Public Comments

As a 20-year resident of Delta County, I often feel completely disenfranchised by local government but somewhat fairly represented at the state level. Splitting Delta County makes sense to me since the eastern and western portions of the county are extremely different in areas of interest and the divide seems to be growing. The western portion of Delta County has specific geographic, transportation, infrastructure, water and economic connections to Gunnison County. The North Fork Valley, where I live, shares major watersheds with Gunnison and the people are like-minded in their appreciation for public lands, the environment and agriculture. A partnership between western Delta County and Gunnison County is vital in this redistricting.

Dear Legislative Commission, I testified at the public hearing in Green Valley Ranch this summer. After consulting with various stakeholders in Denver's Black community, we respectfully submit the following House and Senate maps that protect the Historic neighborhoods across our city. This submission will help the next round of your maps avoid the shameful legacy of redlining and keep our Black-owned businesses with their employees, as well as Black churches with their parishioners. I would also like to echo the testimony of Mayor Wellington Webb when he encouraged the Commission to direct the staff to begin their work in the populated areas of the state instead of treating Denver as an afterthought. Please also consider protecting our historic district numbers to avoid confusion and keep our communities connected with their legislators as much as possible. Suggested House map: https://davesredistricting.org/join/d3d3218c-e43a-46e2-ab90-7e603c45b0d1 Suggested Senate map: https://davesredistricting.org/join/968a51a6-9fda-4ded-b9f0-1307ed9686dd Khadija Haynes

Dear Commissioners My name is Linus Zumberge. My wife and I have lived in Summit County for 13 years. We jointly believe that there is no reason to change the distracting from where it is. Certainly Summit County has more in common and more interactions with residents and businesses in the Front Range than it does with areas to the west. Please keep our district alignment with those areas to our east, to the Front Range. It makes sense economically, socially, and politically. All of our shopping that is not done in Summit goes to the Denver area, along with interactions with skiers and other weekend friends and tourists from the Front Range. Keep us linked to Front Range.

Dear Commissioners, My name is Debbie Whitmore. I have lived in Summit County for 37 years. I write today to support including Summit County in the same district as I-70 and Front Range communities. Not all Mountain Communities are alike. There is more to consider than just looking at small mountain towns and assuming they go together. We have so much more in common with Front Range communities like Jefferson County than we do with the Western Slope communities. Summit County is focused on recreation, tourism, and preserving our natural beauty. We are focused on living in harmony with nature and focused on green development. Many communities along the Front Range communities are interested in the same thing and we are both struggling with how to balance those goals with explosive growth. We are defined by our high-income, high-education, high cost of living communities built on tourism. Just because we have few full-time residents does not mean we have anything in common with rural towns with a similar population. Since we are so close to the Front Range and even share commuters and residents, we need to have common representation to addresses these linked issues. Clear Creek, Gilpin, and Larimer counties are all similar to our own. These communities rely on tourists from the front range like we do, and they have similar service-based economies which are not based on oil and gas, agriculture, or mining like many of the western slope communities. We all struggle with housing and transit issues and we all depend on the flow of traffic along Interstate 70. These common interests unite us and require effective representation in Congress. Please keep us with similar communities so we can address our problems together. Thank you. Debbie Whitmore

