Public Comments

I would like to thank the Commission for taking into consideration our comments. My name is David McDonough. My wife and I live in unincorporated El Paso county and own several rental units, as well as a restaurant, in Manitou Springs. We have been living and doing business in the Colorado Springs/Manitou Springs corridor for 22 years. Colorado Springs, Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs cooperate together through business relations, celebration of the arts, Pikes Peak, the Cog Railway, the Incline, flood mitigation, road and bridge upgrades, education, policing and much more. It’s a natural relationship because of our proximity. With everything that has been achieved from the relationships between the towns and cities in the corridor, we feel that separating Manitou Springs would be counterintuitive and counterproductive. The mountains make a natural line for district divisions. Thank you for your consideration.

Robert Schorr 740 Bear Creek Drive Fort Collins, CO 80526 Dear Colorado Redistricting Committee, My name is Robert Schorr. I am writing as a citizen of Colorado to share my perspectives on what I consider my community of interest, as you deliberate the boundaries of “communities of interest” in Colorado. I want to thank the Commission staff for your effort and time. A Community of Interest is “any group in Colorado that shares one or more substantial interests that may be the subject of federal legislative action, is composed of a reasonably proximate population, and thus should be considered for inclusion within a single district for purposes of ensuring its fair and effective representation.” These interests can include concerns of urban, rural, agricultural, industrial, or trade areas; shared public policy concerns such as education, employment, environment, public health, transportation, water needs and supplies, and issues of demonstrable regional significance. The racial demography of my region (Larimer County, CO; 2019 Census.gov) is approximately 82% White, 12% Hispanic/Latino, 2% Asian, 1% Black, 1% American Indian/Alaskan native. My family and friends are educated in Fort Collins, Wellington, Loveland, Estes Park, Windsor, and Greeley. Similarly, we utilized the economic and recreational resources from the Wyoming border to Cameron Pass, east to Greeley, and south to Denver. I would like to have the map of my region capture the water and natural resources that are of pivotal to our community of northern Colorado. Such a map would extend from the Wyoming border to the north, Continental Divide to the west, Highway 76 to the east, and Interstate 75 to the south. Thank you for your time and effort. Sincerely, Robert Schorr

To the Redistricting Commission: Thank you for serving on the Redistricting Commission for the state of Colorado. As residents of Steamboat Springs, we ask that you keep House District 26 as similar as possible. Ideally, Routt County would be kept with communities of interest, specifically other resort communities such as Eagle County. It is imperative that we keep communities of interest together so Coloradans can be properly represented at the state and federal level. Resort communities are facing similar problems around affordability for essential workers and low-wage earners as well as the impact of climate change and environmental issues on our wonderful community. Thank you, Jeff Lukens

Hello, I am a resident of Westminster. I reside on the Jefferson County side of Westminster. Due to community connections to schools and other county services, I think there is a community of interest specific to each of the two counties that make up Westminster and I also think having legislative districts follow county lines fits with the needs of the community while respecting the communities of interest within Adams and Jefferson Counties.

Please leave la plata and Gunnison in the same district As they both support universities Thank you

Thank you to the Colorado Independent Redistricting Commissions for your service. I am a resident of unincorporated Jefferson County. These unincorporated areas should be kept separate from home rule communities. Wildfire mitigation and preparedness comes to mind as the first and foremost issue of critical (life or death!) importance. After watching a wildfire burn less than a few miles from my home and children's elementary school last summer as well as housing some friends who were forced to evacuate their home, it is clear that decisions around wildfire mitigation are quite different here than in more urban areas of Jeffco and extremely important to our community. We have seen in history that a consolidation of power - especially among communities with diverse needs - can have an extremely negative impact. The concerns and needs of the area of unincorporated Jeffco as compared to the municipality of Golden, for example, are vastly different in many ways. Therefore, I urge you to maintain the contiguous portions of unincorporated Jeffco in two house districts. Thank you for your time and consideration.

To the Commissions - I am an advocate for redistricting plans that are fair and balanced for all types of voters. I also support a redistricting plan that takes into account shared resources, such as watersheds. Several communities share Clear Creek in for example, I feel that those communities should have shared representation in Congress. For legislative representation, local issues are paramount. Communities with more urban centers will have different concerns than areas with a more suburban or rural feel. I live in Morrison, just on the other side of the hogback in HD 25. The district incorporates suburban parcels on the other side of 470, yet most of the land area is west of 470. Folks who live west of the hogback have a more rural feel or small town centers. Rural unincorporated areas have less invested in areas that have small town centers or small city centers. Unincorporated parcels have different needs than city-close neighborhoods. Unincorporated properties tend to be owned by folks who want to be less connected to municipal services for example, they also may have more agricultural uses and larger lots. I support separating legislative areas into urban, suburban and rural + unincorporated.

