Public Comments

I am the CEO of the Denver South Transportation Management Association a regional transportation organization. Our organization represents and works with six jurisdictions – The City and County of Denver, Arapahoe County, Douglas County, Greenwood Village, The City of Centennial and The City of Lone Tree. Our organization works to improve transportation within and into/out of the south metro Denver area. We receive some funding from our jurisdictional partners however, the majority of our funding comes from the Southeast Public Improvement Metropolitan District (SPIMD). SPIMD is an overlay metro district created nearly 20 years ago that brings the commercial property and businesses along the south I-25 corridor from I-225 south to Ridgegate Parkway together to advocate for improving transportation and infrastructure in the region as well as to promote the business community. We have a sister organization – the Denver South Economic Development Partnership, that advocates for these goals of which I am also the CEO. This district was formed, and the business community coalesced around it recognizing the need to tackle these problems in a collaborative fashion, working together for the collective good. I have attached maps reflecting the SPIMD District I am writing regarding the congressional re-districting. One proposal that we have heard put forward is the use of I-25 as a district line. We strongly advise against this. While this may seem like a simple demarcation the unintended consequences of this could be profound as it relates to infrastructure and transportation funding. In today’s world these major projects, vital to our state’s economy can only proceed with significant federal funding. This funding requires strong focused congressional advocacy and support. Dividing the interchanges into multiple congressional districts on the east and west side of the highway will dilute these efforts. The nine interchanges within our district have a significant impact on the businesses and residents of the region and represent major investments that require substantial ongoing support and funding. We believe these interchanges need to be considered as whole and that dividing them would be detrimental to the focus on them and their longer-term funding and support and therefore ask that you keep each interchange within a single congressional district. Respectfully, Thomas Brook

To Whom It May Concern: I am a long time resident and business owner in Summit County and through my travels around the State raising my kids and my years of involvement with the Colorado Restaurant Assc I know first hand not all Mountain Communities are alike. There is more to consider than just looking at small mountain towns and assuming they go together. We all have different issues which bring different opportunities to collaborate. 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. We all have deep concerns about our environment and how global warming is effecting it. These common interests unite us and require effective representation in Congress. Please keep us with similar communities so we can address our problems together. This is not a political or partisan issue it is about putting us in a District with Communities with similar issues allowing us to collaborate to solve our problems

Dear Redistricting Commissioners, Please find my comments below regarding the Legislative Redistricting maps and the Congressional Redistricting map. Legislative Senate District Map: As you know, Delta County is a rural county located on the Western Slope. The citizens of our county face an uphill battle getting representation for our local interests because of the disproportionate amount of urban areas influence in the districts ( Congressional etc...) that often do not align with rural western slope interests. The current Senate district map further reduces our County's voice by splitting the county into two different districts. This will require citizens, leaders and businesses to communicate with two different state senators. Please keep Delta County whole and place it in Senate District 6 with Mesa County so that we will have fair representation. Delta County and Mesa County share similar interests in employment (20%+ Delta County workforce travels to Mesa County for work), transportation, environment (shared GMUG National Forest), and natural resources (Gunnison River and Uncompahgre River watersheds). Legislative House District Map: Again, the current configuration splits Delta County which is not in the best interests of our citizens. Under the current proposal, the North Fork High School will be split into two different districts. Keep Delta County whole and place us in HD 55 with Mesa County. Congressional Redistricting Map: I am commenting on CD3. This map is a fair and balanced configuration. Please keep as drawn. Thank you for your consideration.

I am an educator in Harrison School District 2 as well as a member of the Southeast and greater Colorado Springs community. I am writing specifically to discuss the impact legislative redistricting will have on the representation of members from the SE Colorado Springs community, which is predominantly low-income and minority. Colorado Springs is unique in that it is a single city with multiple school districts whose boundaries are drawn according to demographic divides. Harrison School District 2 largely serves the low-income and minority population of the city while its neighboring district, Cheyenne Mountain District 12 largely serves the city's white and affluent population. This is significant because the legislative districts as proposed split the Harrison School District in half and combines the portions with Cheyenne Mountain District 12 and more eastern parts of the city, respectively. Such combinations will dilute our city’s minority vote, likely prevent a minority candidate from winning office, and continue power imbalances that silence the voices of Southeast Colorado Springs. Our community’s public policy concerns include issues of transportation, access to affordable housing and healthcare, safety and police accountability, and linguistic services for our community members that do not speak English as their first language. For government to address the local issues of concern, it is imperative that our elected officials come from the community. The proposed maps will likely result from individuals outside of Harrison School District 2’s winning the legislative seat. If we were to truly value all voices, we would ensure that minority voices are not silenced in the electoral process, but rather empower them. We want the representatives for each legislative district to mirror the demographics and interests of the local populations they are meant to serve. Instead, the proposed maps maintain the power imbalances that are so prevalent at every level of government. I appreciate you taking the time to read my testimonial and hope you take into considerations my concerns.

Redistricting is a simple process involving mostly straight lines. Not your convoluted way to push your own agenda. City people should be districted with city people. Rural people should be districted with rural people. That about sums it up. Not complicated. Let us cut out the BS here. We are watching ALL of you like hawks on rats.

