Public Comments

This Statewide endorsed opportunity is long overdue. We heartily urge you to add your support to this historic step to do the Right Thing!!

June 3, 2021 Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission Dear Commissioners, I am a retired health care provider who chose to retire in Grand County, Colorado a county only 1 hour and 30 minutes from the greater Denver area. I have spent 7 years living full time in Granby and have delved head-first into volunteering for this under-resourced and understaffed county. It has made me realize how important our elected officials are. I would like to commend you for your desire to create a non-partisan committee with the goal of avoiding gerrymandering and to create instead a fair and effective representation of all voices. Grand County has largely a tourism-based economy and a second home community for Denverites. According to Jessica Valand, The Director of Colorado Rural Workforce Consortium, Grand County has a high tourism base with many jobs coming out of the service section. (Grand Gazette, 9/2019). The Winter Park Resort, Devil’s Thumb Resort, Granby Ranch Ski area, Snow Mountain Ranch at YMCA all draw tourists and define our service-based economy. To support these industries, restaurants, ski shops, hotels and second homeowners all have proliferated. Keep in mind that the ranching industry in Grand County accounts for approximately 20% of the yearly income in the county. Other nearby counties such as Summit County and Eagle County have the same resort-based economies and share the same challenges with having a low wage service economy and affordable housing deficits. I would like to see Grand County stay with Congressional District 2 to share solutions with counties that have similar “communities of interest”. Grand County is having a crisis in affordable housing which may be described as a community of interest. Our resort-based economy has low paid service jobs, but the cost of housing is high. It shares these challenges as a “community of interest” with Summit County whose residents often live in Grand County, but commute to Summit County for jobs. Housing for employees in Summit County also live in Park County and commute to Summit County to work. Federal labor laws and federal laws that impact highways (I-70) would apply to this transportation/housing community of interest. I think that our district should include Summit County and Park County to work on and share solutions to these issues. We need to stay in Congressional District 2! Thank you, John Riedel 782 Ten Mile Drive Granby, CO 80446

To the Redistricting Committee: Thank you for serving on the Redistricting Committee 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, Summit County, or Pitkin 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, Penn Lukens

My name is Cassie Tanner and I serve as the President on the West Metro Fire Protection District Board of Directors. West Metro Fire Rescue is a full service, all hazard fire and rescue agency that covers more than 108 square miles and serves nearly 280,000 residents. Our special district serves Wheat Ridge, Edgewater, Lakewood, and parts of unincorporated Jefferson County including Applewood, Dakota Ridge, and Ken Caryl. Our congressional districts should reflect our communities shared interests and the West Metro Fire Protection District is one of those shared interests. West Metro Fire should be deemed a community of interest in your consideration of congressional district lines and I would recommend the district be in one congressional district. Thank you.

