Public Comments

While I strongly support independent redistricting commissions and respect the massive amount of work these commissions have done, I find that the proposed redistricting of Fort Collins into CD4 is alarming and disorienting! I firmly believe that splitting the county seat (Fort Collins) away from the rest of Larimer County makes no sense! I tend to think of all of Larimer County as my “community of interest”. As a community we work together to build booming high-tech and environmentally focused industries, often born or supported by Colorado State University. We also have thriving craft breweries and tourism which spans both Old Town Fort Collins/Loveland and the activities our community loves in the foothills and mountains to the west (which would remain in CD2 as proposed). As a county we have worked hard to promote our open spaces, bike paths, parks, wildlife habitats, and outdoor recreation. In fact, if this redistricting happens, I will own two pieces of property in the same county (one suburban, one rural), but in two different congressional districts! As a county we are already a diverse mix of urban and rural residents. Fort Collins is also heavily involved in public policy that addresses environmental and climate change efforts. We work with Loveland, Longmont, and Estes Park as members of our jointly owned electric utility, PRPA, to promote our portfolio of renewable energy. While I can relate to agricultural industries and lifestyles, I am also very concerned about the lack of mitigation of oil & gas emissions from rural Weld County that impact our air quality. The communities to the east have diametrically opposed views and local policy on these extraction industries and the resulting pollution that impacts us along the northern Front Range. I also consider public policy regarding community health very important (including the adherence to science in healthcare), especially in these times of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is public policy that does not seem to be shared by a vocal segment of the population and leaders in the communities east of Fort Collins. In short, all of Larimer County constitutes a "community of interest" according to the redistricting commission's own criteria listed on this submission page - i.e., "Shared public policy concerns such as education, employment, environment, public health, transportation, water needs and supplies, and issues of demonstrable regional significance." While I fully realize that balancing the various demographics of these districts is important, even the Colorado Sun has noted that a future CD4 as configured in the redistricting would not result in a competitive district (in a Sept 3, 2021 article). How does this serve the representative interests of the people of Fort Collins as well as the rest of Larimer County? How could a future congressperson possibly represent such diverse regions/communities as Fort Collins and the entire Eastern Plains?

I am excited about the possibility of being in a trans-continental divide district 2 with Boulder and Larimer counties. But I felt a pang of despair at seeing Garfield County in a different district from our neighbors, Eagle and Pitkin counties. We share so much in common with those two adjoining counties, including being in the same judicial district with Pitkin county. In order to get to Pitkin county, a candidate will have to travel over Independence Pass during the months it is open, or travel through Garfield County to get there (the more common route). People live in Garfield and travel to both Eagle and Pitkin counties. It feels wrong to be in a different congressional district from our neighbors and friends. But if this is all that will work, I am jubilant to be divorced from Mesa County and especially from Pueblo.

I am firmly against putting Boulder, Ft Collins and Summit County in the same district as northwestern Colorado. We do not share the same values as the liberal progressive Front Range and do not want the urban population centers dictating our rural lives. We believe that, much like how Governor Polis ignores our part of the state, any elected representative of the new boundary will be chosen by the urban centers, and that area will be their only concern. I am against the map of the new Second District. It looks like the worst example of gerrymandering I have ever seen.

It is quite obvious that residents of Boulder and Fort Collins, both mostly liberal academic counties, have very very little in common with folks West of The Divide save some of The City of Steamboat Springs. Boulder has been a Democrat strong hold for decades even when Colorado was a Red State. And the growth along the front range, the nature of their business with the land space required, significantly differs from the NW Colorado economy and land requirements. This means that population densities will give absolute power to Boulder and Fort Collins with inconsequential representation to NW Colorado residents for the foreseeable future. It would be nice to be able to contact a Representative who understands my concerns and actually cares. As it stands with "plan one" I'll get a nice computer written and signed "Thank You for Your Letter" letter about a month after sending him/her mine. Please revisit NW Colorado redistricting. Respectfully, Harvey Lyon

The attached file is a copy of my comments delivered at the public hearing in Woodland Park on 20 Aug 2021. I am submitting this written copy of my comments (which I read essentially verbatim) for your reference and record. A couple of words/sentence were omitted due to time constraints.