I am writing to object to the Town of Nederland and western Boulder County being included in Congressional District 3. Nederland belongs in District 2 because it has common interests with Boulder like schools, roads, cultural resources, medical resources, entertainment, and shopping. Areas like Rocky Mountain National Park, the Indian Peaks and James Peak Wilderness Areas are important to our community. We depend on income from tourism generated by these natural areas. Nederland has a strong environmental preservation ethic, and has made great progress in alternative energy availability and recycling. These public policies tie us much more strongly to Boulder and Boulder County than the Western Slope. The only common interest we have with the Western Slope is outdoor recreation. I am also opposed to Nederland being included in a State House district that goes north to Weld County. We belong in a Boulder County district for the reasons mentioned above. Thanks for considering my views.

We sincerely appreciate the commission for the availablity of this website to comment on the current issue. The people of Delta, Cedaredge, and the North Fork Valley which primarily make up Delta County share many interest that unite our community. Farming and Ranching is one of them ,if not the biggest one that unites us. Our schools is another big one. Hunting, fishing, and recreation is another. One of our major concerns is our watersheds that determine our lively hood. Putting decisions of our watershed districts, in the hands of other counties who may or may not know our needs on water could be detrimental to the people of Delta County. These other counties could have a hugh impact on our School district, and the usage of our puplic lands. We feel that redistricting our county would be putting our lively hoods at risk. Putting major decisions that could have a financial impact on our lives to a vote by people who possibly do not know our needs or circumstances is a great concern. We strongly appose redistricting Delta County.

I just listened to the testimony of our County Clerk and Recorder, Chuck Broerman and as a resident of Colorado Springs, I can tell you that what he did to our maps here in the Colorado Springs area for the County Commissioners was gerrymander every single district. Any district that has ever become even somewhat competitive, the lines are redrawn so that Republicans can win that district without issue. We are not all happy with the maps, in fact many of us are quite frustrated with the way the maps are continually redrawn and we all very much support the state making it mandatory for the maps of local areas being redone by an independent redistricting commission such as yourselves, in HB21-1047. Please do not make our maps similar to our county commissioner districts, that would hurt our city very much. Please hear Council member Avila and others speaking on our Southeastern community.

I have been a resident of Summit County for over 20 years. I strongly support keeping Summit County in Congressional District 2 and feel we are much better aligned with the front range communities. The majority of guests coming to Summit County are arriving directly from the front range, the issues surrounding transportation for Summit County are directly tied to the front range. Please keep us with the front range communities.

Testimony to Redistricting Commission, August 28, 2021 by Dr. Douglas R. Sharp I want to thank you for this opportunity to speak to you today. You are “guardians of the public trust,”(1) and I am encouraged by the mandate that your plan “must preserve whole communities of interest.”(2) Southeastern Colorado Springs is one such community of interest because of its demographics and characteristic features. This part of the city is populated by underserved and economically stressed groups whose community has been overlooked for economic development. According to the Community Investment Trust in Colorado Springs, this part of the city “has not experienced the same degree of economic development that the downtown and northern regions have in the last 5 years.”(3) According to the Statistical Atlas of the United States,4 the population in the southeast is 40% White, 37% Hispanic, 14% Black, 3% Asian, and 5% Mixed and indigenous peoples. With the exception of the white population, the proportion of these other groups is significantly larger in the southeast than the city as a whole. 39% of households are married couples, less than in the city as a whole. 20% of the households are headed by single mothers and 27% of residents live alone. 58% of the residents are employed, lower than the city as a whole, while 7% of residents are unemployed. Fully 30% of the people who live in this area have simply dropped out of the labor force. 25% have a post-secondary degree, half the rate of the city as a whole. 58% have only a high school diploma, a rate 13 points lower than the city as a whole. Across the city, 6% of adults age 25 or over have no high school diploma, but in this section of the city, that is more than doubled to 15%. Population density is 32% higher in the southeast than anywhere else in the city. The median income is 15% lower, and the poverty rate higher, in comparison to the city as a whole. Colorado Springs is proud to be the home of major colleges and universities, five military installations with more than 40,000 active duty personnel, hundreds of defense and cybersecurity contractors and organizations, and the headquarters of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. The city’s leadership is proud that Colorado Springs continually falls among the top of the “Best Places to Live” in the U.S., according to U.S. News and World Report. But the 73,000 people who live in southeast Colorado Springs do not feel or experience much of the benefit of these facts. Rather, they are a “community of interest” who deserve their own voice along with their own advocates and public servants, instead of being partitioned into neighboring communities where the effect of redistricting will mean their voice is diminished. I therefore urge you to discharge your guardianship of trust and redraw the boundaries of this section of Colorado Springs to preserve it as a community of interest. Thank you. Notes 1 Art. V., Sec. 44.2, §(4). 2 Art. V, Sec. 48.1, §(2)(a). 3 Nisarg Shah, Abbas Hasan, Caitlin Nygren, Isabelle McGoey, and Will Forest. Southeast Colorado Springs. Summer 2019. http://www.moreheadcain.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ 2019-Civic-Collab-Colorado-Springs.pdf. Accessed August 25, 2021. 4 The Demographic Statistical Atlas of the United States. https://statisticalatlas.com/ neighborhood/Colorado/Colorado-Springs/Southeast-Colorado-Springs/Overview. Accessed August 25, 2021.