Public Comments

I testified at the public hearing in Grand Junction on July 30, 2021. This is a summation and a few more points that I wanted to make. (I always give my best speeches in the pickup on my way home from an event) See attached map for proposal. I am concerned that the western part of Delta County could be separated from the great part of Mesa County. From my perspective, it is important that these rural areas be left intact, as they currently are. With Fruita at about 14,000 residents, and Delta with about 10,000 residents, that leaves the two areas very compatible with logical connections. The more rural communities in both Counties have similar interets, as well. Connecting the two Counties doesn’t allow one area to over ride the other, but still allows the rural concerns of both to be addressed by the representative. This has worked well for both counties for the last 50 years. The eastern end of Delta County has similar interests with the Roaring Fork Valley. Shared Interests Delta and Mesa Counties have significant connections: Grand Mesa – This iconic geological formation is so important for both counties; economically, aesthetically, and culturally. The small communities on either side of the Grand Mesa have similar issues and concerns, making it important for the same representative to connect with both. Agriculture – Orchards, wine grapes and making, Cattle and Sheep ranching operations sometimes overlap boundary. Much work is shared with CSU Extension in these 2 counties in this arena, as is information and work between producers. Hospital – Delta Hospital is affiliated with St. Mary’s and Community Hospitals in Mesa County, there is no affiliation with the Montrose Hospital. Transportation – Hiway 50 and Hiway 65 are important arteries of commerce for both. Travel over Hiway 65 connects the 2 counties on the East side and Hiway 50 is the western connection. The small carve out that includes Rifle and some of the surrounding areas with Mesa County is also of concern. Taking that area out of greater Garfield County would isolate that locale from areas with similar concerns. The commonalities of the Extractive Industry would be better served to keep Garfield County whole. The Ag communities have similar interests with the rest of Garfield, Rio Blanco and the rest of NW Colorado. Thank you, again, for your time and consideration for the benefit of all our State.

I live in Mesa County, the Western Slope districts should be represented by the types of communities that reside here. The Roaring Fork Valley should remain whole, that whole region including Glenwood Springs is a tourist area. Meeker, Rifle and Craig are towns that share the commonality of cattle ranchers, gas and oil, they should remain in the same district. Orchard City, Hotchkiss, Paonia and Crawford all share that small town homegrown feel and have similar businesses and lifestyles. Looking to the north it is imperative to protect Western Colorado's water rights, creating a district that merges the Eastern and Western Slopes is irresponsible. You will leave the representatives in a no win battle to represent their too diverse constitutes. One Representative cannot cover that area without bias.Surface Creek and  Delta, should be with Mesa County. This all reflects the historical districts that have served Colorado. When traveling from one district to the next a representative should not have to cross into another house district.Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you for your time and for your work on this important issue. I'm writing as a resident of Wind Crest retirement community. I wish to respectfully request that the Wind Crest community be included within only one legislative district, and not two separate districts as is currently proposed. In the most recent preliminary legislative district map, I notice that the Wind Crest campus would be split between District 22 and District 33. Wind Crest is a community of senior folks who live, eat and do activities throughout the campus. We also are very active voters. Having our community located in two districts would create confusion among a group of people who are and want to continued to be engaged in political activities. Please consider keeping Wind Crest in one district.

Re upcoming public hearing in Durango on Saturday, August 7. Have a concern that library location may be difficult for certain members of public to attend due to what has been library's exceedingly strenuous policy re mask requirement. I do not wear a mask as i long ago confirmed with San Juan Basin Health that there are no peer reviewed science studies supporting the need for mandatory mask. I'm raising concern now as there are members of the public planning to attend public hearing who share that view re mask requirement; therefore, will we be assured of entry into the public hearing w/o wearing a mask - especially in view of current chaos around new mask requirement. Thank you for your attention to this question.

I am a resident in the 3rd Congressional District... and applied to be on the Redistricting Commission, but was not picked during the first random drawing - but I still have a strong interest in see the redistricting be fair and representative of the communities within it. I expect the Redistricting Commission to do everything in its power to make sure the 3rd CD is competitive, by balancing Democrat and Republican voters in the district, as is required by law. I also believe that the district must, by law, represent communities of like-interest which means that all the counties that share agriculture and outdoor recreation industries in western Colorado should be in one district AND that we should not have any urban counties in our district—they do not share our interests, our economy, or our more rural lifestyle. My recommendations: 1. Fremont, Teller, and Park don’t belong in the 3rd Congressional District 2. All mountain resort communities, sharing water, agriculture, economic, and public lands interests should be included in the 3rd CD 3. The map should be more competitive, not less, as proposed in your initial map 4. Add these counties back into CD3: Gilpin, Mineral, Saguache, RioGrande, Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla

