Public Comments

Would rather not be part of Laplata county . Leave the district like it is. Stop trying to change voting districts.

I do not want Douglas county to be joined up with jeffco county school districts because Douglas county does not share the same values that jeffco does

NO NO NO NO NO This is a horrible idea!

This is a bad idea. Leave good enough alone. Stop this. Who came up with this bright idea. A Liberal maybe.

It will completely destroy the vote of montezuma county to divide it in half. I am vehemently opposed to breaking up the county.

Your plan to split montezuma county in half is not logical. Why not split lap plata county in half. Pretty much in a nice way leave it alone.

I am vehemently opposed to the redistricting of Montezuma County. I don't think there is any reason to split Montezuma County. Who would benefit from this. The portion going to La Plata County would make we who live in Montezuma County be overwritten in any public funds, elections or anything subject to public election, comments or funding. Leave us alone! We don't need to be divided for any reason! I think that if there were to be any division, it should be the entire State of Colorado to be divided into two states... West Slope Colorado, and Front Range Colorado. Leave Montezuma County the way it is now.

These comments relate to the proposed Congressional redistricting as it is applied to the area bounded on the west by Interstate 25 and Larimer County Road 5 (Fairgrounds Parkway) on the east by Weld County Road 13 (Larimer County Road 1) on the north by Highway 392 and on the south by Crossroads Boulevard. Within this area there are several neighborhoods, some within the Town limits of Windsor and some outside the Town limits but in Larimer County. The current proposed redistricting would split this area in two; it appears this is based on Windsor town limits. The Larimer County areas remain in District 2, while those within the Town limits are moved to District 4. We believe that this proposed change is not appropriate or fair to the residents of this area for two reasons. This area results in inconsistency when two Commission criteria are applied as in the proposed redistricting map. The first criterion is to keep contiguous areas together. The second criterion at issue here is to keep “communities,” such as counties, cities and towns, together. When the community criterion is applied using Town boundaries, which it appears that the Commission is proposing, only one of these criteria can be met. However, if the community boundary is applied at the county level, then it is possible to meet both criteria simultaneously. There are a couple of reasons why we believe that the County level is the appropriate way to proceed. Prior to the recent construction of the Rain Dance development the closest community to our area was a half a mile or more away; hardly a contiguous community. As brought up by several participants in the August 14th Public Hearing, southeastern Larimer County has little in common with Weld County. Virtually the entirety of District 4 is rural in nature. The area of Larimer County proposed to move into District 4, is within or directly adjacent to the I-25 Corridor. (In previous growth and planning studies the I-25 Corridor was defined as one mile either side of I-25.) This area is very much urban/suburban in nature rather than rural. The area proposed for moving virtually surrounds the Larimer County Fairgrounds and Budweiser Event Center. There is also a development partially completed referred to as the Brands which, when completed, will encompass major retail and entertainment venues on both sides of I-25. (In the event that the commission feels it is necessary to pull some residents into District 4, we encourage the Commission to look elsewhere.) Another important factor that ties Western Windsor to Larimer County is schools. Most, if not all, of this area is served by Loveland’s Thomson R2J and Fort Collins’ Poudre R1 school districts. This is a very strong tie linking our area to Larimer County and Congressional District 2. In summary, while those of us within the Town limits who reside in Larimer County are Windsor residents, the community relationship to the Town is significantly different than the community relationship to Larimer County. There is clearly a much stronger affinity to our neighbors in Larimer County. Another vexing frustration for us is that after the 2010 census the district boundaries were redrawn along the Larimer-Weld County line, moving some of us from District 4 to District 2. Now, if the existing proposal stands, we will be moved back into District 4. It is not fair to move us back and forth every ten years. We need stability and should remain in District 2. There is one additional factor to consider when evaluating the final boundary. We compared the Congressional Redistricting map to the Legislative Maps for the state house and senate. The legislative maps for this area are different. The state house map appears identical to the Congressional map, while the senate map retains the existing boundary at the county line. This is a clear precedent for retaining the Congressional boundary along the same line as the state senate, as both are larger districts than the state house. Finally, this proposed redistricting presents appearance issues. Congressional boundaries should not be subject to the vagaries of municipal annexation. Also, if someone unfamiliar with the background were to look at this map, he would likely view this map as a poster child for gerrymandered district boundaries. While we understand how this proposal may have come about, we believe that it is a better solution to leave the boundary unchanged. (I have not submitted maps because what we are requesting is already modelled on the Legislative Senate map)

Douglas County should not be added to Jefferson County district since the constituents are very different. One example is the recent public health mask mandate made by Tri-county health that the Douglas County school district decided to not follow, whereas the Jefferson County school district did comply with county health initiatives. Lakewood, Golden, and Arvada have a much more diverse constituency with very different needs, including access to public transportation, food banks, and low-income housing, none of which have been priorities for Douglas County. Douglas County voters more closely align with constituents to the south, so they should be included with that district, not Jefferson County.

Montezuma County being split would cause extreme issues with neighboring communities, voting and property purchasing. As a real estate agent this creates extreme issues as property owners coming here are moving to Montezuma County for a reason and that alone will limit those seeking what they are looking for in the Montezuma County district. Please do not split this County.