Public Comments

Dear Commissioners, I am a proud Colorado native who grew up in Livermore and Fort Collins. After my husband completed his BA in Education, we moved to Torrington, Wyoming where we taught for 30 and 24 years respectively. When we retired, I very much wanted to come back to my home state, preferably Fort Collins but the houses were priced out of reach for retired teachers. We settled in Windsor instead and have been in here since 2004. The rapid changes since we have moved back have caused me to want to take this opportunity to speak out about some of the regional interests of which I’ve become aware. What I’m witnessing is accelerating population growth which is blending parts of Weld, Larimer and Boulder counties; specifically, those areas aligned with the I-25 corridor which generates many prevalent interests for the communities involved. I urge you to create a congressional district that would fairly represent these communities and their common issues and problems caused, primarily, by this growth. I have attached a map that I would support in this effort. As examples of these issues and problems, I list the following: • Towns that cross over blurred county borders • Shared services like hospitals, health providers, schools, fire and safety, and retail and entertainment • Infrastructure problems such as roads, energy, water, public transportation • Land management • Environmental impacts • School and health care access and equality • Housing crisis in which the prices skyrocket and eliminate affordable options I liken what’s happening in the area to a group of city suburbs with no city center. Creating this voting district would constitute an area that would benefit from a representative that understood their specific problems. Finally, I wanted to express my gratitude that I live in a state that has a non-partisan commission for the creation of voting districts. I thank you for your consideration of my ideas. Sincerely, Gail Craig

Redistricting Committee: Re: District 3 Thank you for accepting public comments. District 3 is far too large and far too diverse. Please consider grouping counties such as Routt, Grand, Eagle, Summit, Pitkin, and Lake Counties together. We are tourism based, and although we do have ranching backgrounds, we are not similar to the rest of the rural Western slope. Thank you, Laura

Hello Redistricting 2020 committee, For ~25 years that I've lived in Boulder the City and County have become overwhelming Left of Center. It's getting so almost everyone in the County communicates the Left Agenda. Personally I think this is toxic to our balanced government. It is getting so only one opinion matters, the Left Opinion, and other opinions are silenced. The progressive democrat ego identity is a huge wall of programmed reactions to all situations. the City and County of Boulder need a more balanced government that includes people from at least two parties. (Three or four would be better.) I don't know what the solution is: Maybe give us more of weld county right wing voters? Thanks for entertaining my opinion. Angela Green 80301 Unaffiliated Voter. (submitted by email 6/8/2021)

District boundaries need to be drawn from the common citizen's perspective of "communities of interest". The current boundaries are disheveled, meandering, arbitrary lines that could only be drawn as a result of an effort to manipulate results (aka, gerrymandering). I think the primary goal of the commission should be to repair the public's trust in the boundary drawing process. To do that, common folks need to understand the districts, and they need to be simple, contiguous areas that common folks are able to describe. Keep the boundaries to well-known features (major streets, rivers, Counties) while minimizing boundaries that meander just so the statistics can match up. I believe citizens will feel better represented by simple, contiguous regions even if the numbers behind them don't precisely meet the statistical objectives. Again - the common citizen should be the central interest, not the analyst.

Thank you, Colorado Independent Congressional Commission staff and commissioners, for your consideration of my public comment on communities of interest. My name is Emily Cervantes, and I am a resident of the City and County of Denver. I hope my comments will help inform the development of a preliminary map. Amendments Y & Z define a community of interest as “any group in Colorado that shares one or more substantial interests that may be subject to federal legislative action” and that “groups that may comprise a community of interest include racial, ethnic and language minority groups.” I want to share with you more about my community of interest in the Athmar Park neighborhood and for the greater Latino community throughout the state of Colorado. The Athmar Park Neighborhood community is a historically Latino neighborhood. Athmar Park is bordered by West Alameda Avenue on the north, South Federal Boulevard on the west, Mississippi Avenue on the south, and the South Platte River on the east. While the community is rapidly gentrifying, according to data from the Piton Foundation, the population remains majority Latino at about 71 percent (https://denvermetrodata.org/neighborhood/athmar-park). The people here are mainly working class and have lived here for many generations. The average household here (about 88 percent, https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/90326/2017_05_17_denver_lmi_housing_finalizedv4_lowqualityimages.pdf) is in the lower to middle income range. We do not have a major grocery store or major retailer, but we are peppered by locally owned businesses that cater to the Latino and Asian community. The greater Latino community in the state of Colorado tends to mirror my smaller Athmar community. The Latino community tends to live in concentrated numbers in communities that are predominantly Latino and greatly under resourced. Many Latino communities around the state lack good schools, jobs, and neighborhood grocery stores. I urge you to draw a map that adequately takes my community of interest into consideration. My hope is that your approved map will not weaken this community by drawing maps that will fracture our voice. I ask that you keep the pockets of Latino communities intact and avoid drawing lines that separate these various communities, thus lessening their ability to advocate for their best interests and elect representation that understands their unique needs. By taking the needs of my community of interest to remain untied, you will be ensuring that we have the ability to get the resources we need to improve the life of our community members. Thank you for your time and consideration. Emily Cervantes

