Public Comments

Combining the western slope into one district should be this commissions highest priority. Communities of interest can be concerned with many things but exceptionally community on the Western Slope is created by our relationship with federal land. Extractive industries like natural gas and hard rock mining often take place on or parallel to federal lands. To split the western slope in any manner would jeopardize the lands and industries that have played a pivotal role in our states history and will continue to shape the way we live. As Colorado moves away from coal power and towards more efficient natural gas our relationship with federal lands will become more salient. Consider our states future and the future of our federal lands when drawing these districts. It’s pivotal that you find a way to consolidate the western slope into one district that represents our regions unique relationship with federal lands. Thank you. Kurt Anderson

I protest the use of redistricting the 3rd Congressional District as a means to silence the Western slope and cheat to win at ALL costs. Since Bill Clinton was president, Colorado has been run by outside forces using the democrat party for power, power, power. I see no good coming from this move, and NO NEED FOR IT. I demand this be stopped immediately, and that those who favor it be satisfied that they are not always in the majority. If you cannot handle the decisions made by the majority, you are not fit to govern Colorado. Progressive ideas are not popular with those who value family and freedom - typically, the left only has one answer - change the rules so they win. This is cheating, not governing, not serving the people. District 3 should not be redrawn. No one needs a feather in their cap by changing the lines to suit progressive interests, whether in the state or out. Change is coming to Colorado - freedom will be increasing as we vote and decide on GOOD governance, and honor God who is the source of freedom and life.

Dear Commission Members, I am a resident of western Boulder County (Nederland) and writing to express specific concerns about the preliminary congressional redistricting map released by the Colorado Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission on June 23, 2021. The Commission's preliminary congressional district map breaks western Boulder County off from the 2nd Congressional District and places it in the 3rd Congressional District. The bulk of Boulder County would, however, remain within the 2nd Congressional District (sans a small portion of Boulder County allocated to the new 8th Congressional District, as preliminarily proposed). I feel very strongly that removing areas in western Boulder County -- all of which fall to east of the Continental Divide -- from the 2nd District (a district entirely rooted along the Front Range to the east of the Divide, as preliminarily proposed) and placing those areas in the 3rd District (a district solidly rooted in and covering most of the Western Slope to the west of the Divide, as preliminarily proposed) overlooks the importance of how geography fundamentally controls many local issues, especially water and environmental issues which are of great importance to me and many of my neighbors in western Boulder County. The Continental Divide, which the western boundary of Boulder County follows precisely, is a natural geographic boundary of great significance. The natural weather/climatic conditions are dramatically different from west of the Divide to east of the Divide. Water and environmental related concerns can be vastly different between the Western Slope and the Front Range. One needs only to look at the current drought assessment for Colorado (dated June 22, 2021) to see how important the Divide is in terms of practical impact on local conditions, which inherently govern policy and issue advocacy -- https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/data/png/20210622/20210622_CO_date.png https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?CO Water and related environmental/ecological issues are of great importance to me as a scientist with significant background and experience in the Earth Sciences. As such, I look for my federal representatives to both understand those issues and be a strong, informed voice in Washington for the concerns I and so many of my neighbors share. My deepest concern with removing a portion of Boulder County from the 2nd District and placing it in a different congressional district which is so strongly rooted on the Western Slope (that being the 3rd District) is that, owing to human nature, our new 3rd CD representative in Congress (regardless of ideology or political party) will be significantly less understanding of and less of an advocate for the water and environmental concerns of the few outlying areas east of the Divide which get moved into that district through the redistricting process. In engagements I have had with my neighbors since the release of the preliminary congressional district map, concern about the proposal is widespread for precisely that reason. A second concern about the proposed map is that, in practical terms, it divides Nederland between two congressional districts. While the municipal boundary of the Town of Nederland is removed entirely from the 2nd Congressional District in the preliminary congressional district map, many residents of the larger Nederland community would remain in the 2nd Congressional District. Mountain towns like Nederland serve as important economic, social, and cultural hubs for many in the surrounding "unincorporated" areas. Dividing the larger Nederland community within Boulder County would have the net effect of diluting the voices in Congress of those who consider themselves Nederlanders, whether they reside within the municipal boundary or not, by splintering them between two congressional districts. I appreciate the work of the Commission and staff as well as the willingness to listen to public comment during this ongoing process. I hope you find that my concerns about the proposed changes to CD 2 and CD 3 within Boulder County resonate as reasonable, factual, and worthy of addressing. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, David Demko Nederland, CO dave.demko@gmail.com

Dear Commission, Please strive for a redistricting that will accomplish an even split of 4 to 4 Congressional Districts for both Republicans and Democrats. It seems that the first "map" proposal favors Democrats. Please work to achieve a more equitable result.

