Public Comments

Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission, I am a resident and homeowner in Longmont. In recent years, Longmont's population has grown immensely. Historically, Longmont was a farm town, however, this has changed. Many Longmont residents have moved here due to lack of affordability in Boulder and Longmont has become very similar to Boulder in ideology. I believe that Longmont belongs in the 2nd congressional district. If this is not possible, the 8th district is a far better choice than the 4th district.

Hello, Pueblo County needs to keep Lauren Boebert!! She is a strong advocate for us. We need her. She serves in the budget committee and other committees that benefits Pueblo. Please keep Lauren as our representative. Thank you, Janet Hidalgo

I am a Colorado native who has been watching the redistricting effort very carefully and gratefully. During this time of citizen comment, I want to send a message that I very emphatically believe that the boundaries should no longer follow set, antiquated, irrelevant municipal or county lines. The rapid population of our state and the development of new towns and suburbs have almost unanimously made those no longer useful. The lines between voting districts, for both Congressional and State legislatures would be far more representative of the people who now live in our state if they reflected Communities of interest. In my county of Boulder this is visible in many areas now that Erie, Longmont, Frederick and others lie in both Boulder and Weld counties. The recent idea for Weld County to secede and join Wyoming should offer all the proof needed for not combining that county with Boulder County. This scenario plays out in many parts of the state, even in Denver. I strongly urge that our new, emerging communities be group in like-minded ways rather than according to decisions made over 150 years ago.

As the Director of Housing for Chaffee County, Colorado, I am pleased to represent housing efforts in these public comments regarding redistricting. I respectfully request that Chaffee County be included in the 3rd Congressional District (CD3) and the 61st House District (HD61). Our rural culture, tourist economy, and housing market stressors are akin to other communities in CD3 and HD61 and very different than those faced by the 5th Congressional District (CD5) or the 60th House District (HD60). Our professional coalitions, collaborations, and resource sharing exist among other communities in CD3 and HD61, where there are very few of these connections with the CD5 or HD60; those connections that do exist in the 5th Congressional District, such as that with the Upper Arkansas Area Council of Governments, are often unfruitful as the UAACOG's housing programs, such as the Housing Choice Vouchers, do not align with the economics of our housing market. The housing resources that exist in some of the CD5 and HD 60 counties, such as the Balance of State Continuum of Care resources, do not exist in Chaffee County, making us much more similar to our neighboring counties of Saguache, Gunnison, and Lake as well as others in CD3 and HD61. In fact, the housing market in Chaffee County is far more aligned with the housing market in other CD3 and HD61 counties, where many lower income wage earners must travel great distances to find any available housing, much less find affordable housing. The public policy concern of rapidly growing housing costs coupled with a shrinking long-term rental market and growing short-term rental and investment markets are shared with other counties in CD3 and HD61, and we frequently coordinate through the Colorado Mountain Housing Coalition and other coalitions to identify policies, systems and resources to address these struggles. It is appropriate for Chaffee County to remain in Senate District 5, for the reasons stated above; our economy, culture, and housing market stressors are most akin to the other communities in SD5. Submitted with great appreciation, Becky Gray Director of Housing Chaffee County, Colorado 719-239-1398 bgray@chaffeecounty.org I respectfully request that Chaffee County be included in House District 61

I would like to see the the current Congressional and Legislative Districts impacting NW Colorado remain aligned through our similar interests, public policy concerns, and geographic features that support and promote agriculture, tourism, and land management in NW Colorado. I believe the combination of agriculture, tourism, and environmental conservation is unique to the current boundaries of our Districts in NW Colorado, and these shared interests should be preserved in the Congressional and Legislative Districts without dilution or distortion. I specifically do not want any section of Boulder County to be included in the CO CD3, as that realignment would distort and dilute the shared interests and public policy concerns of the citizens of NW Colorado.

Pueblo is a diverse multi cultural community with links to industrial, ranching and local farming produce jobs. We are surrounded by vast open prairie. We differ greatly from needs of larger cities to the north. Lauren Boebert recognizes our rural needs and addresses this to Congress. Keep us in District 3.

Southern Colorado must have an advocate at the leadership level that will support and protect agriculture, water, land, farming, ranching and all fossil fuels. Without strong advocacy, small, rural communities will be destroyed. That’s not acceptable. At this time, Rep. Lauren Boebert is a non-compromising voice for “every county” in her 3rd District. . Pueblo County being just one.

