Public Comments

As a former mayor of Westminster, I support the map of HD25 with the northern part of Arvada as part of the district. The two cities have much in common and help one another when tragedy happens. Arvada was there for us with the Jessica Ridgeway case and we were there for Officer Beezly. We are the furthest north city in Jeffco and the match of the northwestern part of Arvada is a match. In the congressional, the map for Congressional 8 is a great map drawn with all of Westminster, Northglenn, Thornton, going up to Weld County. It has good diversity and like people living in the area. BOth are competitive and will allow the people to have a choice who represents them.

Dear Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission, The proposed House District 24 boundaries poorly address the community interests and issues of two very diverse communities: a rural foothills/mountain community and a Denver front range urban suburb. The significant interests of traffic, transportation, public health, government services, recreational facilities, policing, fire departments, fire mitigation, forest fires, ingress/egress, water, zoning, land use, snow removal, flooding, and conservation for the citizens living in the foot hills/mountains around Evergreen are TOTALLY DIFFERENT than those of the citizens living in the Denver front range urban suburb of Superior. As proposed, House District 24 looks more like some gerrymandered hodgepodge to balance the D/R/I voters, which, if so, is something the Colorado Constitution expressly forbids in Section 46 (3)(b)(IV), rather than a representative grouping of the foot hills/mountains citizens with common interests who, for the most part, don’t give a damn about the party affiliation of their district representation, and is in violation of the spirit if not the intent of the Colorado Constitution, Section 44 (3)(b), Article V and Section 46 (3)(b). The two distinct areas would both have better, fairer, and more effective representation if the eastern edge of House District 24 was Hwy C470 and CO Hwy 93, bounded by CO Hwy 72 on the north and Deer Creek Canyon and Pleasant Park Roads on the south with the Superior area being absorbed by surrounding like communities of interest in House Districts 25, 27, 36, and 37. Rebalancing would be fairly easy by taking the citizens in the Superior area and adding them to HD 25, 36, and 37 and then taking the few people living in the far west sides of HD 13, 12, 10, and 23 and adding them to HD 24 to create a house district truly representing a community of common interests. This does not involve that many people as there are not that many people living in the lower foothills west of Highways C470 and CO 93, with the possible exception of the lower elevation portions of Golden proper which could be carved out and left in HD12. Best regards, Peter Wagner

I really liked the map where it was 50/50 in all the congressional district. For the one that attached part of Weld, it had a 6% advantage for Republicans. It was published in Colorado Politics . All the other congressional districts were within a percent. The advantage is more moderate people in both parties that will take the temperature down. It was competitive and compact. All the comments today talked about Larimer having more in common Weld. Not for everyone. We have a lot of suburban growth that needs managed (water etc.) and a significant population that does not share rural interests. Many speakers said they felt our economic interests combined better with Weld. Agriculture produces the least GDP. It's tech and manufacturing that are much bigger drivers. Adding Larimer to Weld just as in 2010 dilutes suburban interests.

As a long time resident of Colorado and Larimer County I would like to say the commission has done a very good bipartisan job of redistricting. I hope this map will be the final version because I think it captures the most balance of interest of the citizens. Thanks for your work and fairness. Kevin Caffrey Fort Collins, Colorado

My family has been a resident of Fort Collins for 14 years. We are raising a family with 2 teenage girls. It makes sense that the redistricting lines should reflect families and businesses separately from CSU population. I do not want our representation diluted by the students of CSU. Each partisan type should have a fair voice. The proposed borders are splitting communities of interest and that violate the constitutional criteria for drawing maps. Thank you for considering my comment.

Hello. My name is Mary Kay Morrison and my husband and I have lived in Fort Collins for 24 years. I myself have worked for most of my 24 years here as an instructor and an administrator at Front Range Community College. Our 2 adult daughters also live and work in northern Colorado, so we all have a vested interest in the future of our community. Those of us here are giving up one sunny Saturday afternoon, but each of you are devoting 32 long and arduous afternoons and evenings to ensure that Colorado has logical and fair redistricting results. I thank you for that! I have gone online and viewed the preliminary House District map. I am presenting today an alternative for you to consider. I have provided a map both online and as a handout. I believe it will improve upon the preliminary map in several ways: First, it compacts the districts in a better way. It keeps the city of Fort Collins to just 2 districts rather than the 3 represented on the preliminary map. Second, Fort Collins can be logically divided into 2 distinct communities of interest: The first Community of Interest is the college demographic that is concentrated in the northwest portion of Fort Collins around CSU. These are residents whose interests and needs are unique to the student and college-centered population. The second Community of Interest is the southeast portion of Fort Collins that is represented by a business and family-oriented demographic. The NE, SE, and SW sections of our city are populated primarily by citizens who are heavily engaged in their careers and in raising their children. The boundaries on the proposed map use Lemay Avenue as an east/west boundary and Horsetooth Road as the north/south boundary. These boundaries largely reflect the geographical distinction between our College-oriented and our Business and Family Communities of Interest. My husband and I have lived in both of these Communities of Interest during our time in Fort Collins, and we can personally attest to the unique environment of each. When considering political competitiveness, this 2-district split also seems to make sense. As the political climate in our country becomes increasingly polarized, I hope that we in Colorado can set an example for the nation that all citizens benefit from a diversity of voices and perspectives during an election season. I hope that Fort Collins will always be a place where varied individuals and ideas have an opportunity to be heard and voted on based on their merits. Thank you for your consideration of these points as you work to draw district lines that compactly represent our Fort Collins communities of interest. Again, I appreciate the effort you are giving to ensure that our districts are logical, fair, and equitable.

