Public Comments

Please do not redistrict Larimer County with Weld County and instead leave it with Boulder County. Larimer and Boulder County share many of the same economic, cultural, and environmental values. For this reason, we should be able to pool our voices instead of being diluted by this unneeded change. Weld County is to dissimilar a region with differing markets, no mountains communities, and limitless oil and gas lobbying. Thanks

Attached for your consideration is a letter from the co-chairs of the Amendment Y&Z campaign. Please let me know if you have any questions or if they can help in any way.

SE Colorado's voice continues to be diluted due to lack of representation from rural communities. We continue to struggle with programs that our communities cannot qualify for because of size and population. Housing is an example; programs are designed for developments with over 45 units. Transportation is another industry not addressed in the outlying areas; the mass traffic is flowing through our areas. Healthcare and education should be equally available to all citizens in Colorado. The economic base of SE Colorado comes from farming and ranching. The lack of understanding from how the food chain works to the cost and techniques of providing food for Colorado and the nation creates initiatives and laws that adversely affect the largest industry in our area. My request is the commission take an unbiased approach to the redistricting and really look at the areas and industries in Colorado currently without equal representation. Think outside the box and ensure rural communities continue to have a voice. As you create a map look at options such as only including the rural communities in the outlying areas (ie eastern side of state from Nebraska to Oklahoma) as a district. The same could occur in other directions from the metropolitan area. Once a finger of the district includes a larger populated area with uncommon industries and interest, the voice of rural Colorado goes away.

Weld County and Larimer County should not be united by redistricting. They are substantially, importantly different with respect to population identities, education priorities, environmental issues and everything else. Don't delete our values, priorities, by putting us in one box.

I feel Larimer County should remain with Boulder County. We both have strong educational sectors in CU and CSU. Boulder County and Larimer County share the same health system; which is very important to me and my family. Our counties tourism industry is strong ; offering our residents many opportunities for outdoor activities that Weld County does not. I-25 splits our counties in half. District 2 is great the way it is. Please do not change. Thank you

Larimer County is much different in culture, industry, recreation, and education. Do not lump Larimer together with Weld County. Larimer has much more in common with Boulder County and the Larimer and Boulder Counties should be together in a congressional district.

To whom it may concern, I am concerned about the possibility of combining Larimer and Weld counties in the same district. Larimer and Weld have extremely different economies. Weld relies on a large amount of oil and gas and agriculture. Larimer is similar to Boulder County in that it has a large amount of tourism and advanced technology companies. In Larimer and Boulder Counties there is an obvious commitment to outdoor recreation and the foothills that unite us geographically along the Front Range. Larimer and Boulder counties must continue to fight and mitigate the risk of forest fires, which are not a concern for Weld County. Also, I-25 is a natural geographic separation between districts. Higher education is a crucial portion of the Boulder and Larimer County communities; it is much less so in Weld. Weld and Larimer have much too disparate characters to combine them. Sincerely, Dr. Richard Pass

I would like to share several reasons I believe a redistricting should favor combining Larimer and Boulder counties over Larimer and Weld counties. First, districts should comprise areas that have similar interests in terms of their cultural and financial basis. Congressional District 2 is great the way it is and should change as little as possible. I believe Boulder County and Larimer County share many of the same cultural and revenue generating sectors. They both have a strong tourism industry, they both have strong educational sectors in CSU and CU, with all the attendant research and high tech spin offs. Boulder County and Larimer County share an interest in aeronautical development and innovation. They also both share in the Bioscience and the Clean Energy industry. Finally, they share the same health system, UCH. The health system in Weld County is mainly run by Banner Health, which has an entirely different approach to UCH. Apart from industry, they have a shared interest in fighting forest fires adjacent to their main areas of population. They both offer to their residents many opportunities for outdoor recreation. Each one of the examples above illustrates a much more convincing argument for our District to include Boulder County and Larimer County, not Weld County. Districts should also be as compact as possible. I-25 is a dividing line between east and west (Weld and Larimer) , whereas Larimer and Boulder are contiguous with no intervening geographical dividing line. Thank you.

I am a resident of Larimer County and I wanted to comment on upcoming redistricting in Colorado. I am concerned about the potential for Larimer County to be redistricted with Weld County. Currently, Congressional District 2, including Larimer County is oriented towards addressing climate change and innovating alternative energy sources. Fort Collins, where I live, has one of the most ambitious emissions reduction plans in the world. As Congressional District 2, Larimer County and Boulder County depend on our outdoor recreation for tourism, resident well-being, and conservation. Weld County overall has not indicated urgency or interest in planning for climate change; much of its economy revolves around oil and gas extraction and feedlots (another major emissions-producing industry). Furthermore, Weld County has explored the idea of leaving Colorado all together to join Wyoming because of this cultural and economic divide around energy industry. (https://coloradosun.com/2021/01/27/weld-county-secession-wyoming/). It is difficult to imagine Weld County being as invested in preserving our natural resources and adapting to my town and county's climate change goals. Thank you.

Hello Commission, I am against redistricting Larimer with Weld county. The two counties are very different where as Boulder and Larimer have many familiarities. Weld county has many oil and gas companies along with a more agriculture base with more farms a meat packing plants. Larimer like Boulder county is invested in higher education, clean energy, recreation, and tourism. I feel it would be a mistake to match Larimer county with Weld county.