Wind Energy in South-Central Colorado Commissioner’s: By now you are probably familiar with the Citizens of True Southern Colorado’s efforts of have the commission form a Congressional District in South-Central Colorado and in an effort to further convince you that this would be the correct move for Colloredo we would like to direct your attention to a common ground subject that is vital to South-Central Colorado. Traditional and Alterative Energy in South-Central Colorado. The history of energy production within the State of Colorado began and still is a particularly important part of South-Central Colorado’s role in our economy. When people began to settle in Colorado after the Civil War immigrants from Italy, and the Balkan Peninsula of Southern Europe came to Trinidad, Walsenburg, Pueblo, Cañon City, and Florence Colorado to work in the coal mines, work at the CF&I Steel Mill in Pueblo and also to harvest oil at the Florence Oil Field. These poorly paid, hardworking, and proud people came to America and Colorado to start a new life and in the process developed the energy industry not only in Colorado, but through the West (Commissioner Leone, you should particularly know about this because your family was one of the immigrant families who settled in Trinidad). Commissioners, Industrial Colorado was made possible because of effort and sacrifices make in South-Central Colorado, not Denver, not Colorado Springs, not Aspen, Boulder, Vail. or Fort Collins, but Pueblo, Walsenburg, Trinidad, Cañon City and Florence. Greek miners died on April 20, 1914 because Governor Ammons, at the request of outside (Rockefellers’) investors, sent in the National Guard to evict them because these immigrants had the audacity to ask for a raise and as a result twenty people, including twelve women and children were killed. Commissioners, we (True Southern Coloradans) gave our blood and what we ask is the opportunity to elect our own representatives that actually live where we do, participate in our communities and are a part of our culture and heritage. Please form a South-Central Colorado Congressional District. Commissioners, this area is still a very solid part of Colorado’s energy equation and wind energy throughout the vast open spaces, solar energy including the largest solar generation station east of the Rocky Mountains (that is the largest Solar Generation Station of 2/3 of the United States in South-Central Colorado) which is in Pueblo, this project is call Bighorn Energy and will employ about 300 people. Also in Pueblo is the Vestas Wind turbines which manufactures the towers for these wind machines are build in Pueblo which employs around 800 people. Evraz Steel Mill, formally CF&I, is considered one of finest technological Steels Mills in the world, it produces rail, seamless tube, rod and bar and provides one of the most sophisticated technology centers in the steel industry. The mill employs over 1,000 people in Pueblo. Just a portion of Pueblo energy related industries employs over 2,000 people. Yet it is a struggle to have our own Congressional District, something is wrong, and what is wrong is the attitude that Denver, Colorado Springs, and most of (white) Colorado will not recognize the contributions that South-Central Colorado makes and has made this state for over the past one-hundred eighty years. Although the coal industry is not at its highest performance right now, the metallurgical coal is still inside both the Wet Mountains and the Southern Sangre De Christos which is part of the Raton Basin. Metallurgical coal is mainly used in steel production because this type of coal produces an extremely high heat intensity that produces coke (coal with the gases extracted from it) this type of coal has the potential to play a high prominent role in clean energy in the future. Metallurgical coal in Colorado is only found between Trinidad and Cañon City. In 1806, Zebulon Pike wrote in his ledger about springs of crude oil near Florence. The Florence oil field is the oldest continuous oil field in the United States and is essential in Colorado’s gas and oil energy industry. With the Florence oil operation and the Cañon City, Walsenburg, and Trinidad Coal deposits the employment potential is high for the future as all of South-Central Colorado Commissioners, with just the potential of energy in this one corridor of South-Central, along with all the other attributes that South-Central Colorado has to offer can you not see the tremendous potential this area would be as its own representation in Congress and to do this just annex Southern El Paso County which will provide the necessary population and because the southern portion of El paso County has and already strong economic base this will be any easy solution to create a Congressional District which will have the population requirement, present an equal impact as to the question of Political Posturing, maintain of strong geographical integrity, and the residents are probably more in line as far as ethic, cultural, and heritage as any place in Colorado. Create this district and you will have created a super zone for Colorado. It is a win, win situation for Colorado and South-Central Colorado alike because we have the history, we have made the sacrifice, and we want to control our own destiny and to do that we need our own Congressional District. Thomas McKenna – Citizens of True Southern Colorado

Thank you Colorado Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission staff and commissioners for your consideration of my public comment on communities of interest. My name is Belinda Enriquez Estrada and I am a resident of Brighton. My comments are intended to provide you information as you develop a preliminary Congressional 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 Brighton, Colorado. As you may be aware, the latino community in Adams County continues to grow and I want to share with you more about my community of interest and my family’s experience. As a latina in Adams County - from attending public school in Northglenn and living in both Northglenn and now Brighton - I can attest to just how rapidly our community is growing here and how our social and economic ties continue to deepen in Adams County. Furthermore, I want to point out why Adams County quickly became home and has remained home for my family and me: the availability of housing my family could afford combined with accessible resources has created ideal conditions for my family to lay our roots, a story that is common among many latinos in this area. When we first moved here 15 years ago, my family relied on resources ranging from food banks to low cost clinics and citizenship courses to help establish ourselves and fulfill or American dream. Access to these opportunities laid the foundation for my ability to pursue my goals as the daughter of immigrants, including graduating from college and obtaining a master’s degree. Additionally, I want to share with you a recent example of how the latino community in Adams County depends on local resources made available as a result of federal legislative action. When my mother needed to get access to a COVID-19 vaccine, she was able to go to a pop-up vaccination site not too far from our home. I feel fortunate that my mother was able to access this vaccine in our community given the inequitable access to the vaccine for latinos and communities of color. For these reasons and more, it’s critical for my latino community to be represented wholly within one district and I hope your congressional map reflects our growing community of interest here in Adams county. Thank you for your time and consideration. Belinda Enriquez Estrada

