Public Comments

I was born and raised in Pueblo, Colorado. I left for a few years to attending college but then returned. I have always voted. I like the map the staff drew for the legislative seats in Pueblo county. Pueblo currently has 3 house districts and 2 senate districts. I want it to stay that way. Pueblo needs the potential of 3 votes in the house and the potential of 2 votes in the senate. Please don’t change the current preliminary drawing. Thanks for all you’re doing.

I made comments last night in front of the Commission. Here is more information the Commissioners requested about the current and new development in Eastern Adams County that they should be aware of before making their decision. Eastern Adams Co is not as rural as Elbert County, Washington county, Lincoln county, and Morgan County and the majority of Eastern Adams should not be included in CD4. Colorado Air and Spaceport currently have four Aerospace companies from England, Japan, and New Zealand and will start testing Spaceplanes in the next three years. Here is more information about the current and planned land use for the area: https://theaurorahighlands.com/land-plan/ https://aerotropolisrta.org/ https://milehighcre.com/denvers-aerotropolis-on-track-to-reshape-region/ https://casp.konveio.com/our-team https://theaurorahighlands.com/land-plan/ I appreciate the work the commission and staff are doing regarding this very difficult and detailed project. Thank you, Commissioner Eva Henry

I've attached the Colorado's Children's Campaign's public comments. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak last night at the hearing in Brighton, and thank you for your service in working to draw Congressional and state legislative lines that fairly represent our state. Here is the written version of my comments. My name is Julia Marvin and I’m a Thornton City Councilor who represents Ward 2, which is in the southeast part of the city. I’m here today in my personal capacities but with my experience representing communities in the proposed 7th and 8th Congressional districts and proposed House Districts 28, 29, 14 and 15. Growth, water, employment, transportation and environment are some of the main issues that I hear about from residents daily. Regarding the house districts, I have a lot of concerns about lines for the districts in Thornton. I can understand why the dividing lines were 100th going east/west and Colorado going north/south. However, this had the effect of splitting neighborhoods right in the middle. I would recommend that Thornton Parkway, 104th or 120th are the dividing roadway. Going north/south, the dividing line should be either Holly or Quebec. This will fix the issue of neighborhood divisions. It will also keep suburban areas together and the more rural areas together. And it will also help divide the city more closely to align with community transportation, employment and environmental needs. Also to note, In the south part of Thornton, we have about 36% Latino population, and the way the maps are drawn currently, it dilutes their influence by splitting up Thornton into so many districts. Finally, in regards to state house districts, I ask that you reconsider the portion of Thornton that you have put in the proposed HD 15. This district stretches out through Commerce City, east of the airport, and over into a small corner of Thornton. The neighborhoods east of Colorado Blvd and West of McKay Road are suburban areas. They should be included in the districts that contain the rest of Thornton, as they are much more similar demographics and interests, including education, transportation, employment and water needs. We don’t have much in common with Eastern Adams county, as it is more rural. For the Congressional District, I submitted a letter about this earlier, but wanted to mention that I propose a 7th Congressional District incorporating all of Jefferson County with Highlands Ranch and a small portion of Adams County for population balance and an 8th District comprising a significant portion of Adams County, Broomfield County in its entirety, and the heavily Latino portions of Weld County, including Greeley. The two maps reflect communities of interest such as Latinos, aerospace, oil and gas, high-growth, education, gun violence prevention, and transportation areas as described during public testimony and online public comment. The population of these districts is within a deviation of 100 people giving the commission the ability to narrow to the needed single person deviations.

The current proposal for redistricting is a bad idea, and would take away the voice and fair representation from a large number of people in our more rural areas. Please do not go forward with the redistricting as it is proposed.

Please see the attached official public comment on behalf of the City of Black Hawk. Thank you.