I commented in person at the Highlands Ranch joint redistricting commission meeting. I spoke strongly as an unaffiliated voter of the need to keep Highlands Ranch completely intact given its demographics and community of interests as reflected in the Highlands Ranch Metro District (HRMD); Highlands Ranch Community Association (HRCA); Centennial Water; and the HR Home Owners Association (HOA) given that HR is the largest HOA in the world and not a true political entity. So it is vital to keep it together politically as much as possible. What surprised me was the obvious coordinated and concerted attempt by GOP officials who testified to push as much of Douglas County, if not all of it as they argued, up into the South Metro Suburbs with Highlands Ranch. That seemed very strange to me as there may be some "grey" suburbia once one leaves the edge to HR and Lone Tree and head south or east. But from Monument S, W, or E, there is no grey at all. I was particularly surprised too by the Farm Bureau lobbyist who was given the most time of anyone to answer questions from the commission (which I thought was appropriate given his extensive knowledge of water rights and his community of interest), but insisted that all of Douglas County was suburbia. That is patently not true and I thought it strange that the Farm Bureau would "sell out" the agricultural interests in Douglas County. Now, it appears that there is reporting that explains these coordinated attempts to influence the commission for partisan purposes to push as many GOP voters up into the South Metro Denver suburbs for a political advantage when they are superfluous to the districts to the south and east of Douglas County. See below link. It is precisely this type of gerry mandering that the Commission was created to prevent. So while I originally told the Commission at the hearing that if anyone wanted to tag along with Highlands Ranch to joint the suburban corridor to which it obviously belongs in Littleton/Centennial that I was agnostic, I think with these partisan developments the Commission needs to consider drawing congressional and legislative lines as far north in Douglas County as possible without splintering HR or Lone Tree. Douglas County in Parker and Castle Rock are heading towards being suburbia. But they are not there yet and should wait to be put with that community of interest after the next census/redistricting. And the rest of Douglas County is rural or with agricultural interests. So please do not let partisan influence cause you all to make inappropriate decisions. Thanks. https://www.coloradopols.com/diary/162893/the-dumbassery-continues-for-gop-redistricting-consultants?fbclid=IwAR3aBKA_hBBE9cKZBO6uK69f6yICMyfie2b_5yBdCQ-aVViqsAjtX0Rkz1o

Please do Not divide Montezuma County into different districts……

Dear Independent Redistricting Commissioners— First of all, thank you for your service. I am confident that with you, the independent redistricting commissioners redrawing the district lines in response to the recent census that the result will be fair to all. That being said, not all Mountain Communities are alike. There is more to consider than just looking at small mountain towns and assuming they go together. The Commission needs to keep that in mind when it is drafting these maps. Putting Summit County with the Western Slope does not make sense. Putting us with the other Mountain Communities like Boulder and Gilpin and Clear Creek Counties does. Larimer too. We belong in CD-2 or CD-7 with these communities. We are defined by our high-income, high-education, high cost of living communities built on tourism. Just because we have few full-time residents does not mean we have anything in common with rural towns with a similar population. Clear Creek, Gilpin, Larimer counties are all similar to our own. These communities rely on tourists from the front range like we do, and they have similar service-based economies which are not based on oil and gas, agriculture, or mining like many of the western slope communities. We all struggle with housing and transit issues and we all depend on the flow of traffic along Interstate 70. These common interests unite us and require effective representation in Congress. Please keep us with similar communities so we can address our problems together. Thanks for your consideration.

