Public Comments

We have fought for decades to make Larimer blue - finally achieved it - and there are rumors we’re going to lose our amazing congressman, Rep. Joe Neguse, and be thrown into a district led by insurrection-supporter Ken Buck. Please leave us with the representation we fought so hard to elect. Thank you.

I am writing to strongly encourage the committee keep Berthoud in Joe Neguese’s congressional district. The town of Berthoud is no longer a rural outpost and aligns more closely with Joe’s current constituency.

Berthoud resides firmly within the democratic county of Larimer County. We voted for Joe Neguse and do not wish to have our community, or any part of our county, represented by Ken Buck, whose republican ideals do not represent the ideals that we voted for. Furthermore, as our community has moved from a population of 5000 to 11000 in the last 5 years, we have become more democratically minded as a community and would not be happy with Ken Buck as our leader. Please reconsider this redistricting move.

Berthoud should remain in its current district. Our family moved from Ken Buck's district. We did not vote for him. We voted for Joe. We moved to this area because of what it shares with loveland, Fort Collins and the boulder county areas. Forcing us back under Ken Buck after we have voted in an election cycle for someone else is anti-democratic. There is no need to redistrict.

As a resident of Berthoud, CO, I do not want to be moved out of Joe Neguse’s district and into Ken Bucks district. I would be very upset if you did this. I voted for Joe and I want to remain in his district. I didn't and wouldn't vote for Ken Bucks. Please honor my vote and keep us in the district we voted for and are currently in.

Members and staff of the Redistricting Commissions, I thank you for taking on this task, and thank you for allowing me to share how I define my own community. I’m Doug Pryce. I live in downtown Denver, on the border between the business district and Lodo. Residences are predominantly apartments and condos. I see my community as being loosely defined around the 16th St Mall shuttle. To the northwest, my community includes Lodo, is bordered by the Platte River, or possibly I-25. To the west, I would include the Auraria Campus. To the south and southeast my community bumps up against the Capitol, the City offices and south to the museums and Central Library. To the east, Broadway. To the northeast, probably around 20th Street or Park Av up to Coors Field. The 16th Street Mall shuttle may be the landmark, but mass transportation is a broader theme that defines this community. On the northwest (Union Station) end of the Mall shuttle, you have light rail terminals that radiate throughout the Denver Metro area and include a light rail to the airport. Union Station itself is both the Amtrak connection for Colorado and a major bus terminal for Metro Denver. On the Civic Center end of the Mall shuttle is the other major bus terminal serving Metro Denver. Mass transportation is not the only theme to my district, but it is certainly a significant one. Many in my community pride themselves on rarely using their cars. Other than road trip vacations, I probably drive only a couple thousand miles in the course of a year. I hope this helps you understand the perspective of the city-center resident. I ask that you keep this community intact as you define Colorado’s Districts. Thank you again for the work that you’re doing. Doug Pryce

Please keep are representative who is truly representing me and my family! Joe is always speaking truth to power - we need him!

To the Redistricting Commissions and Commission staff : Thank you so much for serving in this important role. I appreciate that you’re willing to dedicate your time to make sure Colorado is successful in initiating such a critical process. I’m Doug Pryce, a retired resident of downtown Denver. While serving 27 years on an electric distribution cooperative board, I participated in redistricting our service area 3 or 4 times. I want to share with you some lessons I’ve learned. I believe the criterion of preserving political subdivisions is very important. If you mix a city with its surrounding suburbs or rural territory, you risk having many representatives from the city and few from the perimeter. The urban candidate can more easily generate a political base for campaigning, and the denser population of the city is more easily reached by campaign media such as yard signs. Conversely, the “additional” criterion of maximizing the number of competitive districts strikes me as vague and subject to different interpretations and political game-playing. Are you to compare the number of registered voters in each party in a proposed district? Do you attempt to have an equivalent number of each party, or do you try to match the proportion of each party statewide? The former interpretation favors the minority party, the latter favors the majority party. And the quality and history of the candidates themselves are probably the biggest factors to being “competitive,” yet those attributes are impossible to include in the redistricting process. I ENCOURAGE YOU TO HAVE A PROBABILITY SPECIALIST DEMONSTRATE HOW THIS CRITERION FAVORS ONE POLITICAL PARTY OVER THE OTHER. Please recognize that the Continental Divide is a demarcation line. We currently have at least one state legislative district that spans the divide. In the past, I lived in one such district and the communities of interest on opposite sides of the Divide were vastly different. While you’re protecting against gerrymandering, remember that it is not just creating unusually shaped districts; it is also one party being concentrated in some districts (winning those districts by a landslide), while the other party maintains parity or even a slight edge in other districts (winning by a nose). That second party is gaining more political power than it deserves. It is inevitable that certain districts will be heavily D, others will be heavily R. It is the geographic nature of our State. Staying focused on keeping districts “compact” will keep game-playing and abuse to a minimum. Especially be wary of arguments to elongate a district in order to make it competitive. Thank you for allowing me to share my experience. Douglas Pryce

As a Berthoud resident, I am very concerned to see a proposal to move us put of district 2 and into district 3 or 4 with Weld county. Berthoud may be geographically close to Weld, but most people I know who live here work, shop, and generally travel up and down the 287 corridor between Boulder and Ft. Collins. Most Berthoud people will tell you they do a majority of their shopping in Loveland or Longmont. Because of this, it has always made sense that the representative of Berthoud citizens also represent Ft. Collins, Loveland, Longmont, and so on, as these are the places we work and are an extension of our home community. Please consider this before placing Berthoud in a new district. Thank you.

I am writing to strongly encourage the committee keep Berthoud in Joe Neguese’s congressional district. The town of Berthoud is no longer a rural outpost and aligns more closely with Joe’s current constituency. Thanks, Maureen Dower