Public Comments

Create as many competitive seats as possible to increase bi partisanship, policies that reflect the 80% not the extremes on either side of the aisle , compromise, and outreach to different constituencies in each district.

I am a citizen that support two separate counties (Weld and Logan counties) through varying boards. As this discussion pertains to redrawing the lines of congressional districts I have a few things that I think should be considered. First and foremost, 1/4th of this states population live in what would be considered rural or non urban communities of interest. With that being said, each individual region faces wide ranging issues such as agricultural practices and sustainability, energy production, wide reaching water issues, and natural resource management to name a few. This brings me to my second point. None of these 55 counties face the exact same issues and quite often are issues far afield from those faced in urban centers. With that being said I believe the joint plan, drafted by Pro 15, Action 22, and Club 20, will provide the most suitable and balanced representation for Coloradoans as a whole. By having two distinct rural districts the issues faced by these communities of interest can be addressed more succinctly. This would also allow for more concise direction on energy and agriculture, which the eastern half of the state is so well known for. Thank you, Kreg Vollmer

The Executive Committee of Congressional District 4, for the Democratic Party, met to discuss communities of interest within CD4. We feel that the current boundaries should be changed base on communities of interests related to jobs, land use, ethnicity, and non-partisan issues like road development requiring federal funds. Please see our complete letter attached. Dianne Bailey, Democratic Party CD4 Chair

It is critical that communities stay together and are able to vote so as to maintain the integrity of their community values. Any attempt to block, mangle or move community voices towards any particular party will not be taken lightly.

Please keep Larimer County separate from Boulder in all areas, Congressional, legislative and redistricting. We are agriculture and do not share big city values

Hello, my name is Beverly B. Wallace and my zip code is 80634. Below you will find my public comment submission to Colorado’s Congressional and Legislative Redistricting Commissions. I live in Greeley, Colorado in Weld County. Thank you for this important work that you are doing, it is a herculean task and most likely a thankless one, but I thank you. I understand my public comment will inform the creation of preliminary congressional and state legislative maps. Therefore, I wanted to share a bit about my community and the shared interests that unite us, as well as my community’s public policy concerns, the geographic area of my community, and features that are important to my community. First, while there are many interests that unite my community, the single greatest shared interest among my community is that we are a metropolitan, urban area in a rather rural county. Secondly, a major public policy concern of my community is that we are one of the fastest growing counties and cities in America. Lastly, the geographic boundaries of my community of interest are the greater metropolitan district of Greeley in Weld County. I am a Greeley native, a product of Greeley schools and the University of Northern Colorado. I have seen a lot of change to this part of Colorado, growing from less than 25,000 when I was born to a metropolitan district of more than 125,000 and a county that is well over 300,000. I live in what is now the nearly exact center of the city of Greeley. When we moved here to this neighborhood 30 years ago, we were on the farthest edge of the city. We have become a more diverse community, now with one of the largest Latinx populations in Colorado, if not the country. We also have thousands of immigrants from Somalia and Burma, with dozens of languages and dialects spoken in our schools. The meat packing plant here remains our largest single employer, but Greeley has become very diverse in its economic base, with healthcare, education, city management, construction, finance, retail and of course oil and gas as major employers. As a community, we have much more in common with other large metropolitan communities along the front range than we do with the rest of rural Weld County. We are more united and in line with much of eastern Larimer and Boulder counties than we are with the rural communities to our east. We share hospital systems, roads and infrastructure, water sources, and educational systems. As a University town, we are united in many ways with the other major universities. We have common recreational facilities, including the Poudre River Trail. Our retail shopping has become more conjoined with the shopping districts at the junction of HWY 34 and I25 where Weld and Larimer meet. We have common environmental concerns that effect our air, water and land use. I have included a map that I believe will fairly create a district that would be equitable, competitive, congruent, consecutive, and more representative of the common interests of the area. The pale green area to the north is the district I think would make the most sense for my community. I believe the next district lines should be drawn in a manner that adequately reflects and fairly represents my community’s interests, and this map also takes into consideration the rest of Colorado and how the districts might look. The second map shows voting by precincts in the area and the competitive nature of how the proposed new district would be as compared to how it is was in 2020. Thank you for taking the time to read my public comment, and God bless for this important work. Sincerely, Beverly B. Wallace Greeley, Colorado (native) assetara@aol.com

My concern would be that communities of interest would be divided by the redistricting in many areas of the state. Here is an example of what I am saying: If the state legislative district commission divides the house and/or senate districts between Larimer and Boulder counties it will divide those districts between two very different communities of interest. This is an example that should be done in any area of the state.

