Public Comments

Comments on proposed HD24. See attached paper.

Hello to Our Colorado Redistricting Committee, I am grateful to you for your long hours and hard work. Here are the answers to your questions you had asked me for when I had the privilege of addressing you all at the Golden High School meeting, Aug. 4th , 2021. You had asked me to email you with my comments as to why I believe we must NOT include the cities of Superior and Lewisville in HD 25. Here goes: Ladies and Gentlemen of the CO Redistricting Committee, We must hold to our Colorado Constitution. In two great points, it is a direct violation of our CO Constitution to try to add Superior and Lewisville to HD25.Point one, because they are not contiguous to the mountain communities which comprise HD25. As our Constitution states, any areas attempted to be added to an HD area must be contiguous to the rest of the HD area. The HD areas must be contiguous. Let's look at this in more detail. First, the area in between the mountain communities and the large cities of Superior and Lewisville is an unpopulated  grassland. You had asked me for good dividing lines between the mountain communities and these two large cities. The two good dividing lines to separate HD25 and the large cities of Superior and Lewisville should be Hwy 93 on the west and Hwy 128 on the north. Second point, our CO Constitution says that any areas to be added to an HD must share the same interests or needs. Lewisville and Superior do not share the same interests or needs as the mountain communities of HD25. Let's examine that. The HD25 mountain communities are unique in that we must be concerned with:1) Fire mitigation. We have unsafe ingress/egress into our communities. In case of a fire, that one way out or in could easily become impassible. Remember the tragedy of Paradise, Calif. ? People lost their lives not only in their homes but even more, in their cars while trying to escape. Lewisville and Superior do not even come close to having that as an issue. They do not have drastically limited ingress/egress. 2) Limited natural resources, especially water. Our mountain communities' water supply is very limited and therefore we must prohibit building beyond our water source means. Superior and Lewisville do not even have that issue at all. It is not in their interests or needs. 3) Fire Zone Red. Mountain communities are therefore in the Fire Zone Red. Here is yet another interest/need that Lewisville and Superior do not share with us.4) Think of the State House District Representative having to try to work with this dichotomy. He/she would be drastically torn between two opposites and opposing interests/needs.These are two areas that should not even be considered for the same HD. 5) Superior and Lewisville are two large cities with large city needs/interests. Let's look at the opposing population differences. All of HD25 has only 136 people per square mile. Lewisville and Superior have far more, they have 1,766 people per square mile and are ever growing. 6) The sharing of common interests/needs as our CO Constitution says, just is not there. Therefore, I strongly urge you to consider the disparagingly different interests/needs of the large cities of Superior and Lewisville vs HD25's life threatening needs/interests. I recommend that Superior and Lewisville be put together with Lafayette and cities nearby like them. Thanks very much, Dede Wagner

I am strongly opposed to any redistricting that involves dividing Montezuma County. This has been attempted in the past and didn’t work out for the citizens then,. Please do not divide our county and community!

