Public Comments

I do not want to see Summit county split between two districts. Summit county has the same interests across the county. It does not make sense that we would have to work with two different districts when we want to work on issues in summit county. All of summit county should be in the same district so all the counties interests/issues are looked after. Being in two districts will increase red tape and delay any work or projects that the county needs.

I currently live in unincorporated Summit County which would be place me in the 7th district while many others in my community are in the 2nd district. Summit county is facing several critical challenges around climate change (increased fires, land use), inequities (housing, child care), and transportation (I-70, water). Splitting the county puts our future in jeopardy as our county commissioners will have to advocate to separate districts for our combined interests. Splitting our county does not "preserve whole communities of interest when reasonably possible, meaning keeping areas together that share substantial public policy concerns with regard to federal legislative action around things like industry, education, employment, public health and numerous others" as the constitution lays out. I have no strong feelings about what district our county ends up in but splitting the county is the absolute wrong direction and will have detrimental effects on our community facing and possibly even surviving these challenges we face over the next 10 years.

As a resident of Fort Collins, I can't begin to understand why Fort Collins is being moved to District 4. We've been there before and it didn't work for Fort Collins. Fort Collins has an entirely different economic base from the communities in Dist 4. We are a business, educational, tourism based community and Dist 4 is agriculture and extraction economy. One representative can't cover such broad base. The state has learned that lesson which is why we were moved to Dist 2. Fort Collins fits in Dist 2. Please move us back there.

Changing northwest Colorado district will basically take away my vote. I am totally against this.

My husband and I moved to FT Collins 5 years ago and we love our City. FOCO has a unique blend of city life, university vibe, beer, art, and music. If the redistricting blends FOCO into eastern Colorado, where the counties are primarily agriculture and oil/gas, I don’t feel those in FOCO will be represented fairly. The two areas are important to the state and yet, uniquely different from one another. Please keep us separate as already districted in Larimer County, and do not roll the City of FOCO into a merger combining us with Weld County. Thank you. Renee P. Walkup Homeowner, Business Owner, Taxpayer

My comments are as follows: 1. Why is CD 4 represented on the commission by a Democrat when the district is made up of a major majority of Republicans? 2. If the commission is non-partisan why are only Republicans (Buck and Bobbert) affected? This makes the commission look highly partisan. 3. There are too many changes to CD 4 and CD 3. Who is pushing for a Southern CD? The Denver press has said it is so. What is the rationale? Leave CD 3 and CD 4 much like they currently are with some central changes to CD 4 to accommodate CD 8. 4. Are the staff also made up of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats? Perhaps it is the staff that are being partisan? Don't open yourselves to charges of partisanship. That is my current perception and the perception of others in Northern Colorado who I have asked about this issue.

I am horrified by the new District 2/4 dividing lines. How can the County Seat of Larimer County, Ft. Collins, not be part of the same Congressional District (CD) as the rest of the ENTIRE county??? In addition, Ft. Collins is the largest city in central northern CO. Why is it included in the CD all the way to the SE side of the border of the state? Fort Collins has NO commonality with any of the eastern plains. As a matter of fact, most of Fort Collins is on the WESTERN side of I-25. Fort Collins & Larimer Cty are concerned with progressive things: wildfire mitigation, watershed restoration, multi-modal connections, climate action, equity and diversity, and dealing with urban issues like homelessness, high population growth, and air quality issues, etc. We have much more in common with counties like Boulder County. Weld County wants to secede from CO. Weld County relies on extractive industries, (oil and gas) and agriculture. Fort Collins suffers the consequences of the extractive industries with non-compliance of EPA limits on ozone. We do not have interests in promoting such industries. Fort Collins & Larimer County has an extensive tourism industry, with breweries, music festivals, hiking, camping, river rafting and biking. Tourists are not typically visiting Greeley or other towns to our east as a tourist destination. How could a future representative possibly represent such diverse communities as Fort Collins and the entire Eastern Plains? Fort Collins has a large University which 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. Let's not forget the many, many distillers in Fort Collins. This will likely grow since there is now a program at Colo State in the Fermenting Sciences. This will only grow the brewing industry. None of these industries exist to our east. Yet Boulder County has many similar industries and educational bases. This map makes no sense to me whatsoever. You are supposedly trying to keep the ski resort areas together, but they are not. Take them all out of District 2 and add them to District 3. That would certainly help. District 2 includes part of Weld county. Why?? Weld County needs to be ALL in District 4. They are part of the eastern plains. And I repeat myself, they have wanted to secede from Colorado. Also, all of Greeley should be in District 4. Greeley is not that big. Let them be the Big city representing District 4, not Fort Collins. Greeley, and all it represents, is a great representative city for the Eastern plains. Fort Collins has NOTHING in common with the Eastern plains. Take some population from Colo Springs if you need to do so. They have more commonalities and they are more centrally located to the ENTIRE eastern part of the state than Fort Collins. Also, why is District 6 extending so far out into the Eastern plains? Take some of that population and add it to District 4. That makes sense, also. I would like to publicly speak to you all about this, however, I have to be out of town this week. Hence my written plea. This is NOT a good way to redistrict. Please rework the districts. I do think it is important for the Native Americans to be in the same district. I think it it ludicrous for Fort Collins to be the "Population Center" for District 4. Thank you for your time and thank you also, for attempting this re-work.

Please do NOT split Summit County. Marguerite Ritchey

I am not happy with the redraw map. Fort Collins has an extensive tourism industry, with breweries, music festivals and biking. Tourists are not likely to wish to visit Greeley or other towns to our east. How could a future representative possibly represent such diverse communities as Fort Collins and the Eastern Plains?

This is a brief comment on the first staff congressional redistricting plan, released on 9/3. There are a couple of good things about this map: it keeps the City and County of Denver essentially intact and it keeps El Paso County essentially intact. Both of these are well-defined communities of interest. While the map follows the constitutional language regarding contiguity, equal population, compactness, political subdivisions, and perhaps also competitiveness and VRA (minority representation), it clearly does not comply with maintaining communities of interest. The map separates the oil and gas regions of Garfield and Mesa Counties. The map separates the major ski areas in Eagle and Summit Counties. The map separates the counties of the lower Arkansas Valley. The map separates Fort Collins, Windsor/Greeley, and Loveland into three different districts, isolating Fort Collins from the rest of Larimer County. The combinations in the map also dilute communities. The interests of northwestern Colorado will be dominated by Boulder, Loveland, and Longmont. The interests of western and southwestern Colorado will be matched by Pueblo. The upper Arkansas valley will be dominated by Jefferson County. The interests of eastern Colorado will be dominated by Fort Collins and Highlands Ranch - with the most agriculutrally oriented city, Greeley, in another district. A quite likely outcome of this map would be that every member of Congress from Colorado will live in the Front Range corridor from Pueblo to Fort Collins. I will grant that those counties contain 84% of the population of Colorado. However, even that is not quite 7/8 of the population. I strongly suggest that the commission reconsider the decision that seems to have driven the creation of this map -- a district that runs from Utah through Otero County. Whatever the merits of such a district -- and I will admit, I do not see them -- its consequences for communities of interest throughout the rest of Colorado are severe. For a map that better meets the constitutional guidelines, please see my previously submitted alternative, at https://davesredistricting.org/join/b26ec349-27da-4df9-a087-ce77af348056