Dear Commissioners, I am a retired physician, who chose to retire in Grand County, Colorado a county of 15,525 people west of the Continental Divide and only 1 hour and 30 minutes from the greater Denver area. 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. To that end, I will attempt to paint you a picture of the Grand County I know. Grand County has vast public lands, but the jewel is the Rocky Mountain National Park, which it shares with Larimer County. Grand Lake is a Grand County town that benefits from the tourism coming into the park from the west side and Estes Park in Larimer county is the town that tourists enter from the east side of the park. Our community of interest therefore would be Rocky Mountain National Park and we share it with Larimer County. Both counties lost significant lands in the park from the East Troublesome Fire in Grand County and the Cameron Fire in Larimer County. Both counties therefore share the need for forest restoration, water shed restoration and other challenges. Both Counties need to put in place programs to prevent wildfires in the future. In addition to wildfires in Grand County and Larimer County, Boulder Count has had the CalWood Fire and the Left Hand Canyon fire this past year. Also Summit County shares fires along its border with Grand County along Highway 9 and around the Henderson Mill. All of these counties currently lie in Congressional District 2 and share similar communities of interest related to public lands and wildfires. Keeping Grand County in Congressional District 2 would continue to enhance their access to leaders who understand wildfire issues and challenges and their shared programs would augment the quality of life in Grand County. Please keep Grand County in Congressional District 2!

Dear Redistricting Commissioners, I am a retired health care provider who chose to retire in Grand County, Colorado a county of 15,525 people west of the Continental Divide and only 1 hour and 30 minutes from the greater Denver area. I have spent 7 years living full time in Tabernash, a part of Grand County 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. To that end, I will attempt to paint you a picture of the Grand County I know. Grand County is a county with a tourism-based economy. 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. 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 home owners all have proliferated. To have these secondary businesses, there are construction companies, schools, libraries, fire departments and house cleaning services, as well as medical care and hospitals. The ranching industry in GC accounts for approximately 20% of the yearly income attributed to tourism. Therefore, we are primarily a tourist-based economy, not a ranching economy. 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 severe 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. In addition, Grand County has a high dependency on the ability to bring workers in and most come in from the front range. 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 as well as Boulder County and Larimer County to work on and share solutions to these issues. We need to stay in Congressional District 2!

Dear Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission, I am a resident of Northwest Longmont, a major city in Boulder County. Longmont had a previous history of being a more religious and farming based town, in keeping with Loveland and Greeley. That is in the past. Longmont has no significant ranching presence except for areas much better described as "unincorporated Boulder County." Longmont can basically be described as "Boulder's retirement home." It is a town for people who work in Boulder but can't afford to live there. It is also a town that is highly diverse in age groups - just like there is a strong presence of retired people, there is also a strong youth presence due to Front Range Community College and multiple high schools. Just like how adults may live in Longmont because they can't afford housing in Boulder, college students may live in Longmont because they can't afford tuition at CU. This causes the age breakdown to look very similar in both towns. Longmont is also a town that has similar values to Boulder. Religiosity in the two cities are almost the same. Longmonters and Boulderites both have a strong history of being on the cutting edge of environmental issues such as fracking and open space. We both have strong affordable housing movements, and have a strong presence of people with value-based diets (all-organic, vegetarian, vegan, non-GMO, etc.). For these reasons, and for reasons of respecting county boundaries, I am recommending that Longmont be put in the 2nd congressional district, centered on the city of Boulder. If Longmont must be separated from the rest of Boulder County, it should be put in a new 8th district which focuses on Northern Colorado with Weld or Larimer County. It should not be in the 4th district as it was before. There is still some modicum of relationship between Longmont and cities like Fort Collins or Firestone, but there is zero relationship between Longmont and cities like Parker or Pueblo, let alone smaller towns like Lamar or Trinidad, other than possibly the racial makeup. I have included two maps. One is of Colorado divided into eight communities of interest, not abiding by any rules of Amendments Y & Z, including proportionality. Another is a map which attempts to conform to those rules, but still focusing most on communities of interest. Only the four largest counties are split in the latter map, including a split between JeffCo and Arapahoe which sought to keep the city of Columbine in one district. The Southeastern Latino community is kept together, as are mountain counties for the most part. Grand County is no longer in the 2nd district, Pueblo is no longer in the 3rd, and Gilpin and Clear Creek are kept together, as have been requested by those counties. Urban and Rural counties are paired up less often, as has been requested by rural advocacy groups. At least two districts are competitive immediately, and two may be competitive in the future, with no strong partisan bias. Thank you very much for your time and your hard work during this era of uncertainty in the process.