Commissioners, I want to thank you for listening to the comments made by many folks in southern Colorado. When I spoke to you in Lamar I had no idea that so many folks would agree with the Southern Colorado River Basins map. The idea of a district like this took off. It’s begin talked about all across the state. The map that was drawn Sept. 3, 2021, doesn’t give us everything that was requested, but it’s a great beginning. Please keep CD 3 like it currently is drawn. It shows you listened and you understood how important one representative is to this area. Thank you for the time and energy you spent working for the people of Colorado. Carole Partin

Rural Colorado deserves representation and this map will not allow that as representatives will come from Major Urban areas in every district.

1. I've reviewed the First Staff Map and find it appalling that gerrymandering is allowed by trying to push out Lauren Boebert from Rifle. I thought there would be none of the same corruption that happened the last 10 years where I personally was moved into a long little finger that went way past my house and much farther away from the City of Loveland, just so they could put BJ Nikkel into the same house district as Brian DelGrosso. Since I'm in Loveland, I also object to the First Staff Map where Loveland is being put into the changed CD2, especially when my communities of interest are Fort Collins (now in CD4) and Greeley (now in CD8). Please STOP this gerrymandering and put our communities of interest together. These three cities are about 20 miles apart and are all part of the North Front Range Transportation and Air Quality planning group, a huge community of interest; along with schools, shopping, restaurants, recreation at our multiple lakes/reservoirs, entertainment at the Budweiser Event Center in Loveland and Island Grove Park in Greeley, many smaller rodeo arenas in our rural areas. All of our snowpack drains from Larimer County through Weld County, so we have common concerns about our water. 2. Also, I attended the earlier hearing in Greeley when I couldn't attend the one in Larimer County. I'd like to attend the upcoming hearing, but it is in Grand Lake. I would have to get a reservation to go through Rocky Mountain Park, which is 150 miles roundtrip; and, if I go around through Denver, it is 300 miles roundtrip. The reservation also costs $25 and I don't think the Commission should be forcing citizens who want to testify at a hearing to jump through these type hoops.

I am alarmed when I look at a proposed map from the Colorado Independent Redistricting Commissions because of the effect of carving out Fort Collins and placement in Weld County and the Eastern agricultural region of Colorado. This is not where I chose my community of interest. Fort Collins is the County Seat of Larimer County. We have voted and participated in large areas of open and preserved land, usage of the major university Intellectual and research resources. We have a deep connection with the Larimer County artistic and economic application. We community members have developed a symbiotic relationship of help to each other. The agricultural and its community interest in water usage, as well as the oil and gas drilling and extraction habits are of no interest to me as a part of my community. I welcome diversity and common goals in my community. This mapping does not accomplish this. Please reconsider!

Dear Redistricting Commission, I do not support the proposed redistricting of Fort Collins to Weld County and Eastern Colorado. The concerns and priorities of the residents and businesses of Fort Collins are fundamentally different from those of communities in Weld County and Eastern Colorado. Being in an urban center, Fort Collins businesses compete for tourist dollars and to attract businesses. Many Fort Collins businesses are part of the high tech community focused on technology and innovation. Weld County and Eastern Colorado communities do not have the population base or infrastructure necessary to incentivise and attract high tech businesses. Consequently, and historically, Weld County and Eastern Colorado communities and businesses focus on ranching and farming. Another fundamental difference is the cultural environment Fort Collins has developed as an urban center. Restaurants, public transportation, night life, and the arts are all available in Fort Collins and driven by the size, diversity, and interests of our population. Policies optimized for the ranching and farming interests of rural communities are often in conflict with the needs of a high tech and global economic base of cities like Fort Collins. As such, inclusion of Fort Collins in a district with Weld County and Eastern Colorado will negatively impact Fort Collins business interests. Additionally, the cultural interests of Fort Collins residents will not be supported by such redistricting. For these reasons, I urge you to reject the proposed inclusion of Fort Collins in a district with Weld County and Eastern Colorado. Sincerely, Theresa Russell