Public Comments

I noticed the link map link I included in the public comment I just submitted does not load the map. Below is a corrected link for the map. Map Link: https://davesredistricting.org/join/ef795861-c391-4bb0-b4c9-d733543f26b0

My name is Lucia Guzman. Thank you for the opportunity to submit the following testimony. Though I am retired , i had the pleasure of serving our great state as the Democratic Senate Minority Leader for two years. During that time, i travelled to all parts of Colorado and have come to appreciate the diversity Colorado shares across the state. I remain deeply committed to my community , State Senate district 34, and the Latino community across Colorado. There is nothing more important than how all people are adequately represented in our democracy. Your charge is to draw 8 congressional districts using communities of interest based on federal legislative policy. I am submitting a map for your consideration. The following is the context for my map. Thank you for your consideration. CD1: Keeps Denver whole, with only enough cut off to balance the population. CD2: Keeps Boulder and Larimer Counties together CU and CSU both have similar interests as Colorado's largest research universities Both Counties have shared interests regarding the management of Rocky Mountain National Park Rural Boulder and Larimer County have shared interests regarding wildfire mgt CD3: Joins key Hispanic communities across Colorado, including Pueblo, the San Luis Valley and the Roaring Fork The district is minority influenced with the district being over a quarter Hispanic/Latino CD4: Keeps the Eastern Plains together, uniting key rural and agricultural interests For population balance this district picks up Greeley as well as the majority of Douglas County, with the exclusion of the Aurora portions CD5: Keeps El Paso county as whole as possible The rural eastern third of El Paso county is joined with the Eastern Plains CD6: Keeps Aurora whole in a single congressional district Keeps western Arapahoe county together CD7: Picks up Jefferson county portions of Bel Mar, Columbine and Littleton in order to pick up population and to keep these cities whole CD8: Keeps key Hispanic/Latino communities in the northern front range together, creating a Hispanic/Latino influenced district. The district is 34.7 percent Hispanic. Joins many of the northern front range communities that have experienced rapid growth over the past decade and are predicted to continue to grow at a rapid rate unites many communities that rely upon the I-25 corridor, all of which share similar federal transportation priorities includes all of Westminster, resulting in CD8 picking up a portion of Jefferson County. Map Link: https://davesredistricting.org/join/ef795861-c391-4bbO-b4c9-d733543f26bO

