Public Comments

I live in Grant Ranch, just north of Bowles, and east of Wadsworth, west of Sheridan. Our area need to be in a district with the same demographics. Putting our area in with the City and County of Denver is unfair. We have different needs and priorities in our area than in Denver. Our representatives are supposed to cater to our needs, and not just thrown in with an area with different demographics, and say tough luck.

Thank you reading my input.

There is no way in hell the mountain towns above Boulder deserve or would EVER have voted for the national embarrassment that is Lauren Boebert! I have been a left leaning democrat my whole voting life, I am 65 years old and have lived inJamestown for 34 years. This travesty must not be allowed to stand! We want Joe Negeuse back dammit!! Voter suppression is happening everywhere in our democracy, and we will not stand for it happening in Jamestown!

Hello Mr. Chairman/Madam Chair, commission members, My husband and I live in Arvada on 82nd Place, near Kipling. We love Arvada and are crystal clear that it is our hometown, however, given our proximity to Westminster, that town is a big part of our lives also. Both of our primary care doctors are in Westminster. We shop at the Westminster Costco and Lowes. We take our cat Zoe to Cheshire Cat veterinarians in Westminster. We get our pizza from Marco’s in Westminster and we go to the Westminster branch of Bank of the West. Our mechanic is at Lake Arbor Automotive in Westminster. So you see that, in our world, we are a natural part of western Westminster and I suspect residents of eastern Westminster feel that same connection to the Arvada community. We’ve looked at the first cut of the Senate redistricting map and are very concerned that it has a small slice of Arvada, including us, lumped in with areas that are not at all similar to us, or where we live, play and spend money. It’s our strong recommendation that the entire city of Arvada remain intact in one district. Recognizing the effort to have similar populations in each district we see that could be attained if the Arvada district also includes Westminster up to the Jefferson County/Adams County border. This would be a contiguous, compact district of common interests. Thank you for considering this solution and for your work on the incredibly important issue of fairly redistricting Colorado.

By Mayors Marc Williams, Laura Keegan, Laura Weinberg, Adam Paul, Herb Atchison, and Bud Starker. Thank you for the opportunity to provide this testimony. We are Democrats, Republicans, and Unaffiliateds proud to have served as Mayors of Arvada, Edgewater, Golden, Lakewood, Westminster, and Wheat Ridge. We have long standing ties based on community commonalities, shared visions and strong federal policy relationships. The cities of Jefferson County and the north-metro area have long been and will continue to be communities of interest which, for purposes of drawing congressional districts under Amendments Y, means there are multiple common issues in the region that are likely to be subject to federal legislation. Our communities consistently work together to find solutions for the region’s employment, public health, transportation, housing, growth and education needs. The health and employment issues that bind our communities were evidenced by our regional cooperation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic with our partners at levels of government including at the federal level. Whether it was highlighting where to go for testing and vaccines or how to pursue economic relief for small businesses, we know that residents of our communities cross city and county boundaries, and that speaking with one voice was our best hope for protecting them. Our two major hospitals and employers in Wheat Ridge and Lakewood are used by residents in Arvada, Westminster, and Golden. Our cooperation extends to addressing homelessness and how to grow our cities responsibly. We have been able to speak together with one voice to get additional federal emergency rental assistance, housing vouchers, and homelessness assistance. All of our communities are working to find responsible approaches to growth and development that are sustainable for years to come. When it comes to transportation, we are connected by the long-planned Jefferson Parkway which, as the uncompleted “link” to a metro-area beltway, promises to be a key mover of people and goods and a driver of economic development in the region. We are also keenly focused on expanded rail service in the region to help address climate change and spur smart development to handle the region’s future growth. Those critical transportation solutions will undoubtedly involve federal legislation in the decade ahead. It simply doesn’t make sense to separate Arvada and Westminster from Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, Golden, and Edgewater who are all a part of Jefferson County Public School system We believe the new 8th district belongs in the north metro area of Denver, however we do not believe the cities of Arvada and Westminster should be drawn in the new 8th. We strongly believe the cities of Arvada and Westminster should not be split from Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, Golden, and Edgewater and they should remain together in the 7th district. Amendment Y specifically prioritizes preservations of communities of interest and preservation of political subdivisions, including counties and cities. In updating the preliminary plan for Colorado’s congressional district for the next decade, we urge you to keep the residents of Arvada and Westminster in a district with their Jefferson County neighbors of Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and Golden. Marc Williams is the Mayor of Arvada, Laura Keegan is the Mayor of Edgewater, Laura Weinberg is the Mayor of Golden, Herb Atchison served as Mayor of Westminster until earlier this year, and Bud Starker is the Mayor of Wheat Ridge.

