Public Comments

Dear Commissioners, I have lived in the Brighton area, northern Adams County for forty years, and have witnessed the tremendous growth especially in this past decade. All the small towns near us such as Erie, Brighton, Frederick, Dacono, Firestone, and Commerce City have all exploded in growth. Thornton is expanding northward at a rapid pace with new housing developments all around us. Using Hwy 7 to work at Erie Elementary, years ago I would see rolling hills and mountain vistas and maybe 10-15 cars. In the past decade, Hwy 7 from Brighton to Lafayette has a steady (and often congested) stream of traffic with housing developments lined up on both sides of the highway. St. Anthony's North Hospital and Children's Hospital have located in this area anticipating the needs of a growing population. The light rail was built up north through Northglenn and Thornton to accommodate the growing transportation needs. 144th Ave, once a dirt road, is now being transformed into a four lane major roadway to accommodate the growth east of Colorado Blvd. The E-470 toll road in this northern corridor was built with future growth in mind. Yet, even with the growth in this area, the working class families in these communities have maintained and embraced common roots and interests. Agriculture and coal mining attracted many Hispanic families long ago to this area, and their growing numbers and influence are reflected in signage, shopping, and education. The cultural diversity is evident in all the communities in Adams County and southern Weld County. The schools are integrated, the shopping, restaurants, and county fairs reflect cultural diversity, and the many farmers' markets and greenhouses tie us all to our traditional agricultural roots. I encourage you to strongly consider the rapid growth in northern Adams County and southern Weld County and the need to keep these strong communities of interest together when deciding the location of the 8th Congressional district.

For the next ten years the western slope will face identical challenges threatening the future of our agriculture, recreation, and federal lands. Keeping the western slope whole during redistricting is pivotal to your mission of keeping communities of interest whole and assuring proper representation at the federal level. This commission is tasked with starting from scratch. Current districts were drawn by an outdated system that was voted out by Coloradans with Amendments Y & Z. Now you must look forward, not backwards, to find communities of interest that will persist for the next decade. The challenges the western slope will face all have one common resource—water. Agriculture continues to be the largest industry in the western slope. Without proper water management we would find ourselves in dire situations. The grain, fruit and livestock produced in the region would be threatened by having split and competitive voices in the House of Representatives. Recreation and tourism have continued to grow in the western slope bringing jobs and money into the region—but water restrictions and dwindling water storage threatens our rivers and lakes where this recreation is concentrated. Our representatives must be aware of waters role in the recreation industry, or the economic boom will bust. Many counties in the western slope have upwards of 60%-70% federal lands. Living so intimately with federal lands and the complexities they bring for the water moving through them adds another layer of bureaucracy that can only be represented, in whole, by one federal representative. Mountain counties like Grand and Jackson represent the headwaters of the state while more western and southern counties find themselves the gatekeepers of our rivers flowing to numerous other states. Other parts of the state, including the front range and the eastern plains, are concerned about water consumption but they don’t have the same level of responsibility assigned to the western slope. I ask this commission to look at the map that Club 20 produced as the best example of setting the western slope up for success over the next ten years. Water is just one of many issues that will persist into the next decade continuing to strengthen our community’s bond.

Thank you for your service on the Congressional Redistricting Commission – your time, energy and insight are very much appreciated. Please consider looking at redistricting through a housing lens. Housing affordability and attainability are significant in defining a community. From cost-of-living, to economic challenges and opportunities to community character and health, housing costs have a major impact. And, federal policy is a key driver for community solutions in local attainable housing. Routt County’s gap between local wages and the cost of housing is threatening both our economy and the ability for local families to own – or even rent – a home. We need a Congressional voice to help define federal policy and find impactful solutions. As a specific and wonky example: during 2020, affordable housing advocates throughout the country (including myself) urged Congress to lock in the 4% low income housing tax credit rate. This seemed to have bipartisan support yet needed Congressional energy to get it across the finish line. When I contacted our CD3 Representative’s office to discuss the potential impacts for Routt, they were polite; but clearly not energized by this issue. This comment is in absolutely no way critical of our Congressman or his staff. The vast majority of the 29 counties in CD3 do not have excessive housing costs along with the corresponding impacts; thereby, I completely understood why this was not their CD3 focus or priority. I then contacted CD2 Representative’s office, and as the CD2 Congressman represents an area with similar housing challenges the staff was both knowledgeable and energized to assist with federal solutions. In fairness to our CD3 Representative, it is also more feasible to work with – and truly make an impact – on a small number of Counties, notwithstanding each county’s size. Housing policy matters. The next 10 years will define whether mountain counties like Routt are strictly resorts or diverse communities where both local residents and tourists can thrive. Federal policy can and will make the difference regarding family and workforce housing, including the many related community wide impacts. Please consider redistricting Routt into a Congressional District where the majority of counties have similar housing challenges. Working together - both small and large communities - we can add our voice to federal policy and turn these challenges into opportunities. Thank you for your consideration.