August 28, 2021 Re: Remote Presentation in Colorado Springs Hello Commissioners, My name is Pamela Shaddock. I live in Greeley, Colorado currently in the 4th Congressional District (CD). I am a retired attorney, community activist and I served for almost 6 years as a Greeley City Council Woman. Thereafter, I was the Northeast Regional Director of Senator Mark Udall’s team in Colorado, where I served as his liaison with 11 counties. These Counties were in their entirety Larimer, Weld, Logan, Sedgwick, Phillips, Morgan, Yuma, Washington, Lincoln, Kit Carson, and Cheyenne—essentially most of the Eastern Plains. I have attended hundreds of local meetings on behalf of the Senator. Much of my knowledge is historical, but I have 3 points that may help you as you examine the criteria to determine the big issues facing various areas in our State. First, the City of Greeley belongs in what your staff map references as CD 8. Greeley, Fort Collins, and Loveland together are interdependent. All of them are in region 4 of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). Your staff will be able to access the reports from CDOT showing the hundreds, if not thousands, of daily trips occurring between and among this Tri-City, rapidly urbanizing, region, known locally as Northern Colorado. From those reports you will be able to envision not only the joint infrastructure needs, but also the joint education, business development, water, energy, and other issues facing this soon-to-be megalopolis. The documents speak for themselves. Moreover, Greeley bring an important component of minority considerations to this potential CD with at least 35% of the population being of Latino descent. Second, certain cities AND the Eastern Plains belong together in a Congressional District. Clearly, the county seats throughout the Eastern Plains belong with their associated county with the exception of Greeley, as noted above. However, with climate change and renewable energy being on the forefront of federal concerns and with local climate disaster occurring almost daily, the economic and renewable energy issues facing of our nation reflect an important community of interest. Windsor, Castle Rock and Pueblo are the cities which address these critical problems by producing wind turbines, and the Eastern Plains provide the geographic location of our wind farms. Please review the additional information for details. For instance, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory studied the economic impact of Colorado wind energy development. https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy19osti/73659.pdf. (The Study) Most of the Counties studied were in my area as Regional Director and CSU is located in the Tri-City region referenced above. The Study found that persons employed in the construction phase of wind energy farms earned $80,000, on average, in 2017. Id. at 20. These jobs and other related jobs, like maintenance, will help populate the rural areas, which often suffer population loss over the long term. The jobs that are created in supply services of turbines and supply-chain-related materials – in other words, the manufacturing sector – produced annual incomes of $64,000 a year in 2017. In contrast, the average earnings for a Colorado worker in the same year was $55,300. These aren’t just jobs of the future; they produce income levels that are 15-25% higher than the average job. So they are also bridges to better lives for these workers and their families. The biggest players in the supply chain are in Pueblo, where CS Wind manufactures the towers, and in Windsor, where Vestas manufactures the blades that power the turbine engines. Each of those plants employs about 500 people. Critical manufacturers are elsewhere in the state as well and abutting the Eastern Plains. In Castle Rock, for instance, Aluwind Corporation is located in Douglas County where it manufactures the necessary structural internal components of wind towers. Aluwind employs about 15% of the workforce in Pueblo or Windsor. But NREL specifically studied the economic impact of that company, noting that its impact regional as well as local. NREL found, “Aluwind’s operations support a multiplier effect in the supply chain,” pointing to such downstream economic benefits like its use of companies from Pueblo and Colorado Springs to transport product to Vestas and to fashion aluminum brackets for use in wind towers. Id. at 31. What do these facilities mean for Colorado farmers on the eastern plains? According to a nonprofit group, The Western Way: By 2024, wind energy facilities will provide farmers, ranchers, and other landowners on Colorado’s eastern plains with $15.2 million in annual lease payments, up from an estimated $7.5 million in 2016. The total direct and indirect benefits in Colorado of annual renewable energy operations in the eastern plains will be an estimated $388.6 million in total output ($214.6 million direct output + $174 million indirect and induced output). https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5734cf71b6aa60fb98e91bf2/t/5f1b13c3e1572c0fdbb96450/1595610056236/Final_TWW_Pro-15_Action+22_Eastern+CO+Renewables+Impact_July+2020+FINAL.pdf at ii. Colorado wind towers – and the Eastern Plains landowners who depend on local manufacturing facilities (the three I’ve mentioned in particular) – are interlinked parts of an alternative energy source that we need for a healthy economic and energy future. Third, on the State Level—keeping House District 50 in Greeley and Evans serves important purposes both in terms of community of interest and in terms of competitiveness. Extending the borders of District 50 to the East or West in Greeley and Evans to achieve your population goal is not as important, as realizing that this district should encompass School District 6, the Greeley/Evans School District, which it does now. Per the School District website, 62% of the student population of 23000 students identifies as Hispanic. By diluting the voting base of Hispanics in the staff map regarding the new HD 64, you divide the School District, so important programs about embracing diversity may well be lost. Also, House District 50 is one of the few competitive house districts in the entirety of Weld County. Thank you for taking on the challenge of doing this important work and seeking to hear the many voices throughout the State. Pamela A. Shaddock 516 N. Brisbane Avenue Greeley, Colorado 80634 970.381.5180 pamshaddock@comcast.net

This map places the priority on competitiveness above all else except population equality. The largest population deviation on this is 83 people. Competitiveness definitions: +/- 4% for either party = competitive 4-7% in favor of a party = leaning 8%+ in favor of a party = safe This map: CD1 safe D (D+37) CD2 competitive (R+3) CD3 competitive (D+1) CD4 safe R (R+19) CD5 safe R (R+22) CD6 competitive (D+2) CD7 competitive (R+1) CD8 leaning R (R+6)

The attached comment and linked map is submitted on behalf of Colorado Common Cause.

Attached, to be included in the web attachments section of Public Comments, is a new map for a Southern Colorado congressional district, based on 2020 census data. This map, built on a Southern Colorado Water Basins (SCWB) Community of Interest, was initially submitted to the Commission on April 8, 2021, using 2010 census data. The complete SCWB proposal may be found on the redistricting site's emailed public comments. The map itself may be viewed at https://davesredistricting.org/join/234fa0fb-e44f-4326-912d-3bbf9d86d5bd.

