Public Comments

August 14, 2021 To Whom It May Concern: Thank you for allowing us to come forward and voicing our opinions concerning this state’s redistricting actions. I have lived in Weld County 66 out of my 67 years of life. I value the traditions of the farming and ranching. I have lived on my family farm for over 50 years and have enjoyed country and small town living. I moved here from Littleton, with my parents, when I was three months old and have continued to live here for most of my life. I attended school in the Weld Valley RE-1 School District and received my bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado and received my Master’s degree in later years. I was a teacher’s aide in the Adams 14 School District for two years, and spent one year teaching in the Fort St. Vrain School District for one year and then spent 22 years teaching in the Weld RE-1 School District. So, having some experience with the metro area and their concerns, especially when it came to education, I have come to value the life I have led in a smaller community. As I understand it, parts of Weld County are being considered in a move that would include us in parts of the metro area district. Since Weld County is known for its gas/oil and agricultural base, I am leery of representatives not truly representing those of us who support these industries. I worry about the metro areas taking what’s left of our water rights, our mineral rights, and our property rights. Although my family no longer farms our land, we still live on the farmland itself. We lease our land to friends that continue farming and ranching. Over the years we have seen the destruction of irrigation pumps that watered our farm to depending on ditch water rights that comes from the Platte River. Fortunately for us, we are one of the first farms to receive water from the ditch, which gives us enough water to irrigate our land. Those further down the ditch must depend on those of us who receive water first to receive their fair shares of water. Using only the water from the ditches meant that we had to excavate a large pond in order to use the now use the expensive pivots for watering our land. There are parts of a productive land area that cannot be farmed now since the pivots don’t reach the outer edges of our farm. Will those that represent the city truly care about our concerns? In the 1970s, the gas and oil industry reached out to many farmers and landowners to begin drilling productions. My parents thought this was a good idea and allowed production to begin. It was a good decision for our family as most of my brothers and sisters had grown up and moved away to cultivate their own careers and growing families. Since then, we have learned that we sat on one of the most productive gas and oil reservoirs in the state. With our current legislators and governor, we have concerns that no one will listen to our concerns. We learned in the last state election that we had a governor who said he supported gas and oil, then turn around and make getting permits difficult for new wells. Is that what we’ll get as those who say they’ll represent us truly represent us? Our property is considered agricultural. Our property taxes were generally low and most family farms survived on the incomes of the produce that was harvested. Many family farms have been sold because of decisions made for us without much input from us. We have seen an increase in property taxes, and yes, I understand that. Our communities are growing at a rapid pace, and that means we all must pay higher taxes. We see towns and municipalities incorporating agricultural lands into their growth plans, and suddenly we see signs all around us that we are now in a new community, no longer just part of the county. Growth seems to be out of control. In all the years of my youth and young adulthood, I never thought I would see housing and shopping centers pop up in lands that used to be farmed. While the shopping is definitely more convenient, it is also very destructive to the farmland that we know and love. We have “Californicated” Colorado. I am sad about that. Will we see our farms now become incorporated into the metro area, being represented by those who know nothing about our concerns? I am sure there is much more to be concerned about, and I will most likely think of those things in the future. For now, my highest priorities are to keep my community within the hands of those who know and understand the workings of a rural community. Thank you for your time and effort in reading my concerns. If you would like to contact me, I will try to avail myself for any questions or concerns you may have. Most sincerely, Lois K. Reitz 10898 County Road 28 Fort Lupton, CO 80621 Email: reitz.lois@gmail.com Cell: (970) 301-2517

These are the comments I made at the hearing in Longmont, on Tuesday, August 10th. Hi, I’m Peggy Reed, from Broomfield County. When legislative and congressional districts were established in 2010, Broomfield had several communities of interest, including transportation, taxes, and business development. Because Broomfield is a city, and the smallest county in Colorado at 33 square miles, our representation needs to reflect our interests, and not be lost due to a legislative district that isn’t representative. Our current state senate district, SD 23, includes Broomfield, but most of the voters reside in Weld County. Many areas of Weld County are agricultural and rural, in nature and desire. These are areas of active oil and gas production and are not viable in a suburban setting. Broomfield may have fit better into this district, before 2010, but growth and development has changed common interests where they no longer match. Because of the majority of Weld County voters in SD23, the interests of Broomfield have not been advanced or even represented. Due to Broomfield’s location and 30% growth over the last 10 years, issues that affect rural counties do not align well with Broomfield, particularly oil and gas development. Rural counties are interested in agricultural policy, and have different transportation and health care needs. Broomfield shares common and economic interests with neighboring communities that are not identical, but are primarily suburban residential areas such as Lafayette, Louisville, Erie, Superior, and Westminster. Our current house district, HD 33 also maintains the Broomfield city and county boundaries. Small portions of other neighboring communities are currently included, but due to the growth in Broomfield, it’s no longer necessary to include other communities for a house district. JD 17 includes Broomfield, but is the only instance where Broomfield is paired with Adams County. That appears to be a historical legacy from the period before Broomfield became a separate entity, and a more geographically compact district with neighboring communities might encourage cooperation and advancing opportunities with neighbors. Broomfield residents are best served by keeping Broomfield in a single district and being included in a district that is suburban. Population 2010 Census: 55,889 Population 2020 Census: 72,747 Growth in ten years: 30.16%

Do not put Boulder Counties western mountains communities in a district with communities on the west side of the divide

The presentation of the current CD3 map is a proposal of completely opposite representation for the communities that have been defined by the map. If I were a Representative for such a district it would be impossible to serve my constituents being that the continuity is not present. In order to represent one interest, I would be totally against or harming the concerns for other constituents. It has taken Glenwood Springs out on its Roaring Fork school district which includes Carbondale and Basalt, and from a shared economic environment and placed them in a totally different school district as well as economic environment. There is no relationship between the proposed changing in this situation. Like wise the same applies to the addition of Boulder County being added to the CD3 district. You are talking about a major issue WATER that a Representative would be unable to serve their constituents. The splitting up of Delta county and placing them with communities of different economic interest is wrong for the same reasons that I have identified above. Thank you for your concern, time, and attention to these changes.

