas and oil drilling in the area. While Larimer County once had a primarily agricultural economy, it has moved to an urban, technical business community in the past 30 years. It has little in common with its neighbors to the east. The issues that concern Fort Collins now are wildfire mitigation, watershed protection, flood control, climate action, and air quality issues. We are deeply involved with urban issues such as homelessness, high population growth, diversity and equity and employment in high tech industries. Our concerns relate much more closely to our neighbors to the south and west. To remove a county seat from its county and put it into another Congressional District would be detrimental to its effectiveness. No Congressperson could effectively represent Fort Collins while also representing the eastern plains; as a consequence, Fort Collins would not be represented at all, as was the case when Larimer County was part of CD4 in the previous decade. I strongly urge you to look elsewhere for population to add to CD4; this configuration is totally unacceptable.

My city, Ft. Collins, is very different from the Eastern Plains and one of the goals of the Commission is to preserve whole communities of interest. This map does not do that and in fact it moves the county seat into a different Congressional District than the rest of the County. Weld County relies on oil and gas and agriculture. Ft. Collins does not have interests in promoting such industries. Fort Collins has an extensive tourism industry, wuth breweries, music festivals and biking. Tourists do not come here for what is being offered on the Eastern plains. How could a future representative possibly represent such diverse communities as Ft. Collins and the Eastern Plains. Colorado State University is a major driver of our economy. The University feeds the many high tech local industries, including solar power installers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, digital industry researchers, etc. None of these industries exist to to our east. In Larimer County we are focused on issues like wildfire mitigation, watershed restoration, climate action, equity and diversity, and dealing with urban issues like homelessness, high population growth, ozone nonattainment, and air quality issues. We have much more in common with counties like Boulder County. Please do not make this change.

I am in support of the staff map that was recently presented. This map more accurately reflects communities of interests. Thanks for your work and consideration, Jay Fetcher

I"m so disappointed in how this map is at the present time. When you came to Routt County, a couple of months ago, the overall map was pretty decent. It is amazing how far away it is now. We in the western slope will no longer have voice now that you have linked us to Boulder. It makes absolutely no sense for the western slope to be tied to an urban city as we do not have any of the same issues and they know nothing with what we deal with. I strongly urge you to reconsider and keep the Western Slope as a whole. Thank you again for considering this incredibly important issue.

I as a owner and manager of orchards and vineyards I strongly object placing our rural community with Boulder co. The views of the boulder community do not reflect my views of agriculture, which are to feed our country. With out wolfs and government restrictions way bound logical reason.

What do you elected officials not understand about the second amendment that an average tax paying, US citizen can explain? Allen K Stefan

I generally support something like the "preliminary Map" that retained the historical arrangements to the extent possible (West slope in one CD, Eastern Colorado in one CD). Denver metro districts seem consistent. I'm suspicious of too many squiggly lines that carve across county boundaries and cities. It seems too contrived to separate Larimer County into three separate districts, as had been proposed in the First Staff Plan, but maintained in the preliminary map.