Public Comments

I am writing to provide comments about Congressional Redistricting. My name is Carol Cure and I am a resident of Durango, CO in La Plata County. In my opinion, the biggest problem with Colorado’s current congressional districts is that CD3 is way too large and does not in any way reflect a “community of interest” as defined in the Constitution, which requires shared policy concerns involving education, employment, environment, public health, transportation, water needs and supplies, and other issues of demonstrable regional significance. I am requesting that the Congressional Redistricting Commission consider Colorado's Mountain Resorts as a community of interest. Durango does not (and the whole of La Plata County does not) have much at all in common with many of the rural agricultural CD3 counties. Mountain resort areas, however, of which La Plata County is one, share many common policy concerns. Most of these communities feel they aren't being well represented, especially with regards to the 3rd congressional district. These communities are progressive and look to the future regarding energy, social justice, the environment, and the importance of outdoor recreation to their economies. Right now, our mountain resorts are split between districts on the urban front range and rural western slope, so our unique policy concerns get lost. Some of our specific challenges include access to fresh water, protection of public lands and outdoor space, health care access and costs, education, and affordable housing. Potential counties to include in a mountain resort district would be Archuletta, Boulder, Chaffee, Clear Creek, Custer, Eagle, Fremont, Gilpin, Grand, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Jackson, La Plata, Lake, Larimer, Mineral, Ouray, Park County, Pitkin, Rio Grande, Routt, Saguache, San Juan, and/or Summit. Small businesses and outdoor recreation are the lifeblood of mountain resort communities. The rural portion of CD3, however, is mostly concerned with agriculture. The downside of this is that small business concerns and outdoor recreation needs are largely ignored. The protection of our public lands is a great concern because so much of our economy depends on outdoor recreation. The climate crisis has led to drought, a reduction in snow and rainfall, and an increase in in wildfires and their severity, which negatively affects both winter and summer outdoor recreation tourism...the biggest industry in our communities Some of our issues result because we have two different levels of part-time residents - older, wealthier people who have second homes in our communities, and transient workers in the outdoor recreation, service, and tourism industries. Both of these populations can be here for up to half the year putting a strain on our public services and infrastructure, yet they are typically not included in census numbers since April and May is when most of them start leaving for their primary residences, nor are they registered voters in Colorado. This is in addition to a continual rotation of tourists coming to participate in outdoor recreation activities that can easily result in injuries and costly rescue operations. The short-term rental market has had a huge negative impact on the development of affordable workforce housing, which means it is also difficult to keep young people in the area as they begin to consider starting families, thus hampering small businesses that need year-round employees. A high cost of living also means our small businesses and schools need to pay more to attract and keep good employees and teachers. I sincerely hope you will consider this request to look at Colorado’s Mountain Resorts as a community of interest. Carol Cure 747 Oak Drive Durango, CO 81301 carolcure@gmail.com Cell: 602-402-2424 Home: 970-382-8286

Please may all the commissioners reader the attachment which contains the document 'Population abd Geographical Integrity'. Thomas McKenna -Citizens of True Southern Colorado

I live in the Routt County. We are comprised of small towns and rural communities. It should be kept that way. Having the front range big cities deciding our fate is ridiculous (ie; reintroducing wolfs to our area). We have a lot of agriculture, cattle, and BLM land. It is a completely different flavor than big City. I hope you take this into consideration and keep our area aligned with rural Colorado. Thank you.

First off, I want to thank all the commission staff who have taken on this lofty role. I recognize that many of you have taken on this work in addition to your full and part time jobs, families, and additional responsibilities. That is tough to balance, so I thank you. I want to introduce myself; my name is Cassie Ratliff. Born and raised in Colorado, and for the past eight years have called Commerce City my home. I began working in the housing industry in 2005, providing affordable housing options for people at risk of and currently experiencing homelessness as well as households with income at or below 30% of the area median income. Needless to say, I have seen many different trends in housing, survived the housing crash of 2009 and now this mixed housing crisis of pandemic recovery alongside a housing boom. Over the last 20 years, Commerce City’s population has increased over 118%, with an annual growth rate of 3.23%. This is unheard of, for almost any city or town. To meet the demands of this growth, “Core Commerce City” (the area of Commerce City where the majority of housing was originally developed in the 1950s-1960s) had to expand into what is now called the “Northern Range” (the area of Commerce City that was all once fields and rural areas. Little to no housing was here). The “Northern Range” is mostly compromised of first-time home buyers and young families who both rent and own their homes. Expansion like this requires the development of new housing options that are affordable to first-time buyers and new infrastructure including roads, bridges, water supplies, new schools, parks, shops etc. Infrastructure is costly and often passed on to the residents through Metro Districts, causing higher property tax rates. Surrounding cities, like Longmont and Greeley, are going through similar growth expansions. Leadership in these areas are faced with many of the same issues. How do we grow in an inclusive and intentional way? One that is fiscally responsible and meets the needs of current and future residents. And how do we make this growth sustainable. Due to the current congressional district lines, Commerce City is located within Congressional District 7 (CD7). Unfortunately, the needs of our city are not met through these districting lines. Our local leaders are not receiving the much-needed support from the federal level, to support and sustain the growth of Commerce City. Many of the communities in CD7, specifically those in Jefferson County like Wheat Ridge, Edgewater, Applewood, Golden, are well established. The infrastructure in these communities is about maintenance, not development. Leaders in our Congressional District are often faced with having to make decisions for their constituents that are not equitable and do not meet the needs of the communities they serve; often pitting the needs of established communities vs developing communities. As you consider the redistricting lines, I encourage you to include Commerce City and the surrounding communities in the same Congressional District. This will allow for leaders at the federal level to better collaborate with our local municipalities as our communities continue to grow. As local leaders it is our responsibility to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to live in a community that is safe, affordable and meets the needs of all residents. And we have an opportunity to support our communities through this redistricting process. Thank you again for taking the time to read through this. If you have any questions or would like to speak more, please feel free to reach out to me at cassieratliff@outlook.com or 720.772.9332.