Between Boulder and Grand County is the Great Divide. Even greater than that is the CULTURAL DIVIDE that separates these two. Grand should be placed where it is located with the interests of the west slope and taken out of its currently inappropriate districting. I tried to make a list of the common elements: hmmm, people live there, drive cars, etc., but are nothing alike and have disparate interests. Chengdu China, touted as the Boulder of China, probably has better affinity. Please give Grand a more appropriate representation.

First of all, stop building residential and commercial areas. The continuation of all this building is greed and you are not taking into account the destruction of wildlife. You will eventually not be able to support the infrastructure, due to the population growth. Again, nothing but greed.

Aa a 49 year resident of Granby, a hub of Grand County, I see the absolute importance of Grand County being redistricted with the common interests and issues facing the other Western Slope counties in many ways , but not in common with the urban areas we are in currently. We share the commonality of small rural close knit family oriented towns, being concerned about our life in the Rocky Mountains, with agriculture, ranches, farms and plains of the West, We are host to visitors, hunters and fishermen as well as others recreating during every season that help support our local small businesses and economy. We are concerned with improving and maintaining the health and well being of our families, forests, watershed and storage, small businesses, agriculture, ranching and farmland and also the areas surrounding our National Rocky Mountain Park, These are vital to the whole Western slope as well. For these reasons and more, we definitely need to be redistricted for fair representation and not mixed in with urban areas who do not share these particular unique issues. Please consider these factors in redistricting our County with those in common with ours, Thank you for your attention and careful consideration of the important matter.

I thank the commission for their work in producing a preliminary map. However, I think there are some serious issues that must be resolved. The proposed map from the commission would produce 3 solid democrat districts, 1 lean democratic district, 3 solid republican districts, and 1 slight republican district. Given that CO is a lean democrat state (when compared to the nation as a whole), this map is a bit biased toward republicans, which a number of commenters have noted. It would usually produce an equal 4 rep-4 dem split even when democrats receive 9% more votes statewide. Further, a 51 dem-49 rep statewide environment could realistically produce a 5 rep-3 dem split (since district 8 has a similar partisan lean to the state overall), which would be an anti-majoritarian result. Additionally, the map does not promote much competition, which I think is unfortunate because an explicit goal for the commission is to "maximize the number of politically competitive districts." Under this map, only 2 districts are realistically competitive (districts 7 and 8). I have drawn a modified version of the map: https://davesredistricting.org/join/16862e17-faa4-4302-93a9-d208e6fa1f57. This map would produce 3 solid democrat districts, 1 lean democratic district, 2 solid republican districts, 1 lean republican district, and 1 slight republican district. Under this map, 3 districts are now competitive (3, 7, and 8) with 1 favoring democrats and 2 favoring republicans. Additionally, district 8 moves to be slightly left of the state as a whole reducing the likelihood of an anti-majoritarian result in either direction. Finally, this map would be a bit more proportional than the commission's map. The largest changes to the map would be as follows: Greeley and Windsor are added to district 2 given that many commenters from these cities suggested they had a shared community of interest with Fort Collins. Erie and Mead are added to district 8 in order to be grouped with similar nearby small towns and cities such as Frederick and Firestone. Milliken and Johnstown are added to district 4 because they are geographically, demographically, and culturally similar to much of northern/eastern Weld county. Much of western Boulder and Larimer counties are added to district 3 since these areas share common economic and cultural interests with the other slope-centric regions throughout district 3. Hinsdale, Archuleta, and Fremont are added to district 5 to maintain population parity and because these districts have the most in common with other counties in district 5. Teller county is also added to district 5 since it is part of the Colorado Springs metro area. Eastern El Paso county is added to district 3 for population parity and because of regional similarity. I urge the commission to consider this proposal because it improves competitiveness and proportionality while maintaining communities of interest.

Dear Commissioners, please consider redistricting Grand County with the Western Slope. Following is a list of values we all share here: Agriculture is important to our way of life and we highly value it. Small businesses that utilize these resources locally as well as provide to other areas around our state are so appreciated to our success. The aesthetics of small towns are what makes our communities appealing and welcoming to visitors. Locally we value small intimate family owned businesses much more than large corporate owned businesses. Wide open spaces for outdoor recreation is vital to our success as small communities welcome individuals with a much needed break from the hustle and bustle of large front range cities. How we manage all these resources including water resources are different from the front range objectives. Finally how rural communities operate is definitely different from urban communities with different sets of policies and objectives. Thank you for considering our differences and uniqueness. Sincerely, Morgan Holbrook

This plan does not make sense at all, why would you split Nederland and the surrounding area into two parts. We are closely affiliated with Boulder, a very large number work there and commute to Boulder. Why not divide it at the Continental Divide, it would make more sense. Nederland does not have the same ties to the Western Slope as it does to Boulder.