Apparently, the 2010 census indicated that each Colorado house district have approximately 77,372 residents. House District 26 was defined as Eagle and Routt counties, with 75,706 residents. Both of these counties have very similar economic bases (ski areas, tourism, ranching and farming) and the population socio-economic characteristics are very similar. Sharing the Colorado house representative has served both counties very well. Based on the 2020 census, each house district will now require about 90,671 citizens. This may be accomplished by creating a House district for three adjacent counties with very similar economic bases and populations, Eagle, Grand, and Routt, for a total of 97,593 residents. As this is 6,922 more than the goal of 90.671, this may require that a portion of one county be included with an adjacent house district. While inconvenient, this would be a small cost compared to the advantage of having a relatively homogeneous and geographically compact House district for almost all residents of Eagle, Grand, and Routt counties.

Hello, My name is Jennifer Parenti and I live on the Weld County side of Erie. Over the past several weeks, I have been meeting with a group of amazing Weld County residents from all over our area to discuss redistricting and what it might mean for our county and Northern Colorado, in general. Based on these conversations and my own experiences living and working here, I wanted to provide some thoughts and insights to the Legislative Commission to help influence redistricting in our county. Weld County is often seen as a monolithic community that only cares about legacy issues and industries, such as agriculture and oil & gas. But, in reality, we are a politically, culturally and economically diverse and vibrant region with unique and important sub-regional identities. These communities of interest vary widely in terms of common interests, needs, values and norms that deserve consideration in redistricting. When designing maps for legislative districts in and around Weld County, it is important to understand and acknowledge these sub-regions/communities of interest so the diversity of Weld County can be best represented in our state legislature. And while none of these communities of interest would be large enough to be a single district in and of itself (except East Greeley), I hope that they can be preserved as whole, larger building blocks for the purposes of both House and Senate redistricting. A representative map has been attached to show approximate boundaries/borders for these regions (created at davesredistricting.org): - Region 1: Rural Weld. This region is generally characterized by the the Northernmost and Easternmost parts of the county, including Pierce, Grover and Kersey and possibly Eaton/Ault. These communities have a heavy focus on agriculture and oil and gas and, as such, are large in acreage, but tend to be very small in numbers. For legislative redistricting purposes, they might be better aligned with other rural communities that share their interests outside of Weld County to the East, particularly Morgan and Logan Counties. - Region 2: I-76 Corridor: The communities of Lochbuie and Hudson (possibly as far east as Keenesburg) are still predominantly rural, but are expected to experience considerable population growth over the next 10 years. As such, it is a community in transition, and could potentially be aligned with either the more rural parts of Weld County or with other communities along I-76 in Adams County currently facing these challenges (such as Brighton and Henderson). When combined with these communities and Ft Lupton, you would also create a district with a heavy minority/Hispanic influence which would be representative of the region as a whole. - Region 3: Southwest Weld/Carbon Valley: Firestone, Frederick, Erie and East Longmont are already facing significant challenges related to population growth. Most identify more as Denver/Boulder suburbs than as parts of Weld County. Their challenges are exacerbated by straddling county lines that have proven in the past year to be a dividing point for their communities, particularly over pandemic response and the provision of goods and services. They share a single school district (St Vrain Valley), which includes large parts of Weld and Boulder counties, with significant cross-enrollment across the district. Singular representation of these communities that prioritizes municipal over county lines (Weld, Boulder and Broomfield), would be extremely beneficial in ensuring effective representation in state government. - Region 4: Johnstown/Milliken/Berthoud: These communities are inextricably linked by common interests and concerns related to transportation (I-25 expansion and regional bicycle/pedestrian trails); education (Weld RE-5J includes Johnstown, Milliken and parts of Berthoud with open enrollment across communities); broadband (Johnstown, Milliken, Berthoud and Mead are working on cooperative broadband services); and local retail/restaurants (the 25/34 section of Johnstown is frequented by residents of all 3 communities). It is important to preserve both the Weld and Larimer portions of these communities together, as the county lines are not representative of how these communities are organized and how good and services are provided. - Region 5: Windsor/Severance/Timnath: Similar to Region 4, this cross-county region shares common concerns over expansive housing and commercial development and its accompanying challenges related to transportation, infrastructure, retail and other services. Keeping these communities whole, irrespective of county lines, would be in the best interests of its residents to ensure effective state representation. - Region 6: East Greeley: The neighborhoods of Greeley north of 10th St and East of 23rd are characterized by large immigrant and minority populations. The latest ACS data suggests when combined with Evans (possibly as far south as LaSalle), we could create a Voting Rights Act-compliant district here in Weld County. As such, it should be PRIORITIZED in terms of legislative redistricting. - Region 7: West Greeley: The final sub-region of Weld County is West Greeley, encompassing those parts of Greeley proper not included in Region 6 along with unincorporated parts of the county extending as far west as Johnstown/Milliken. It might be prudent to combine this area with Region 4 (Johnstown/Milliken) as the new proposed subdivision on Highway 257 will be in the Weld RE-5J school district and its residents will likely find it more convenient and accessible to shop at 25/34 rather than in Greeley. I want to thank the commissions and staff for your dedication and efforts related to ensuring that redistricting here in Colorado is done in an open, transparent and non-partisan manner. If you have any questions regarding my inputs, I welcome you to contact me at any time. Sincerely, Jennifer Parenti