Parker is now an urban/suburban area along with the rest of Douglas, Elbert, Arapahoe, and surrounding counties. We have distinct interests and a large divide from the rest of the current district. Please allow us to have someone who can represent our interests. We do not have much in common with the eastern rural part of the state anymore. We are commuters, business owners, and professionals. We do not share the same interest in agriculture. Thank you for taking our community into consideration.

June 6, 2021 Good Day Redistricting Commissioners, My name is Donna Smith and I want to thank the Commissioners for your commitment to this extremely important process we are facing in Colorado. It’s exciting to know that Colorado and specifically El Paso continue to grow but as the population changes, the decision facing the Commissioners could not be more vital in the lives of the Coloradans it affects. Although I am not from Colorado, I have chosen it as my home for the last 30 years. Having served in the military for this great country, I chose to remain in Colorado Springs after the conclusion of my military service. I bought my home here, raised my family here and for the last 20 years, I have been an administrator in a primary school. The educational community depends on common sense and collaboration from both parties for the success of our children. El Paso County should be left intact as one so that the voice of our community continues to be heard loud and clear regardless of party affiliation. If we do not keep that collaboration, the people who will ultimately lose, are the educators and the children of this community. I implore you to keep El Paso County whole. This community is flourishing, and any separation would seem like a punishment for its growth and ability to act as one. A grave disservice to the people who reside here and our bonds within the community and surrounding areas would be the only results in divorcing our district. For those not from this area we are unique in many ways. Like myself, many veterans are served right under the Pikes Peak shadow because of the large military presence that made Colorado home. Our economy is served by the armed forces and their spouses that work in our hospitals, schools and every other industry. However, the influx of our population is nowhere near the amount necessary to split El Paso into multiple districts. This community represents the citizens fairly and equally and dividing it would allow for undue partisan influences that would affect people that need bipartisan unity. This decision should be easier to make than those of the last year. I respectfully ask you to look at the facts – under the Y Amendment, El Paso has well under 750,000 residents…which is clearly one district. I appeal the Commissioners to make the only decision that is what is best for El Paso and keep the district whole. Sincerely, Donna L. Smith Security, CO

Hello Redistricting Commissioners, I want to start by thanking the Commission staff for your commitment to this particularly important process. As Colorado continues to grow and while populations ebb and flow, this pivotal decision could not be more crucial to myself and the people in our community. My name is Mischa Smith, and I am a rare El Paso County native. I have traveled this great country of ours and always chosen to stay right here. I attended Widefield District 3 for the entirety of my k-12 education, attended and graduated from University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and have spent my life working to make this community better. I love El Paso County, and I love her whole. As I mentioned above, I realize that our community continues to grow, but there is no need to tear apart the deep bonds these intersecting areas have forged. One of the best things about our constituency is that being home to multiple military bases we have the beauty of hosting lots of people on a rotating platform that keeps us well within our population to keep us operating as one district. The current bustling population offers a space for everyone from ranchers to city folks, to servicemen, to teachers, to our beloved front line workers. As we stand, we represent the best a community can offer. We represent all sides, fairly and equally. A move to divide us would simply mean playing partisan games with the peoples whose lives depend on nonpartisan solutions. We need you; we need you to keep us together to cement the working ideals we have fought to establish. The past year is the hardest we’ve had to face as a human race, and each of you still chose to step up and take on this enormous mission. I am grateful for all that you have done and will continue to do as esteemed members on this council. The other El Paso County citizens and I (just over 720,400 – which is nearly perfect for just one district!) will be even more indebted when you listen to our pleas, as the people who love this community as just as it is – complete and one. Thank you so much, Mischa Smith Colorado Springs, CO

I believe consideration should be given to including Routt, Grand, Summit, Eagle and Pitkin Counties in the same district due to commonality of interests. While these counties have interests in common with other Western Slope communities (such as water use), tourism (including but not limited to skiing) is much more integral to their economies. Tourism and the high level of second home ownership also impacts land use (and overuse) and creates a lack of affordable housing.

I believe that the 2020 Census has resulted in Colorado receiving an additional Congressional District. I expect that this may entail some redrawing of existing districts, so let me put in a plea to divide CD-3, where I live. This is an unwieldy district, one of the largest in the country that isn't itself a state. Residents of Western Slope communities have few interests in common with residents of Pueblo. I will await the final redistricting results with eager curiosity. Thank you!