Why it is important to use the population of El Paso County for two separate Congressional Districts. Topics of Concern; Political Posturing, Area of Common Ground. Commissioners: In our previous communiques to you we have repeatedly suggested that El Paso County be split, and half of the population be used to form a new South-Central District and the Northern portion of El Paso County merge with Douglas County to form the 5th Congressional District. Based on your commission’s charge of maintaining a bias position, El Paso County would be the most ideal location in Colorado to examine a great concern of the committee of ‘Political Posturing’. El Paso County will in all likelihood achieve enough population to have sufficient population to be one Congressional District, and although their county leadership have all called for El Paso County not to be split up if you left this county in tact as one district you will exactly create an unfair and biased political situation. At present, El Paso County forms the strongest Republican district in Colorado and by leaving it as one entity you will do exactly what voters of Colorado asked you not to do, create a political strong hold. The solution is to create a border that extends from where US Highway 24 meets Teller County and run that border east on Highway 24 onto Pikes Peak Ave and out to Colorado 94 to the were it meets the Lincoln County line and any area north of this border will be placed into the 5th Congressional District and any area south of this border be a part of the either new Colorado 8th Congressional District or the Revised 3rd Congressional District ( the designation is up to you)r . Using this suggestion for mapping will do several things, however the two most important would be; to minimize ‘Political Posturing’ by placing the poor (less economical affluent people) most generally in the southern portion of El Paso and allow then to create an economic base with South- Central Colorado and it will also allow the more affluent northern section to join with Douglas County and form a strong district that will be influential through the Denver Metro Area. This will also allow you, as a commission, to will have achieved your goals as creating two fair, unbiased Congressional Districts that will help Colorado field a strong Colorado Congressional Delegation. Thomas McKenna – Citizens of True Southern Colorado

I live in Grand County. We moved here from Boulder and prefer to remain in district 2. I do not want to be represented by Bobert.

Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission Dear Commissioners, I would like to thank you for your desire to create a non-partisan committee with the goal of avoiding gerrymandering and to create instead a fair and effective representation of all voices. We live in Grand County, the headwaters of the Colorado River and the Fraser River. Our county is the vacationland of many Front Rangers, but is currently being treated unfairly in regards to water issues. This is a huge issue which will affect the entire state, and could be more fairly addressed by forming a separate congressional district. Currently, 70-80% of our water is pumped out from Grand County to the Front Range. Meanwhile, Grand County is being environmentally damaged from drying up our streams. As a result, Grand County is having to tax itself to pay for Front Range water demands, while no money comes from the Front Range. This in spite of the fact that approximately 70% of second home owners live on the Front Range and recreate here. Summit County, Eagle County, Pitkin and Routt County have similar challenges as Grand County with their tourist based economies and demands to provide water. It would provide better representation to keep all of the aforementioned counties in the same congressional district. It would not be a fair and balanced treatment to group all of these counties in a single western slope district, as accessibility to our Congressional representation would be extremely difficult. Redistricting is all about insuring equal representation among citizens that also provides for ready access to one’s elected representatives. Accessing a representative in Rifle, as is currently the case in CD3, would be very discouraging for Grand County citizens. Therefore, given the geographic area involved in western Colorado and the differences between the “Grand Mesa” counties and the tourist based mountain counties, we would recommend forming a separate congressional district comprised of Grand, Summit, Eagle, Pitkin and Routt Counties with a second district incorporating the further west agriculture counties. Such a grouping would allow for strong representation for those counties with tourist based economies and their issues with further strong representation for the agriculture based counties and their issues. Thank you for your consideration of our concerns. Ken Fucik Deb Thomas-Dobersen

I have lived in Pueblo County since 1963 and am a second-generation Coloradoan. The Southern Colorado region has a unique and racially diverse rich culture and history, with farming being very significant here. Therefore, water issues are an important factor. Also, we need economic development in this region, especially east-west routes and rail connectivity including passenger. As it stands now, the Southern Colorado region is economically underdeveloped. At present, we have few issues in common with District 3 as it now stands. This water Basin redistricting plan looks appropriate to me. Please consider this plan for redistricting. I cannot get a copy of the map to go with this. I am referring to the The Southern Colorado River Basins (SCRB) redistricting plan. Thank you for your attention.