I would like to see what changes are being proposed. Please send a map or explanation.

Thank you to the members of the Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission. My name is Jessica Dyrdahl and I first moved to Fort Collins in 2002. I strongly support Boulder and Larimer Counties staying in the same congressional district for a variety of reasons. I work at Colorado State University and I believe having a representative for the two largest research universities in the state is crucial to progressing Higher Education in the state of Colorado. Our counties are also similar to our proximity to the mountains and are often affected by the same natural disasters, such as our unfortunate forest fires. When I ran for Fort Collins City Council, transportation and affordable housing are some of the top concerns shared by Larimer County Residents and I know from colleagues in friends in Boulder County that those are some of the top concerns as well. We have shared transportation system, such as Flex Bus Route that goes from Boulder to Fort Collins. For the reasons above, I strongly encourage our counties to stay together in CD 2. Than you for your time!

I've lived in Chaffee County for 17 years, after moving here from Colorado Springs. I've never understood why we are in the same district as Colorado Springs as we have so little in common. I've met our current representatives a couple of times, and based on their comments, I know they do not represent who we are in this rural county. I feel strongly that we should be grouped with other counties who are more like us, i.e, rural with a low population, a large percentage of public lands. Our local issues like affordable housing, esp for young people in the service industry, the lack of reliable, sufficient broadband coverage, and the lack of child care options are just a few of the major challenges we face. We deserve to be represented by representatives who know and care who we are.

Grand County needs to be included with Counties in the western slope based on shared agricultural, recreational, and geography.

Thank you to the Redistricting Commission for your important work in ensuring constituents across Colorado have the most effective state and federal representation reflective of the character of their community. I am a resident of Buena Vista, Colorado in Chaffee County and have owned property and lived in the Arkansas River Valley for ~15 years. The reasons I love Chaffee County are its greatest defining traits: extensive public lands, substantial environmental stewardship and conservation ethos, abundant outdoor recreation opportunities, and . Its challenges are those I feel most acutely: lack of affordable workforce housing; inequities in access to quality healthcare, education, and childcare; increasingly unmet behavioral health needs; and development pressures threatening the rural landscape, while simultaneously insufficient infrastructure to support strategic community growth. The residents of Chaffee County deserve to have representation and advocacy from policy makers who understand the unique considerations of rural, central Colorado. I believe this is best accomplished by ensuring our grouping with counties that are both close to us geographically, but more importantly, close to us culturally and philosophically, who share many of the same experiences - both good and bad - that we do here. Chaffee County has >80% public lands, low population density, and significant considerations for the increasing development and negative environmental impact pressures we're facing. Right now, we are grouped in CD5 with El Paso County, a densely urban community and county >33x our size. We have much more in common with proximate mountain counties including Lake, Pitkin, Eagle, and Gunnison that share our core economic drivers like tourism, outdoor recreation, and production ag and also share our priority needs like affordable housing, greater healthcare and childcare options and equity of access, land conservation and stewardship-driven policy addressing forest and watershed issues, and infrastructure improvements like broadband and roads. CD3 & HD61 seem better aligned for us with communities of our shared interests. I would like to see Chaffee County included in the Third Congressional District on the federal level, and on the state level, for us to remain in a boundary similar to the current Senate District 5. For the statehouse, I believe Chaffee County should be in a district that looks more like HD61 than our current boundaries. Thank you, --Beth Helmke Buena Vista, Colorado

Agriculturally aligned with the western slope.