It is in the best interest of the people of Moffat County to maintain the current districting for both legislative and congressional elections and representation. In examining the "community of interest" language in the Colorado Constitution, it does not make sense for our district to be redrawn and grouped with any others except those that are currently in place. Our current districting allows the common needs of rural Colorado to be represented. It is beneficial to have a voice that represents those unique economic, educational and environmental situations that are very different than other parts of the state. By grouping our area of the state with any others would be a constitutional breach, as we would not share the same common interests. There are extensive regional distinctions in our area of the state that need its own separate representation.

I am sending this comment, because I, and my family members are unable to be there in person. Under the current proposal, which will divide Fort Collins into 3 house districts, competition is eliminated. It also splits parts of Fort Collins and pushes them out of the district that the majority of the population is in, into district 58. The most effective and just house districts should always be highly competitive and compact. It should not split communites. It needs to be more compact. We need a VOICE, and the area around CSU does not represent the rest of Fort Collins. Being born and raised in Fort Collins, I am tired of my voice being drowned out by CSU and I am not alone. CSU used to be part of the community, but now it has become it's OWN community. CSU has intentionally isolated itself from the rest of Fort Collins. CSU is now the largest public university in Colorado and has taken on a life of it's own. CSU has a right to speak for itself as a community; however, CSU does not now, nor has it ever, spoken for the citizens of Fort Collins. Fort Collins should be split into 2 house districts to give us a chance to have our interests respresented.

Preserving the Western Slope should be one of the highest priorities for this commission. We've seen multiple attempts to split the Western Slope but none are based on arguments around communities of interest. Over the next 10 years Colorado's economy is going to continue to change. The Western Slope will specifically see an increase in healthcare related jobs in population hubs like Mesa county. We will also see increases around manufacturing and tourism. Preserving Western Slope means our Representatives can stay focused on our economic changes and it won't be diluted by front range influence. Additionally, our relationship with public lands deserves to be highlighted. The vast majority of Western Slope counties are upwards of 60% federal land. We deserve a voice in Congress that understands living so closely to federally protected land. Please consider the economic changes bound for our region into account while continuing with the redistricting process. Thank you!

Community of interest that need primary emphasis are businesses, education and nonprofits. Businesses have many things common in Northern Colorado which should be looked at and bringing both Larimer and Weld County‘s together without Boulder or Broomfield County included. These businesses include agriculture farm, dairy and ranch operations in particular but also those businesses that support agriculture such as implement companies, feed and grain storage and trucking companies. These agricultural businesses also have very close ties with Colorado State University and their land grant requirements to provide education services to agriculture. Additional businesses such as car dealers, lumber companies, farm and ranch supply are all part of an integrated economic unit which should be represented with some uniformity in the political systems. The healthcare system is also a cooperative unit that extends from Walden to the Nebraska state line centered around Larimer and Weld County with Banner and UCHealth as the central service providers. There are multiple municipal providers which extend throughout Larimer and weld county. Not only Greeley Loveland and Fort Collins but also Windsor, Estes Park, Timnath, Eaton, Millikin, Johnstown, Ault, Evans, Ft. Lupton, Frederick, Firestone Dcono, Kensburg and many more small communities that all depend on the business and municipal services to meet the daily needs of the residence. Overlapping all of these municipal entities are special districts serving fire protection water supply, waste water treatment, school districts, water Conservancy District, water supply district and conservation districts. Breaking up these communities of interest he’s not only unfair but also unreasonable and not within the charge for reapportionment and realignment voting districts within Northern Colorado. Water is another major community of interest in Northern Colorado. The Poudre River drainage and the Thompson River drainage provide the water supply for all of Larimer and Weld county. They supply water for the agricultural, Industry and municipalities in a complicated but cohesive unit of water supply and management. Transportation is another critical community of interest. The traffic in Northern Colorado has a equal component of traffic moving both goods and people east west on the six major routes as it does north south on the three major roads including interstate 25. Hopefully this brief explanation shows the importance of business communities of interest with those of municipal and other political boundaries which exist within Northern Colorado. I believe it also represents the communities that bring Northern Colorado together is a viable thriving and growing economic unit. The Reapportionment and Redistricting commissions are requested to put strong emphasis holding these communities of interest together.