Dear 1st Colorado Legislative Redistricting Commission, Thank you for the opportunity to address you in this historic effort to make for a fair redistricting of Colorado’s State Legislature in accordance with the voters' wishes. I live in the downtown area of Colorado Springs, CO in a neighborhood called North Shooks Run which is about three-quarters of a mile east of the venerable Colorado College. We have lived here for over a dozen years and own our humble homestead. Previously we lived in the West Side of Colorado Springs just north of the King Soopers on Uintah for four years and our extended family has a vacation home in Chipita Park in far west El Paso County. The family has owned a vacation home dating back to 1936. Spending summers there since the 1960s we are quite familiar with the stark community differences between the urban old city community interests and culture of the downtown Colorado Springs areas and its old small city community interests of Manitou Springs CO., compared to the rural mountain community interests of the Ute Pass rural areas of western El Paso County. The urban region of what is now framed from the base of Pikes Peak where the Ute Pass and Fountain Creek spills out of the mountain range into a valley of Manitou Springs and then into West Colorado Springs, CO is now known as Old Colorado City which is framed by “Garden of the Gods” neighborhoods and the Bear Creek and Cheyenne Canyon into Colorado Springs old central city neighborhoods is all related and unique. The area has an identifiable subculture of modest homesteads where century-old houses predominate on small city lots situated in mostly tree-lined streets of Colorado Springs early years. These interests are not in common with rural mountain vacation or suburban homes and lifestyles more in line with Woodland Park communities of interest. We know this first hand as when our family is out from outside the region vacationing in our retreat house their worlds revolve around Woodland Park. The neighborhood interests of Chipita Park and Cascade are not aligned in any way with the urban interests of Manitou and Colorado Springs. This is illustrated by how El Paso County Commissioners split up communities of interest combining rural precincts with central city neighborhoods and disenfranchising many city interests in their “spoke in the wheel concept”. Upper Ute Pass communities of Cascade, Chipita Park, Green Mountain Falls, and Crystola belong with other rural El Paso and Teller County communities representing their unique interests. Manitou Springs and Central Colorado Springs neighborhoods need to continue with their representation that has emerged with House District 18 and Senate District 11 the last twenty or so years. All this does not include the commercial interests that Colorado Springs has in tourist and recreational interests in Manitou, Garden of the Gods, and Cheyenne Canyon that are not aligned with upper Ute Pass, let alone the urban fire mitigation abatement interests that spill out at the foothills. Other considerations include school districts, and partnered transportation, and future transportation issues. No from a regional aspect Manitou Springs, West Colorado Springs, Garden of the Gods, Cheyenne and Bear Creek Canyons, Ivywild, Monument Creek, Old North End Shooks Run, Fountain, Memorial Park, and downtown Colorado Springs neighborhoods are all integrated and connected culturally, economically into a community of interest. The idea of a "tourist community interest" is not valid in the least. Robert Nemanich Colorado Springs, CO 80903 (submitted by email 6/17/2021)