As a Basalt resident, I feel our mountain community has not been adequately represented in congress for some time now. Like other mountain communities, our livelihoods are dependent on the winter season, and it’s alarming to consistently have representatives who have little regard for the devastating effects of climate change on our towns. I think it’s imperative that as many mountain communities as possible to be grouped in a single district. Perhaps, Chaffee County can be added to CD 3? I don’t have the answer; I’m simply asking you do whatever it takes for our voices to be heard and reflected in our representation. After all, more than just our communities depend on Colorado’s reputation as a winter playground.

Thank you commissioners for your time and effort to meet the needs of all the constituents in Colorado. I am a retired physical therapist , Colorado native and am married to a retired Fish Habitat Specialist. Living in Teller County was a carefully crafted choice. We wished to live close to excellent health care but maintain a more rural lifestyle that had been our decades-old life choice. With the upcoming redistricting choices I am concerned that Teller County once again will be enveloped in the same district as El Paso that in 2021 and beyond will be an ever expanding urban environment. Teller county would be more appropriately included in a district that includes those of us which have concerns regarding maintaining natural landscapes, well maintained public lands and appropriate ancillary services like broadband access and appropriate medical facilities like Pikes Peak Regional Hospital managed by the UC Health system. Maintaining healthy watersheds in our region bodes well for the future of both our community and the urban areas those watersheds serve. Maintaining public utilities, public transportation and the road system provides a few different challenges than in the urban corridor. I would hope that the individuals who represent our community would have a heartfelt understanding of these needs.

June 10, 2021 Dear Commissioners, We are Mesa County voters and we have reviewed three models recently published in the newspaper, Colorado Politics, dated June 4th which propose changes to the Third Congressional District of Colorado. Considering the Congressional Redistricting Commission’s directive to create new districts by assessing the competitiveness and compactness of the districts, while considering communities of interest, we suggest that those criteria are best fulfilled by the map titled Equivalent Minority Representation, or one similar to it, and presented as follows: (wouldn't paste but it's on Colorado Politics page 17 attached) We believe that the southern Colorado area described in the above map (roughly south of the San Juan Mountains and including Cortez, Durango, Pueblo, Pagosa Springs and the San Luis Valley) although diverse in the character of its population, shares a common history, culture, economy and transportation network. The same area shares less of those interests with the Grand Junction to Vail and I-70 corridor. Further, the same Equivalent Minority Representation (EMR) map would provide greater representation to the western slope of Colorado because the western slope would have two representatives representing its interests, as opposed the single representative to be elected in the “unified western slope” models. This would be especially beneficial to western slope citizens when issues of water, wilderness and public lands, transportation and economic development are considered by Congress. The EMR map describes an area which contains a significant Latinx population and Native American population potentially providing those underrepresented ethnic groups with the opportunity to be a significant factor in the election of a Congressional representative sensitive to the issues important to the Latinx and Native American citizens of the district. The EMR map also describes an area of common interest north of the San Juan Mountains, i.e., most of the Colorado River basin in Colorado (except for the Dolores River). The rivers south of the San Juan Mountains flow south to the San Juan River which meanders north to the Colorado River but only touches Colorado in the extreme southwest corner of the state. In contrast, the East/West Rural Voter model and the unified western slope model fail to recognize the diversity of the western slope and the differences between the communities of interest south of the San Juan Mountains and the areas north of the San Juan Mountains and west of the continental divide. Although the unified western slope models unify the western slope geographically, they don't necessarily represent unified transportation and economic interests and common historic, cultural and ethnic interests on the western slope. If the unified western slope model continues to include Pueblo (which is not part of the western slope), it ignores the distinct differences and interests that the Pueblo population has with the western slope. Pueblo has much more in common with the area south of the San Juan Mountains by virtue of history, culture, ethnicity, transportation and economy than it does with the area north of the San Juan Mountains. Pueblo has few common interests with the western slope of Colorado. Finally, the commission is charged with creation of districts that are geographically compact. The current CD3 covers a huge area interrupted and complicated by mountain passes and mountain roads from north to south and east to west. The EMR model would make more compact districts and make travel within each district more manageable and practical. A congressional representative elected in the proposed southern district would concentrate travel along US Route 160, east to west. A congressional representative elected in the proposed district to the north would travel the I-70 corridor east to west and not be concerned with crossing Red Mountain Pass or Lizardhead Pass to visit constituents in Durango, Cortez, Pagosa Springs and fly to Pueblo. Thank you for your consideration. Scott Beilfuss Tanya Travis Robert Traylor Grand Junction, CO