I am following up on the public testimony I presented at the July 17 hearing in Fort Collins and submitting a written comment as requested by the commissioners. Boulder and Larimer Counties should be kept together in the new congressional map. Many of the issues I discuss with residents as the Larimer County Commissioner demonstrate the shared interests we have with Boulder and the other foothill and mountain communities. Flash floods, wildfires, and wildlife are common concerns for residents of both Boulder and Larimer Counties, as I recently heard when meeting with residents of Glen Haven. Policy around land management is also a shared concern, which I have seen through the land management program I work on in collaboration with Gilpin and Boulder Counties. Rocky Mountain National Park, which spans across both Boulder and Larimer counties, offers a specific example of these shared concerns. The park has seen a 50% increase in visitors since the beginning of the decade – with over 4.6 million visitors in 2019 – which is putting stress on infrastructure and transportation in the region. RMNP was also part of the area burned by the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire, Colorado’s largest forest fire on record. As our region becomes increasingly reliant on additional federal funding, keeping Larimer and Boulder counties together is important to ensuring that RMNP can secure the resources needed to accommodate the ever-growing number of visitors and address the wildfire risk that threatens our region.

Commission;Thank you for your efforts. I find it problematic with your maps. The issue of community of interest. This occurs when you include north metro Denver with agricultural based mid Weld County. It is disingenuous for one to think urban Denver would not grow exponentially faster than rural Weld County thereby negating any concerns rural Weld County would be able to present in the future. County lines should stay recognizing Weld County as one of the original 16 counties with established community interest, recognized as a whole,I.e.Eastern Colorado, Western Colorado, City of Denver. Another example is why the small town of LaSalle in half? That does not seem to benefit the residents when coming together as a community but inserts an unnecessary wedge. Residents are looking to live in a more urban area or more open agricultural area by design but are not wanting their voices silenced. These areas do not seem to include seem to include the unaffiliated voters who by design not wish to be aligned with the extremism of either Republican or Democrat parties. Thank you for your consideration.

I see Jefferson county is split into multiple districts. Our portion has been sliced off and added to district 6 which contains large portions of Aurora and other urban areas. The communities of unincorporated JeffCo are not a good fit with these large urban areas. In the spirit of keeping communities together Jefferson county should be kept whole if possible.

Our family has farmed outside of Eaton for generations. My concern is that so much development is occurring and greed for land and water that the importance of agriculture and feeding our state, nation and world is being overlooked. The current demographic of Weld County has understood our needs. My hope is that as you redistrict you will take into account that agriculture in the state of Colorado is literally fighting for survival. We cannot be swallowed up into a conglomeration of big city wants and needs. Thank you for listening.

As a longtime resident of Platteville CO (8065)for 25 years I am strongly opposed to the current proposed layout of Congressional District 8. Our community and surrounding communities have a large part of our social and economic structure that is based in Farming, and Ranching, with an additional large presence in Energy. If the intent of the Redistricting Committee is an effort to keep various types of like minded communities with similar intrests together then the current proposed layout which groups Platteville in with communities as far south as Thornton, Broomfield, and even Aravada just doesn't make sense. It would actually prouduce the opposite effect of the desired outcome and intent of the redistricting concept. I believe Platteville and nearby communities like Ft Lupton, Gilcrest, LaSalle, ect would be better represented if grouped with other like minded communities with similar intrests, such as communities more to the north and east such as Greeley, Eaton, Ault, Kersey, Hudson, and Lockbuie. I believe the southern border of our district should be no further south than the south Weld County line, and border to the east be drawn at County road 49 all the way south to the south Weld County line. The west line could be drawn at I-25 or slightly to the east of I-25 as the current proposed map shows. The north line can go as far as the State line, and Northern most section of Weld County. In all fairness I think this recamendation would much better serve the communities of Platteville, and surrounding areas. Thank you for your time and consideration of my suggestions. Sincerely, Curt Elmore, Platteville CO.

Lauren Boebert's association with militias and conspiracy theories, her misinformed anti-vax tweets, her rants against welfare (while counties in Colorado with the highest unemployment rate in the state are all in her district), her alignment with Senate Republicans in challenging the results of the 2020 election, her support of insurrectionists attacking the US Capitol, attacking police officers, vandalizing historic property, and taking selfies in the House Speaker’s chair, and her naive understanding of how to govern is not representative of my values nor the values of the many folks who live in Western Boulder County now being considered to be merged into her congressional district. Earlier this year, a petition signed by more than 32,000 Coloradans, called for her resignation after just two weeks in office. Her attention-seeking stunts (including, but not limited to, her combativeness with reporters on live television, tweeting out information about some lawmakers’ locations during the siege at the Capitol, and the standoffs at the metal detectors), rather than doing the actual work of legislating, represent her own self-interests and not those of the people in the mountain communities of Western Boulder County. Our primary community interests, schools, and tax dollars are in Boulder County, not the western slope. We recently suffered a mass shooting in our county (days after automatic gun restrictions were lifted) in which many lives, including a police officer's, were lost.....I am not interested in her GLOCK or lack of background checks and sensible gun laws.