Dear Honorable Members of the Commission: We live in Chaffee County, and we feel that we essentially have been disenfranchised by the lines drawn for the 5th Congressional District. Representative Lamborn makes very little effort to respond to requests from Chaffee County because his main Republican constituents are in El Paso County. I don't think he has ever held a town meeting in our area. We as a mountain community have so much in common with our surrounding counties: Gunnison and Lake Counties. Specifically, we have important rural issues like access to broadband that are not being addressed. In addition, our economic issues center around outdoor recreation, public lands, tourism, and our rural hospital. I would urge you to consider our interests as you draw the new boundaries for the 5th Congressional District. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Molly Walker, Attorney at Law

Dear Commissioners, My name is Chris McCormick and I have been living in Golden Colorado for 21 years. As an Aerospace Entrepreneur, I have worked on dozens of spacecraft missions in Colorado, with most of them in Jefferson County. As I write this, I am in Cape Canaveral installing our GNOMES-2 spacecraft on a SpaceX F9 launch vehicle. This spacecraft was built in Golden and will be used by NOAA, USAF and commercial weather forecasting. Thank you for the opportunity to provide this written testimony. The 7th CD is currently home to a strong aerospace community providing thousands of jobs to our communities and contributing to our healthy economy. It is also critical to our needs in addressing climate change and severe weather forecasting. Decisions made in congress directly affect our community both in funding and public policy which is why it’s critical to keep Lakewood, Golden, Arvada and Westminster in the 7th CD. The addition of Broomfield as introduced by the Hispanic Chamber in the Great 8 map would make the aerospace community of interest even stronger. Thank you for your time and consideration. Chris McCormick, Golden

Thank you to Commission members and staff for the opportunity to submit comments regarding our communities of interest. I’m Emily Tracy. I’ve lived in rural Colorado since 1977. I have homes in both Cañon City and Breckenridge. I vote in Cañon City (Fremont County). My community of interest lies along the Arkansas River and along US Highway 50. Communities along the River rely on it as a source of municipal and irrigation water, and those same communities along US Highway 50, roughly Salida to Pueblo rely on each other for agriculture, business/trade, shopping, and cultural activities. These communities share substantial interests that may be the subject of federal legislative action. There are connections related to the environment such as drought, water resources, and available renewable energy resources. There is also a connection between Cañon City and Pueblo related to education because there is a campus of Pueblo Community College in Cañon City. There are employment and family ties between Cañon City and Pueblo in both directions – people who live in one community and commute to the other for work, and/or travel to the other to visit family. During the past 10 years Fremont County has been tied to El Paso County in the 5th Congressional District. Though there are certainly ties between Colorado Springs and Cañon City similar to those between Pueblo and Cañon City, there are more connections along the Arkansas River and US Highway 50. From the standpoint of a Congressional District which in rural Colorado will be geographically quite large, Fremont County ideally would be included in the same District as Pueblo, with that District perhaps extending into the Central Mountains (upstream along the Arkansas River and/or north into Park and perhaps Teller counties) and extending through all of southern Colorado from far southeast to far southwest. Proposed Congressional District map to include Fremont County: https://districtr.org/plan/23844 From the standpoint of state legislative Districts, Fremont has in recent years been split among three House Districts, but included fully in one Senate District. With Fremont County being a population center for several smaller surrounding counties – including Custer, Chaffee, and to some degree Park and Teller – consideration should be given to keeping Fremont whole for its state House District. A very desirable configuration if actual population numbers for 2020 allow would be a House District consisting of Fremont, Custer, Chaffee, and Park. These four counties make up Judicial District 11 for the Colorado Courts system. Using the same counties for a House District could strengthen cultural, transportation, and environmental ties in addition to the existing judicial ties. The transportation corridors for these four counties are clear – US Highway 50 and US Highway 285 in Fremont and Chaffee counties, Colorado Highway 9 north into Park County from Fremont County, and Colorado Highways 69 and 96 from Fremont into Custer. Population for these four counties in 2019 totaled approximately 89,521. Proposed state House District map for Fremont County: https://districtr.org/plan/23834 For a state Senate District, inclusion of Fremont and Custer in a Pueblo-based Senate District would make more sense than the current District which places Fremont in an El Paso County-based Senate District. As noted above, there are more community of interest ties between Cañon City and Pueblo than there are between Cañon City and Colorado Springs. Proposed state Senate District map for Fremont County: https://districtr.org/plan/23840