I so appreciate the opportunity to have my voice heard. Thank you for being willing to travel all over the state to listen to our voices and opinions. When looking at the preliminary Congressional redistricting map for our area, I am especially happy about the fact that you kept Eagle County as a whole in CD3. The House Preliminary map, however, shows that Eagle County is split and combined to the front-range area. The two areas have no common interests such as, agriculture, tourism, water preservation for the Western Slope by not diverting more water to the front range, and energy (i.e Gas, oil, and mining.) Furthermore, geographically using the Continental Divide as the separation line makes good sense for both population areas. I want our representatives to reside in the Western Slope where the representation is closely connected to our needs and issues. It makes more sense to place the division lines along the Continental Divide, as it is currently, to best reflect the needs of people on each side. Splitting our county will disenfranchise the citizens of both areas. Please Keep all of Eagle County together as one district

Honorable Commission Members: As a proud Coloradan, I am privileged to live in District 3. This district represents much of the wild beauty of Colorado and a great heritage of ranching. We live rurally, and we think rurally. We enjoy arts and culture, but we are not cosmopolitan. Therefore, we need representation in our government by those who live, think, and value as we who live here. Each legal vote needs to be heard. The point of view of rural Colorado needs a voice as strong as any other part of the state. Re-drawing the lines of our district will water down that likemindedness and point of view. We are as endowed with our rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness by God, and in our representative government, our values should be reflected in our government, not etched out by redrawing our district lines. Thank you for your thoughtful attention.

Thank you for considering public comment. As a property owner and lifelong resident of both Mesa and Garfield counties for six plus decades, I am opposed to the suggested redistricting of District 57, specifically, including Rifle and Silt zip codes with Mesa County, but leaving Battlement Mesa and Parachute in District 57. I request that all three communities remain in District 57. So why am I opposed to the suggested changes? 1) Geography: all of Garfield County belongs - physically and culturally - with Rio Blanco, Moffat and Routt Counties, as well as the western half of Eagle and Pitkin counties (Edwards on west; and El Jebel on west). 2) The above counties and areas consider themselves "northwestern Colorado." In contrast, Mesa County, in west-central Colorado is completely separate in its issues as the regional hub. The outlying counties are rural in their mindset and makeup, whereas Mesa County has both rural issues (like us), but by the numbers is now predominantly urban. Meanwhile, those of us in western Garfield County are also rugged survivalists, exemplified by how we creatively react to the shut down of I-70 due to fires and debris flows. 3) For anyone who knows the geography of Western Colorado, you know it is divided by river valleys. And the suggested redistricting map does not follow ANY geographic lines. It makes ZERO sense to lump Battlement Mesa/Parachute in with Moffat and Rio Blanco County, and carve out Rifle and Silt and put them in with Mesa County. Thank you for your time. Again, I encourage you to reconsider the draft redistricting of District 57. Paul Currier Rifle, Colorado

Good evening Commissioners, my name is Heidi Jeanne Hess and I am a current resident of Mesa County, having lived here for more than a decade. As a deeply involved member of the community, I am here this evening to provide public commentary on the proposed redistricting maps for CD3 and our state house and senate districts in this area. Thank you for your time. First, I would like to address the boundaries of Congressional District 3. The current boundaries of the proposed map fail to meet the standards of the commission to create competitive districts, which the commission is legally required to consider under Propositions Y and Z. Additionally, by including Teller and Fremont counties in CD3, which are bedroom communities to Colorado Springs, this map fails to consider communities of interest, which the commission is supposed to consider as one of the main factors when drawing maps. The economic drivers of these two counties are vastly different from the strong outdoor and tourism industries that influence the Western Slope. To keep similar communities of interest together, it seems to make sense to put CD 3 along a North and South line, creating a Mountain West district. This brings together the national parks, ski areas and mountain tourist towns into one area, in addition to coalescing the agricultural economy into a single district as well as the majority of the Colorado River watershed. Regarding Legislative Districts, I believe, as a resident of Clifton, it is important to include the unincorporated urban areas of Grand Junction, including Clifton and the Redlands, in the Grand Junction house district. These are all areas that are similar communities of interest, economically similar and culturally similar. I strongly believe the commission should do what it can to keep urban Grand Junction whole and then balance, by bringing the surrounding rural areas together to honor and respect the economic influencers that are different between the urban and rural areas. Finally, the agricultural and the economic impact of water and water rights are very different between the rural and urban areas of Grand Junction, being essential to the rural areas that depend on water for its economic security. For the senate districts, I implore the commission to consider the economic bases and communities of interests in the maps. Keep Mesa and Delta Counties whole and unimpinged by Garfield and Pitkin counties. These communities are very different from one another with wildly different economic drivers, community interests, community standards and concerns. I respect the commission has an extremely difficult job in front of it. Thank you for the time you have invested thus far, the opportunity to speak with you tonight and the time you will each invest in the future.

This redistricting process is supposed to be non-partisan and a more fair way to divide our representation than we've had in the past. I applaud the commissions' efforts, but we must do better. The preliminary maps released so far do not seem fair and do not reflect the increasingly progressive turn that Colorado has taken. I split time between my homes in Boulder County and Eagle County. We must NOT gerrymander minority and under-represented groups to further reduce their voice in government. Many Coloradans do not identify with D/R/U political parties and many are not registered to vote at all. Under-represented people (whether they vote or not) should be counted and represented faithfully under the new redistricting process. Please re-draw the maps in a fair, inclusive way. Thank you.