I request that there are no or minor change to the redistricting for HD 18 and SD 11 for the following reasons. Manitou Springs community interests are significantly different than the Air Force Academy (AFA) and Monument. Manitou Springs is an arts, outdoor activities, and tourist community and the Air Force Academy is clearly not that. Any there are not key community interests in Monument either. Manitou Springs is located at the base of Pikes Peak and is a mountain community. We have much different geographic issues than the AFA or Monument. Issues like wildfire, homelessness living in the mountains, housing, new development, flooding... Manitou Springs has more in common regarding public policy (air quality, tourist traffic, environment...) with the west side of Colorado Springs, Colorado College area and North end of Colorado Springs than with the AFA or Monument.

As a resident of Jamestown, Colorado, a statutory town incorporated under the laws of Colorado, I am grateful for the opportunity to comment on the preliminary congressional maps offered for public comment. The preliminary maps separate the Town of Jamestown, other incorporated mountain communities and parts of unincorporated Boulder County from the rest of Boulder County by placing them in the Third Congressional District. Jamestown residents shop, go to work, send our children to school, obtain medical services and rely on the infrastructure of Boulder County in order to maintain themselves. Due to our proximity, Jamestown is truly part of the Boulder County community. Once a mining town, the mines have all closed and left a legacy of waste and pollution that threatens the James Creek and Lefthand Creek watershed and the town's municipal water supply. Unlike communities on the Western Slope, Jamestown has no nearby ski resorts or any other attractions and we are not a tourist attraction. There are no nearby lumbering or sawmills or operating mines. The town has suffered five serious (100yr) floods since being incorporated in 1883. The latest in 2013 costing the lives of citizens and causing over $25 million in property and infrastructure damage. The county and our representatives of the Second Congressional District understand this in a way that persons living and representing western Colorado cannot. Jamestown is thirty minutes from Boulder or Longmont. One hour to Denver. We are part of the "Front Range" and experience the same growth, housing, water, medical, recreational and overcrowding issues as the greater community. Removing us from that greater community would be a disservice both to ourselves and those who we would be joining. Please, consider these comments seriously. The proposed redistricting is a bad deal for Jamestown. Please don't do it. Kenneth Lenarcic Former Trustee and Mayor of Jamestown Board Member, Lefthand Watershed Center Member, (Boulder County) Intermountain Alliance

Hello, my name is Quyen Nguyen. I moved to Denver ~3 years ago from Washington, DC. When I first arrived, one of the most glaring differences between here and there was the lack of diversity. It was refreshing when I found the pockets of Vietnamese restaurants and shops. Then I discovered the pockets in Aurora and Englewood. It gave me hope for a future where there is more diversity here in Denver. When reviewing the maps, it was difficult to understand the impacts redistricting would have on Asian communities. Why? Because we only make up 4% of the state of Colorado. In many neighborhoods, our population is less than that. So why would it matter if we were 2.8%, 3.6 or 0.9 of a district? And yes these are the percentages we’d make up based upon the proposed districts - only 0.9% in District 3 for example. So why does any of this matter to our community? Because the redistricting will strip away our voice as an important constituent for our state representatives. The health equity data platform, the Colorado Equity Compass, shows neighborhoods (based on Census tracts), where Asians made up more than 10% of the population, up to 21%! State House District 1 in Denver | The new proposed State House District 1 and 2 effectively splits Little Saigon. Although there are not large populations of AA’s here, there are a ton of AA businesses and workers that commute to this area. AA’s depend on Little Saigon for their preservation of culture and financial livelihoods. To keep Little Saigon in one district, the proposed northern boundary of District 1 currently along W Exposition Avenue and W Center Avenue can be moved up to W Alameda Avenue. Alternatively, the proposed southern boundary of District 2 can be moved down from W Exposition Avenue and W Center Avenue to W Mississippi Avenue. Similarly, the proposed Congressional District 6 will strip our ability to have a stake as a significant enough constituent. The proposed district ends at the southern boundary of County Line which follows the bounds of Arapahoe County. Please redraw this district to include neighborhoods south of County Line / C-470 with the cutoff being along Lincoln Avenue or Ridgegate Parkway. This would help keep our Asian families in this area together who have shared cultural interests and educational aspirations. Please hear our voices and allow us to have a fair stake in being represented. Thank you. Respectfully, Quyen

Voting is for US Citizens only. Since the Democrats made sure that the question of who was a citizen and who wasn't didn't appear on the Census, how can you be sure that you are redistricting based on actual voters? Doesn't sound fair or ethical to me.