August 26, 2021 TO: Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission CC: Colorado Representative Joe Neguse, Colorado Governor Jared Polis FROM: Annamaria Boehms Jamestown, Colorado resident since 1997 Jamestown Board Trustee - currently serving Boulder County resident since 1984 I am writing to express my perspective and great concern that Jamestown, and surrounding Front Range/Boulder County mountain communities such as Nederland and Ward, are being considered to join Congressional District 3, which overwhelmingly represents the State of Colorado west of the Continental Divide. I will speak in the first person in this letter, and I am aware that my views are shared by many other people living and working in Jamestown and the surrounding area, who will hopefully write individual letters in their own voice. The Jamestown Board of Trustees, of which I am a member, have collectively written and passed a resolution stating our strong opposition to this Congressional Redistricting proposal. In Jamestown, as a Boulder County mountain resident, myself and my family conduct our daily lives and business in Boulder County, in the City of Boulder, the City of Longmont, Lafayette and Louisville, Nederland and even Ward. We (myself, my husband, and my children) are employed in Boulder, attend school in Boulder Valley School District schools, access medical services in Boulder County, and not insignificantly, we receive emergency response and fire protection from Boulder County area divisions. We drive on roads that are maintained by Boulder County. We rely on, and derive our water from glaciers flowing east, into our watershed. We pay local sales and property taxes that are used to fund local schools, local services and local initiatives. My husband is a co-owner of a surveying company, with Front Range locations in Boulder, Longmont and Denver. I work in two Boulder Valley School District Schools, where our children attend(ed) school (one is in college out of state). The Redistricting Map dissects Boulder County, which I think is highly inappropriate. I no more feel like I belong in District 3 than I feel I belong on the moon. District 3 is, quite literally, across the Continental Divide, stretching hundreds of miles west of my home. The geographical and business areas in District 3 are not even feasibly accessible to us, and their community issues, needs and identity are different than ours. To be thrown into District 3 makes me feel like I am only a number, not a proud and active member of a community with a well-established personal and professional life and family. I have lived in Boulder County since 1984; I have lived in Jamestown since 1997. I am not a newcomer; I am deeply rooted in my local community, and I do not want to be in District 3 because it just does not feel applicable to me. I want my votes and Congressional Representation to be from my community, relevant and meaningful to my life, my future, and my children’s future. I want my Congressional Representative to be accessible and responsive to me and my community members. Currently, Joe Neguse is pretty accessible, as were his predecessors before him. I believe this is incredibly important now, and moving into the future, as we continue to face water availability and management issues and increasing forest fire and safety concerns, both of which seem to be intensifying rapidly. I do not want my source and availability of water to potentially become a commodity to the Western Slope. The State of Colorado is geographically large and diverse. It seems to me that you should take another look at how you can accomplish your districting goals without randomly lumping some small mountain communities in the Front Range up and over the Continental Divide and into District 3. Sincerely, Annamaria B. Boehms Jamestown, Colorado Resident

The legislative redistricting preliminary maps include a number of ill-fitting unifications in terms of the interests of the people. First I would like to speak to the unification of the southern part of Jefferson county with that of superior and Louisville. This makes little sense in terms of united interests. Southern Jefferson county is a rural region with more rural interests such as road maintenance, wildlife concerns, rural health access, wildfire mitigation, well rights, etc. while those in the towns of Superior and Louisville are much more concerned with urban concerns such as zoning regulations, urban homelessness, mass transport, bike corridors, etc. With the significant number of people in the Superior/Louisville area, it is low likelihood that a resident of Kittredge or Conifer would get representation from someone who cares about their concerns. Secondly, the preliminary map bundles the portion of Boulder county that stretches from the west edge of preliminary district 37 to the east edge of 58 with the western portion of the towns of Longmont and eastern Boulder. Once again these are extremely different communities. The rural portion of Boulder county included here has little in common with the larger population area of Eastern Boulder and Western Longmont. The voices of those living in the mountains west of Boulder have significantly more in common with the residents of preliminary district 24. Just the same as how the common interests of the Eastern city of boulder Boulder match much better the interests of the residents of Louisville and Superior. In fact, the three cities are basically one at this point and it would be naive to think that they have significantly different interests. Mushing rural residents into the same district as urban residents only works to guarantee that those rural residents will have no voice in our districts. We will be left shouting into oblivion about our rural concerns that are simply different than the urban residents included in our preliminary districts. Please justify the logic or adjust the situation.

7. Ski II Dear Commissioners, My name is Susan Warren and I am writing to voice my support for keeping Summit County with other communities along I-70 running east. You are no doubt aware that skiing and tourism is the lifeblood of Summit County’s economy and the foundation for its future. The districts you draw will last for years and shape federal policy for decades. Please keep in mind that we need to consider long-term strategic needs, not just present desires. Skiing cannot exist without reliable transportation. People with the time and money to travel across the country or across the globe to ski have choices; they can go to Chamonix in France, Whistler in Canada, or Zermatt in Switzerland. Keeping the federal highway, Interstate 70, running smoothly and making the trip from Denver International Airport as quick as possible is essential to keeping Breckenridge a competitive international destination for skiing. We need to keep one representative for I-70 running down into the foothills so we have an effective and more importantly a focused voice in Congress on this issue. We should be in CD-7. Thank you. Best,