Public Comments

I live in Basalt, Eagle County. Our Congressional District now stretches from Grand Junction to the Eastern Slope. Insane. Our district should be centered on mountain communities that share economic and social interests such as outdoor recreation. District boundaries should mirror watersheds. For example, living in Basalt puts me 75 miles driving from our county seat. Policy concerns: Decent, affordable health care is a major issue. I employ 20 people. Health Insurance is our largest non-payroll expense. It is driving me to move my team out of rural Colorado. With covid, I now actively look to hire people where insurance costs less. We are a mountain community. Our district should reflect that. Finally, gerrymandering for me is an offense against not only me and my family's concerns but it is an assault on representative democracy. Thank you.

Please keep Larimer and Boulder together as they are communities of interest- college towns, foothill counties. Our interests are different than eastern plains and mountain towns.

Dear Commissioners, Chaffee County is a Mountain county with concerns about development, public lands, good paying jobs and affordable housing. We are a recreation based economy. We experience high rate of use of our public lands year round. We care more about our people more than we care about politics. We suffer with limited healthcare resources, poor quality/high cost internet service and pressure on our public lands and open spaces by development and recreation. The interests of Chaffee County are not represented by our state and federal elected officials. Our county should be districted with other mountain counties with similar concerns and economies. Our small county should not be divided for legislative purposes. Thank you, JoAnne Allen 505-797-4144

Dear Commissioners: As co-chairs of the Amendment Y&Z campaigns, we urge you to work together in the best interests of our state and to honor the deadlines included in those voter-approved measures. While the release of final census data needed to draw boundaries for Colorado's Legislative districts has been delayed, it is our belief that the amendments provide the Commission latitude with the process and sufficient data exist for the drafting and public discussion of "preliminary plans" that can be adjusted once final data are available (Recently, the Census Bureau said final data in a legacy format is anticipated to be released in mid-August). To that end, we would be happy to make the bipartisan team of attorneys who drafted these measures available to the Commission to answer your questions about the reasoning behind giving the Commission flexibility to change a number dates when unforeseen circumstances arise. To delay the drafting of preliminary plans risks, at worst, undermining confidence in our new redistricting process and, at best, limiting or rushing public engagement in a process that was supposed to strengthen the voices of our fellow citizens. Coloradans have a long history of working together to overcome obstacles for the betterment of our state, and we thank you for your willingness to serve as a member of the new Congressional Redistricting Commission to continue that tradition. Sincerely, Heidi Ganahl, Kent Thiry, and Joe Zimlich

Stop playing partisan politics with the district lines!!!!!

Town of Avon, Eagle County: 1) Shared interests: outdoor recreation, land and water conservation, wildlife conservation, and hunting. 2) Public policy concerns: land and water use. 3) Geographic areas or features: Holy Cross Wilderness Area, White River Ntl Forest access, wildlife corridors. 4) a) This community is VERY concerned about water resources, and the City of Aurora’s interest in further water development of Holy Cross Wilderness and Homestake Reservoir and Creek. My family has been in NE CO, on the S.Platte River, for over 170 years, and is very familiar with the entire State. I’ve been in Eagle County for nearly 35 years. By far, the most pressing resource is water. IMHO, Aurora should not be issued more water permits. Also, the Ogalala Aquifer is over used, and permits should continue to be stopped or rescinded. CO, and the High Plains, can only support a limited number of people. Please, don’t continue to facilitate suburban sprawl, or continue to ruin this great State and geographical area. To maintain quality of life, CO should remain wild, and not turn into Europe, all over again. Learn from history! b) It’s a peaceful, bipartisan valley. Republicans, particularly with agricultural backgrounds, are still residents here. The area doesn’t completely ideologically aline with Boulder. However, if we must aline for water rights clout, so be it.

I live in the Baker neighborhood in Denver. We have had some challenging issues with crime this year. The community is working class Democratic for the most part. I’d like to see a more competitive balance my community when it comes to redistricting as right now it seems stagnant

As a resident of Highlands Ranch, I believe that the proposed redistricting will effectively ignore, and therefore silence, the more urban areas of proposed District 4. Clearly, the more rural areas of Colorado deserve a voice. With this proposal, however, there is a small minority of more Urban areas and only a minimal consideration of urban concerns in District 4. This is unacceptable to me and, I am certain, many of the people of more urban areas. Thank you, Nancy Barton

Districts should be set with priority to major existing/clear demarcations like county lines, rivers, major roadways. Carveouts make no sense if it doesnt follow one of these already existing major "break points". Let's be better and draw stuff that makes sense and it easily identifiable for where you transition from one to another.

The 4th Congressional district doesn't represent us. The heavily rural, Republican bent literally gives Republicans the ability to win without campaigning or even trying to listen to opinions other than their own. This is true in both congressional and legislative races.