Comments to the Congressional Redistricting Commission regarding Colorado’s CD3 My name is Becky Herman and I have been a resident of Archuleta County for almost 22 years. My age and my retired status have allowed me to follow the redistricting process since its beginning. After spending more time in analysis than I originally intended, I now feel strongly that the preliminary map for CD3 fails in some ways that can be overcome by thoughtful and careful changes. One more fact that may help you evaluate what I say here is that I am not just speaking for myself; my family, friends and neighbors have offered comments (to my comments), some positive and others less so. Therefore, this compendium of thoughts is not just mine, but an arrangement of conclusions that we have come to collectively. We have looked at several maps for CD3 on the Redistricting Gallery part of your webite, none of them are what we have been looking for. Therefore, we have decided that the one that best agrees with the constitutionally mandated criteria is a map that I have heard called the “Competitive“ map. A copy of that map is attached at the end of this article. We have gathered that Congressional Districts must have, according to law, the exact same number of residents, down to 1 person. On the staff-designed preliminary map, Park, Fremont and Teller Counties have been added into the current CD3 configuration, possibly to add to the CD3 population numbers. But there are problems with these counties since they do not share the western slope’s drought index, or extreme vulnerability to wildfires, among other things. The addition of other counties, as is shown on the Competitive map, can increase the population numbers of CD3 to be more equal with front range districts. Inclusion of these counties (Park, Teller, and Fremont) in CD3 interferes with the fair and effective representation of the Western Slope on Federal public lands policy, Federal Water policy, Federal Housing Policy, and climate policy. Some specifics about the water issues: these issues specifically separate Teller, Park, and Fremont counties from the Western Slope. The entire Western Slope provides water to the front range. Those folks who live here recognize the necessity of sharing the rain and snow that falls here, but counties that profit from the water released by the western slope can hardly be in a community of interest with those counties providing that water. Where I am in Archuleta County, we live and breathe water. We often talk in the mornings about how much water is flowing in the San Juan today; my husband checks the San Juan’s CFS measurement online almost every morning. We need you to know that we carefully watch the Denver channel weather forecasts for snow coming our way, because not just our state relies on that snow, but we are also, in a way, responsible for crops and drinking water for many people in other states in the US and in Mexico. None of my neighbors have lawns; most have xeriscape gardens. This is because of the high value we place on this resource. Note that the SLV has much more in common with the mountainous areas than with the CD4 counties in the new map. The Club20 map keeps the SLV with the Western Slope for the reason I mentioned above and because the high elevation agriculture used by numerous families is critical to both areas. The SLV also fits well into the outdoor character of the rest of the CD3 with its National Park (Great Sand Dunes), a wilderness area, 3 wildlife refuges, and many tourist destinations in the mountains. CD3 encompasses Colorado’s portion of the Rocky Mountains. Adding in carefully selected parts of Boulder, Larimer, and Jefferson Counties is a logical step towards one huge high elevation community of interest. The larger municipal areas of those three counties are not included because they have more in common with urban communities of interest to the East. Mountain states share many of the advantages and disadvantages of life in the mountains. Some communities of interest we share are tourism, outdoor recreation: hiking skiing, wildlife viewing, hunting, fishing, boating, rafting, snowboarding, etc. Tourism is an enormous source of revenue for towns large and small. Hunters and Birders are around every curve on the trail. Pagosa Springs swells with visitors and later shrinks when they go home. Yes, we complain about the traffic but at the same time we are so grateful that outsiders come and go with the seasons. This welcoming spirit towards visitors can be seen all over the mountain states. It pulls us together. Keeping the National Parks and Monuments ( Rocky Mountain National, Great San Dunes, Mesa Verde, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison, to name a few) within the proposed CD3 boundaries allows those places to work together towards fair and equitable legislation and policy decisions made in Congress for all our public lands. And, just as those topics mentioned above pull us together, our common problems do as well. Right now, businesses are reaching out to neighbor counties to advertise that we need workers. The county commissioners tell me that we need housing (Workforce Housing, they call it) for those workers that have too much money to qualify for low-income homes. Workers want to move here but there is no housing. Every county around us has these same problems. Fortunately, it seems that the county governments are working together to get broadband for everyone on the Western Slope. And, right now, to top it all off, we have active wildfires in almost all our surrounding counties. COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST abound within the proposed CD3 boundaries shown on the Competitive map; opportunities for learning to listen to each other and to cooperate with each other bind us together. And finally, the competitiveness of the current CD3 map is rated as having a Republican +6 voter registration. The proposed map is even less competitive with a rating of R+11. That would ensure that a challenger could never oust an incumbent. I reference here section 44.3(3): (3) (a) “Threreafter, the commission shall, to the extent possible, maximize the number of politically competitive districts. (b) In its hearings in various locations in the state, the commission shall solicit evidence in evaluating proposed maps. And from 44.3(4) No map may be approved by the omission or given effect by the Supreme Court if: (a) It has been drawn for the purpose of protecting one or more incumbent members, or one or more declared candidates, of the Unite States House of Representatives or any political party Thank you for reading; we don’t envy your decision-making task. We do appreciate your serving on this commission. Becky Herman

Here is my testimony that I presented at the Durango hearing: Thank you. My name is John Porco and I am a 21 year resident of Archuleta County. I appreciate the opportunity to come before the Legislative Commission today to comment on the preliminary State Senate map. Specifically, I am asking that Archuleta and LaPlata Counties remain in the same Senate District rather than having Archuleta split off to join the San Luis Valley. Archuleta and LaPlata Counties represent common communities of interest in the truest sense. I say this for six reasons, all of which have potential legislative and policy implications First is employment. Numerous residents of Archuleta County work in LaPlata County. On the other hand, some residents of eastern LaPlata County are employed in Pagosa Springs due to our acute shortage of workers. Evidence of this are the morning and evening rush hours on US 160 between the two counties. No similar interchange exists between us and the Valley. The second area is commerce. If I want to buy a car, a front-end loader, an ATV or an RV, the nearest dealers are in LaPlata County. If I need a major appliance, furniture, a computer, a camera, a good watch, a suit, or even a book, it’s usually off to Durango The third area is medical. Pagosa Springs does have a good, small acute care hospital. But for major medical treatment, we rely on Mercy Regional Medical Center and the network of specialists in Durango. For example, my wife has a disabling autoimmune disease. Her rheumatologist is in Durango. Both she and I have age related eye problems. Our ophalmologist is in Durango. I might also note that both counties are served by the same San Juan Basin Health Department. Fourth is water. This a topic of particular interest to me, as I am on the Board of the San Juan Water Conservancy District. Both counties are in the San Juan River basin. The San Juan flows through Archuleta County. But its major tributaries – the Pine River, Animas River, and LaPlata River flow through LaPlata County. Counties to our east are in the Rio Grande River basin. The fifth commonality is the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. The preliminary map splits the reservation into two Senatorial Districts. Finally, is the matter of connectivity. Archuleta and La Plata are united by a web of thoroughfares, from US 160 to dirt county and Forest Service roads. Contrast this with the fact that literally the only connection between Archuleta and the San Luis Valley is over the Continental Divide at 11,000 foot Wolf Creek Pass, a formidable obstacle, particularly in winter. So, Commissioners, I hope you can see that our two counties are joined at the hip. Please keep us in the same Senatorial District. Thanks for your time. I will post a written copy of my testimony on your website.