Commission Good day Commission, I am writing to express concern and disagreement at the proposed redistricting dividing the Arvada community as well as the rest of Jefferson county into two separate congressional districts. I am a citizen of Arvada and in the 7th Congressional district. Per the current map, my residency will be placed into the 8th district. I very much consider Arvada to be a shared community both with itself and with the greater Jefferson County area. Being a Jeffco resident is a point of pride for myself, my family and my neighbors. Though I realize placing my home in a different congressional district does not make me part of a diaspora from the rest of the county, I do feel the division creates an invisible frontier against my neighbors. Per your request for specifics in what makes a community, I can list a few examples. For one, Arvada and Jeffco share special districts such as the Jefferson County School Board, Jeffco Library District, Water Districts, Arvada Fire District, School District, Judicial District and Transportation Commission District. Additionally, we have shared resources such as Standley Lake, Transportation Corridors, Canals and JeffCom. There are intergovernmental agreements such as Rocky Flats that I believe will be weakened with the division of our greater government. Finally, we have common Jefferson County services such as Open Space and our Public Health Department. Each of these are common interests unique between Arvada and other Jefferson County communities. Further, these shared services are all to a far greater degree than the those between Arvada and the Adams County communities. Though we may be neighbors to Adams County, the differences and contrasts to consider us a common interest community cannot be dismissed. As a final word, I am concerned that a separation of Arvada towards a representative more focused on Adams County will leave my community under-served and looked-over. This further underscores the need of a representative encompassing our current Arvada and Jefferson county community. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Christopher Doll

I live in a mountain community above Jamestown, one that would be affected if you lumped us in with the Western slope communities. The biggest interest of the community that I live in is democracy. Jamestown, as well as the Bar-K subdivision is comprised of the spectrum of people: those who want to get away from the business of below who like firearms and hunting. Those who want to live in the mountains but work at CU Boulder and have PhDs. Everyone knows everyone's business, everyone has had scuffles, and no one cares because it just becomes part of living in a community. Currently the district you want to lump us in with has Lauren Boebert as a representative - which disgusts most of us. Because we believe in Democracy. If the lie that the election was stolen - despite absolutely no evidence, driven by emotional tantrum - continues to be accepted by people who don't believe it but play politics and do nothing about it, we will all lose. So please commission - make democracy more important than politics. Stop using redistricting as a way to fix the game. Meanwhile, I will assume that if you do redistrict us, we will be active enough to get rid of Boebert. And FYI - I was all about John McCain who continues to hold my respect...until Sarah Palin happened. That really bummed me out.

I'm concerned that the preliminary map released by this committee is designed to disenfranchise Latino voters in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The map is drawn such that Latinos are divided between many districts despite being concentrated in specific areas. In particular, District 4 is given the largest group of Latinos at 223,732. While most Latinos in this district vote for democrats, they are put in a heavily Republican district where they are unlikely to be able to elect their preferred candidate. Moreover, this committee has seemed to go out of its way to pull urban and suburban Latino communities into this otherwise rural and mostly white district including areas of Commerce City, Greeley, Evans, Lochbuie, and Pueblo in district 4. While it may make sense to include rural Latino communities in southern Co in this rural district, I really can't see a justification for putting so many urban and suburban Latinos in this district as well, especially when it involves splitting them off from other nearby similar Latino communities. The only conclusion I can draw is that this was an intentional effort by the committee to undercut the growing power of Latino voters in Colorado. I really did not expect this from an independent commission and am very disappointed by this sinister attempt.

The Town of Jamestown must be left in the same district with the City of Boulder.

Please keep the town of Jamestown in the same voting district as the city of Boulder