Public Comments

The work involved that the redistricting commission has before them is huge, thank you so much for the work you are doing for our great State of Colorado. First, the congressional map is great for Pueblo. It moves us from the 3rd CD to the 4th CD which is a big change but Pueblo is very connected to Southern and southeastern Colorado. Creating two rural districts is a great thing for Colorado because the rural voice will not be diluted by the metro areas. I think most Puebloans will be fine with this map once they understand it is for the best. Speaking legislatively, Pueblo county should be a State Senate district by itself. The numbers allow the county to be whole as a district and that also fits the criteria of the constitution. On the house side, please create competitive house district seats in Pueblo County. Thank you again for your work on these maps, Susan S. Carr

Redistricting Commissioners: I am sorry that I was not able to attend the hearing in C/S today due to my travel schedule. I am writing to express my concerns about the current versions of the redistricting maps that would lump Manitou Springs with northern Colorado Springs, the Air Force Academy and Monument. From my perspective as a former Mayor and 40 year Manitou Springs resident, the proposed maps do not fully consider the community of interest standard set out in the. guidelines. Our key interests in Manitou Springs revolve around tourism, the arts, education, protecting our natural environment, and our ability to work on issues collaboratively with Colorado Springs. From my perspective, the areas north of Manitou Springs including Monument do not share these issues, particularly tourism. Manitou Springs and Colorado Spring share interests concerning the COG Railway and Incline. We also have very similar Creative Districts and work closely on various events. In addition many of our students come from the west side and downtown of Colorado Springs. We also share utilities with Colorado Springs through the CSU. Clearly our interests are much better aligned with the the Old Colorado City area, downtown C/S and the north end of Colorado Springs, not Monument and the Air Force Academy. I would urge you to reconsider the current map and to align Manitou Springs with areas more closely aligned with our significant community interests. Thank you. Ken Jaray Former Mayor, City of Manitou Springs Manitou Springs, Co 80829 (submitted by email 8/28/21)

After cursory review of the Preliminary Plan and several of the public proposals, my choice is the James Moore map from March 4, 2021. The Preliminary Plan divides Jefferson County, Arvada, Golden and Lakewood cities into 2 Congressional Districts. This is not wise from many perspectives noted in the article in August 12th Transcript newspaper. The James Moore map seems to address these concerns in a logical, straightforward manor for US Congressional districting, citing admirable criteria and facts. Respectfully, Neal Greenfield Lakewood Post Office address in unincorporated JeffCo (submitted by email 8/28/21)

Keep El Paso County whole ;) thank you for this process (submitted by email 8/29/21)

I attended the meeting August 10 in Longmont. One of the commissioners asked me to send additional information regarding my testimony. See below which should answer his question. I live in unincorporated Boulder County and testified that our area in the mountains, Riverside, Raymond, Ferncliff, and Allenspark, would best be represented by including us with the mountain areas such as Gilpin, Grand, Clear Creek. (submitted by email 8/30/21)

I moved to Colorado in 1974. Since that time, I have lived in several parts of the State, but since 2007, I have lived in Archuleta County. I am writing to lend my voice to those concerned that adjustments being contemplated by the State Commission will result in a non-competitive alignment of House and Senate districts in my area when the elements to make the State House and Senate Districts competitive and cohesive. Archuleta County only has one small municipality with most of the population in unincorporated areas. Archuleta County is part of the greater San Juan River drainage, which includes LaPlata County, San Juan County and Montezuma County. These communities are also connected by a major arterial highway (U.S. Highway 160), a regional airport, supporting medical facilities, education, and the only two Native American Reservations in Colorado. There is a strong Hispanic cultural connection as well. I strongly urge the Commission to maintain the political connections in this area as well to the fullest extent possible because the best interests of this community are so closely aligned to be a detriment to each if it were broken up. Thank you for your kind consideration of my comments. I look forward to following this process as it moves forward and refining my comments as circumstances dictate. Rodney B. Proffitt Pagosa Springs, CO 81147 (submitted by email 8/30/21)

Dear Commissioners, My name is Nicholas Hale and I been a resident of Summit County for 7 years. The single biggest issue we face at the moment is public health. The coronavirus pandemic has made it absolutely clear that individual action on vaccination, masking, and social distancing is not sufficient to protect ourselves and our loved ones. We must act as a community to address these issues. On this, the simple fact is that Summit County is aligned with its more eastern neighbors like Clear Creek, Boulder, Larimer, and Jefferson Counties than it is with the Western Slope. We have all understood the nature of the pandemic and the sacrifices it takes to keep us safe even when we have communities which are built on tourism. We cannot close our borders but we also cannot turn a blind eye to this very real danger. We tackled it head on, mask on—focusing on vaccination and finding smart and sustainable ways for us remain open for business. That is simply something we do not share with our western communities and placing us together makes no sense. Not only do our approaches to COVID differ, but the challenges we face are also substantively different. Summit County is an international tourist destination and we are uniquely vulnerable to changes in national and even international travel restrictions. We need to have a representative in Congress who can be our voice for these issues as conditions change. Please keep us in Districts 2 or 7 where we can be with similar communities with whom we can work collectively at the federal level. Regards, Nicholas Hale

Good morning! Thank you for taking the time to read comments from Montezuma County residents such as myself. We respectfully request that you do not split our county in this redistricting. Montezuma County needs to maintain unity and remain whole as a community of interest. We share school districts, water needs, agricultural concerns. It is so important that we remain in one district. The burden and division a redistricting split will create in our county outweighs any possible benefits. Thank you for hearing our local voices.

Please see attached comments from the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners. Thank you.

To the Congressional Redistricting Commission, My name is Erin and I am a longtime resident of Summit County and Breckenridge Town Council member. I support including Summit County in the same district as communities along the Front Range. 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. These are perhaps issues in a few western communities, but this is an issue in nearly every community here in Summit County and out on the Front Range. 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. We should be in a Congressional District with people who support our vision for the future and who face not only the same types of problems but very often the very same problems as we do. It will help to rely on the same person in Congress in this common struggle. Thank you.