I live in rural Routt County for 13 years and have spent time here since I was 3 years old camping, fishing, skiing, riding horses and working on ranches with my family. The community concerns we have here are different than the concerns of the urban area of Denver and Boulder. We are better able to oversee our own area, and manage the environment, water rights, and agricultural needs. I am expressing my opinion that our county remain as it is, considered rural and separate from the Eastern slope. Thank you for your time

I'm a resident of Buena Vista, Colorado, which is in Chaffee county. Currently, we are in the 5th Congressional district, which El Paso County dominates. As a result, I don't believe our interests align with their significant population size and urban center. In Buena Vista, our economy is largely driven by seasonal tourism, similar to Gunnison and Lake Counties. Our county is over 80% public lands, so I believe we should have representation in Congress with counties similar to ours (like the 3rd congressional district). Additionally, I believe our house district should look more like our current senate district at the state level. As mentioned before, we share many things in common with Gunnison and Lake, from our economies to our natural environment and land issues. We also have a housing crisis that parallels other mountain communities where second home ownership drives up the prices and makes housing unattainable for the local community.

Thank you for your work on the redistricting process. This is important work to ensure that all Coloradans have an opportunity to be heard and represented. I am a Routt County Commissioner, and I would like to share a few comments regarding communities of interest in relation to Routt County. First and foremost, I would consider all "resort rural" communities to have many critical shared interests. Resort rural communities are those which are largely dependent on tourism, and the ski industry in particular and yet, are largely rural otherwise - an easy proxy for this would be a county in which a major ski area is located and/or more than 50% of jobs in the local economy are related to tourism. Routt County is one of these communities. Resort rural communities are unique from other rural communities in many ways - we often function like a much larger urban area due to the number of visitors we accommodate at any given time, but we are not truly urban. The prevalence of agriculture and (in some cases) extractive industries are also critical to our economies. Resort rural areas share many policy concerns including a high cost of living, a significant challenge with housing, and a low average annual wage due to the high prevalence of service sector jobs. We are heavily reliant on public lands and work closely with our state and federal land management partners to retain the lands which are important assets to our communities. In Routt County, the unique features of a resort rural community make a compelling case for us to be included in districts with other resort rural communities including Eagle, Summit, and Grand Counties. In addition, due to the economic factors listed above, our interests are often more similar to Larimer or Boulder Counties than to Moffat, Mesa, or Garfield, which have significantly more reliance on extractive industries and fewer challenges with cost of living. Overall, my strong recommendation would be that "resort rural" counties be considered "communities of interest" and that redistricting efforts make every effort to keep these areas together to the greatest extent possible. Thank you very much for your efforts, Commissioner Beth Melton Routt County

Dear Commissioners, As you are determining the new congressional district maps for Colorado, I think it is critical that you seriously consider the growth of my Latino community in Greeley. The issues we face are commonly felt among other Latino families like mine – how to find affordable housing, safe care for our children so we can work, strong educational support in our schools so our children can succeed and reliable transportation to get to our jobs and homes. Connecting Greeley with other communities in our area with similar growing Latino populations, such as Longmont, Northglenn, Brighton, and Commerce City, would help to create a district where a member of Congress could best advocate for federal funding and policies to improve the lives of families like mine. Immigration is another significant issue that we share in the Latino community, and we need a voice at the Federal level who can have substantial relationships and expertise with the agencies and policy areas that overlap and affect immigration issues. I hope you will seriously consider creating a new 8th district that gives my community in Greeley a strong voice. Thank you, Nancy Madrigal