I'm not a fan of joining Arvada and Douglas counties. As evidenced in the past year, Douglas County and Jefferson County hold opposing views on public health. I'm proud of how Jeffco has handled the pandemic. My child was able to start kindergarten this week only because of the jeffco pho. Without that, we would have kept him home. Thanks for your considerations.

JeffCo and Douglas are not similar in policy or public sentiment. As witness the recent issues regarding simple safety measures like masks to protect our school children and staff. As a parent of a child too young to be vaccinated and an immuno compromised person who cannot work in the schools for a second year now; please don’t further risk the safety of my family by joining our district with any of Douglas county.

These are the comments I intend to submit in person at the public hearing in Woodland Park on August 20. ************** Commission members. Thank you for the opportunity to address you. My name is Mark Sievers. I live in rural Teller county, about 2 miles west of Cripple Creek. I strongly support the proposed changes that place Teller County in House District 34 along with Park and Fremont counties and in Senate District 8, composed largely of rural counties south of here. In my opinion, it is a better fit for Teller County’s community of interest and rural issues than the current legislative districts that combine Teller County with Douglas and El Paso counties. The last time Teller County had a representative in the Colorado House or Senate was 1936 – 85 years ago. Teller County has traditionally been combined with Douglas or El Paso counties, counties with which it shares virtually no community of interest or issues. As a result, our representatives from El Paso and Douglas counties have failed to adequately represent us because their communities of interest in Douglas and El Paso counties are not the issues of rural Teller County. Let me give you just three examples: First, the largest employer and most significant economic driver in Teller County is the casino industry which employs several thousand people in Cripple Creek. The taxes levied on gaming and the regulation of that industry are set by the Gaming Commission, the members of which are appointed by the Governor. The Commission meets mostly in its offices in Golden, which is about 3 hours, one way, away from Teller County, so, as a practical matter, it never receives meaningful public comment from Teller County residents. Also, by Colorado statute, residents of Teller and Gilpin counties are flatly prohibited from being appointed to the Gaming Commission. C.R.S. 12-47.1-301 Drive through Cripple Creek if you have time. There’s lots of construction, but take the time to count the blocks of empty store fronts where casinos have gone out of business. In my opinion, that’s thanks to the absentee management of the Gaming Commission in Golden that never hears, solicits or considers the concerns of Teller County residents. One would think that an elected representative of Teller County would propose legislation that changes that statutory prohibition on Teller County residents from sitting on the Gaming Commission. Someone who lives in Teller or Gilpin counties where casino gambling takes place could provide valuable input to the Gaming Commission since they drive by the empty casinos every day. That, and the Colorado statute banning Teller County residents from representation on the Gaming Commission plainly violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution that elected officials take a personal oath to defend. But, no. Our elected “representatives” from Douglas and El Paso counties have largely been silent on the issue. In spite of repeated demands from Teller County residents for that change, we don’t have enough votes to count in their electoral calculus. They are more concerned with issues that affect Douglas and El Paso counties than those of their Teller County constituents. Second, the next largest employer in the county is mining, particularly the huge open pit gold mine just outside of Cripple Creek that is literally visible from space. That industry, especially the reclamation efforts, is regulated by the Mined Land Reclamation Board. Like the Gaming Commission, there’s never has been a representative from Teller County on that Commission even though it has a direct impact on Teller County. Again, like the Gaming Commission, reclamation of mined land isn’t on the radar screen of Douglas or El Paso counties, so our elected state representatives don’t insist on a representative from Teller County. Finally, as someone who lives in rural Colorado, I can’t get a land line telephone even though my house is only about 1,200’ from a CenturyLink pedestal at the end of a dirt road. CenturyLink receives tens of millions of dollars in universal service subsidies ostensibly to support efforts to provide telephone service to rural areas, but none of that money finds its way to Teller County. And I’m not alone in being left behind in an increasingly digital age. Pleas for help to our Douglas and El Paso representative fall on deaf ears because their community of interest in urban/suburban Douglas and El Paso counties don’t have trouble getting a telephone. Teller County simply gets left behind, again, because Teller County votes don’t count. In my opinion, placing Teller County with other rural counties is a sensible redistricting. I support it. With that, I’m happy to address any questions the Commissioners might have.

I am writing to ask you to please not combine Jefferson and Douglas Counties for any reason. The two counties are vastly different in their values and philosophies, and as a Jefferson County resident, I do not want to be associated with or have the influence of Douglas County changing our already very large county. I have been hugely relieved to have a full mask mandate in Jefferson County, but if we were part of Douglas County, a county not in favor of protecting its vulnerable citizens, everyone I know would be underrepresented and their voices muted. For my family, these masks might mean the difference between life and death as we have immunocompromised family members who are at high risk. Although cheaper, I haven't made the move to Castle Rock just because I do not want any part of Douglas County politics. Please do not combine these two vastly different districts.

Montezuma MUST remain WHOLE and ENTIRE and not divided in any way. thank you for your time Mindy Nelsen