I testified in person at the Commerce City meeting on Aug. 24, representing myself. My commentary was in being concerned with the northern boundary of Senate 29 as proposed, in that it doesn't include the entirety of the northern parts of Thornton. That northern boundary ends at 136th Avenue, while the remainder of Thornton to the north continues all the way to 168th Avenue. And that portion north of 136th is even additionally split up between Senate Districts 30 and 31 as proposed, so the common interests of Thornton's northernmost residents and businesses will be further fractured. One of the commissioners in attendance thanked me for my commentary and suggested I write a written proposal as well. I cannot comment on what would be the legal or procedural issues that the Legislative Commission is bound by. I consider this a respectfully submitted suggestion to be considered, assuming there is further redrawing of the Senate districts after testimony is complete. Senate 29 as proposed does attempt to keep much of Thornton together, including being drawn around the eastern city limits of Northglenn. But I contend that northern Thornton and southern are distinctly different communities despite the city boundaries. The areas north of 136th share many common interests with those south of it, including issues of commerce, community planning, infrastructure, oil and gas development, and quality of life. At a minimum, Senate 29 should be drawn to include all of Thornton north of 120th Avenue. Senate 29 as proposed has a narrow (less than one mile) corridor at 104th Avenue connecting the northern third or so of the district with areas significantly south and west, all the while wrapping entirely around Northglenn. Having lived in and traveled through these neighborhoods including Northglenn, I can say without a doubt that the southern portion of Senate 29 plus Northglenn would not only be a contiguous and compact district, but homogenous as well, and would be better served to have its own representation. In Senate 29/30/31 as proposed, the northern part of Thornton would be split between three Senate districts. In each of them, the area's needs and concerns would be easy to ignore. It was not part of my in-person testimony, but I have been acquainted since then with the maps drawn up and submitted to the Commission by the Colorado Farm Bureau. Their Senate map very aptly combines the communities of common interest that I'm addressing here, and I endorse it. While it is difficult to draw competitive maps that are also compact and contiguous within cities, it appears to me they have done a creditable job. Their version of the Senate district in my neighborhood in particular looks very logical and appropriate.

I've lived in western Adams County for the past 11 years. Prior to that, I lived in northwest Denver for 9. My sense is that the proposed map of Congressional District 8 is largely on the mark, as a district composed of suburban Adams, Broomfield, and the exurban north I-25 corridor, all of which are growing rapidly & also have a large Latinx population. How this district takes its final shape at the northern end is the concern of others, but as to the southern Adams County portion, I have several concerns. First is the splitting of Commerce City into two CDs. This makes no sense, as all of Commerce City has the suburban character of Adams County. Additionally, there is already an at-times difficult dynamic of Original Commerce City--older, heavily Latinx, and containing all the commerce--with the newer portion north of 96th to Reunion. This city does not need a Congressional split enhancing that dynamic. In general, suburban Adams should be enfolded into one district, rather than two districts as it is now. Having personal and professional connections to Arvada, my sense is that it is a core JeffCo community that should remain in CD7. Minimizing the splitting of JeffCo makes sense, with legitimate arguments for maintaining or splitting portions of Arvada & Westminster based on county vs school district lines. More pertinently to the guidelines, Arvada does not share a key community of policy interest with the rest of the proposed district, and that is the impact of fracked oil & gas on local communities in northern Adams, Broomfield, and southwestern Weld. Regardless of how different people feel about the issue, the geographical location of the Wattenberg Gas Field binds these communities, and makes a better argument for more of southwest Weld and potentially Longmont than Arvada. Regarding the proposed state legislative maps, it's my understanding that some of these are faulty in Adams County in particular & require a complete reworking to comply with Constitutional requirements, so I have little comment on the initial proposal at this time, other than concern that districts might be drawn in ways that either split or pack Latinx communities and dilute the chances for representation.

After listening to the discussion tonight in Brighton, it appears that my comments I made in writing last night, that Douglas County does not have common issues in Jefferson or Arapahoe County and therefore, to keep it whole--put it in CD4 totally. Arapahoe and Adams are much more like in many areas....and the currently 7th cd should be kept as close to the current district. As I have previously testified, CD6 needs to wholly within Arapahoe county and where possible, Adams County.

Hello, my name is Tai Hunt 4934 Hooker St. Denver, CO 80221 I have lived in Denver for over 6 years, and I run my own company, Locally Hyped. We help small business owners get their names and products to the consumers. I am also the President of the nonprofit Asain Corporate Entrepreneurs Leaders Denver Chapter. Today, I represent my organization, the Asian Pacific Islander community, and myself as a resident of Denver / Denver County. 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? That’s how I really felt last week! But this week, I started digging and using a health equity data platform called the Colorado Equity Compass. I was able to identify neighborhoods (based on Census tracts) where Asians made up more than 10% of the population, up to 21%! I’m referring to the area in Centennial / District 6, along Arapahoe Road between I-25 and Parker Road, and along Parker Road from I225 to Lincoln Avenue (in the City of Parker). Based on my community knowledge, I know we have more representation here because many Asian, specifically Chinese, families intentionally move to the Cherry Creek School District. 13% of the students at Cherry Creek High School are Asian. And this may not seem like a large percentage at all, but to the Asian community, it is! Further south into Douglas County, there are also higher Asian populations in the northern parts of Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, and Parker. Currently, the proposed Congressional District 6 ends at the southern boundary of the County Line, which follows the bounds of Arapahoe County. However, I’d like to propose redrawing 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. I’m out of time, but other considerations include our Korean community in Aurora, the Hmong community in Westminster, and the Vietnamese community in Denver. Thank you for your time!!