Public Comments

I want to thank each of the Commissioners, each of the Staff members, and especially Chairwoman Hare and Vice Chair Brawner for all of your hard work on redistricting. Chairwoman Hare's steady, fair and strong leadership has been an essential part of this process. Looking through the occasional butting of heads (and I certainly have disagreed with some of you more than others 😉) you have worked as a team for the good of all Colorado residents. You should be proud of what you have accomplished here. Thank you!

Thank you for listening to the people with creating a map that is much better at representing our state and rural areas.

My name is Heather DeVos and I have lived in Steamboat springs for over 40 years working in the ski industry as a ski instructor/coach/supervisor /certification examiner for the Steamboat resort, Professional Ski Instructors of America’s Rocky Mountain Division and Steamboat’s local winter sports club (SSWSC). I am writing also in behalf of my husband Rick who also has been in ski industry for 40 years with over 10 years as a director of Steamboat’s ski school and a Vice President and over 10 years running the SSWSC, the largest and most prestigious ski club in USA. I have previously submitted detailed reasons for never allowing Steamboat to be placed in a district with Boulder with whom we will never be able to have our small community and county interests and values upheld. We have nothing in common with them from a community of interest perspective- not in water rights, watersheds, roadways, employment, industries, businesses, values, recreation, agricultural/rural character and ski resorts. Front range ski hills are not destination resorts which all lie on the western slope. I was overjoyed to see the best and fairest redistricting for Congress in last week’s paper keeping CD3 relatively intact. It also drew as paper stated an “evenly divided delegation to the house of Representatives” and created a very competitive new district 8 with Greeley area to northern suburbs of Denver. This is the map we need to keep and this is where Boulder belongs with like communities of interest of I-25 corridor towns and large cities! You simply can’t put us with Boulder or any front range large city. We are appalled at today’s paper reversing Thursday’s map 2 and putting Steamboat back in with Boulder. This must be reversed back to Thursday’s CD district map to give us a voice in our congressional representative. “Large parts of Larimer and Boulder Counties” have everything in common with each other as large populous front range counties which should be grouped together or with other front range counties. As paper said map number 1 put seemingly opposite communities of Craig and Boulder in same district to which the city of Steamboat and Routt County should have been added as an opposite community of interest to Boulder also. We are bound together by the Yampa river drainage, coal and ranching industries and rural values! Moffat, Rio Blanco and Garfield Counties have communities of interest with us and none of our west slope counties do with a Boulder or front range in a congressional district! Thursday’s CD map 2 was better for communities of interest on west slope with its west slope water rights and river drainages, roads, values, recreation, economies, jobs and issues. Eagle County has much more of a community interest with Routt County than with east slope Clear Creek and Gilpin Counties which want west slope water and again are connected to the front range in employment, roads and communities of interest along I-25 corridor. As to the senate district, commission itself is politicizing redistricting against its own rules by taking Routt out of an incumbents district (Rankin’s) and putting it into a current incumbent’s house district with reported Roberts interest in running for senate. Our senate district should be left fairly much like it is. In summary Western slope Communities of interest comprised of small cities, small towns and vast rural and recreational lands should all be grouped into western slope districts - congressional and state- and never grouped with front range or east slope large cities and high density, urban areas and east slope counties. The only exceptions to the east west slope dividing lines for districts to maintain the major objective of uniting communities of interest of small towns and of small counties with vastly rural, agricultural and recreational counties would be adding the east slope areas of Jackson County west of the Never Summer Range and rural areas to the north containing the north Platte river drainage. Grand County is west slope and always should be considered to be added to other west slope counties as needed to balance out state district numbers. Nothing of east slope like Gilpin or Clear Creek Counties should be added be added to it or any western slope county to make a district - congressional or state. Keeping CD3 as close as possible to current boundaries would be best from community of interest perspective. Only to balance numbers should a change be made to it and that should always be west slope making east slope additions only if absolutely necessary for numbers by adding areas as far south as possible well below front range metropolitan areas. To sum up state house district, keeping Eagle with Routt and/or other west slope and more northerly county areas like Grand which would comprise the main river drainages of Vail area and Colorado River with parts of Yampa river and maintain communities of interest. Placing west slope Summit and Eagle Counties which contain most of the major ski resorts with Routt’s Steamboat ski resort would also keep communities of interest rather than than adding Gilpin or Clear Creek east slope counties to Eagle which would not keep communities of interest! Keeping Moffat and Rio Blanco Counties which are all very rural, very agricultural, recreational and have proportionately more energy related industries separate from mega ski resort counties is best for their communities of interests in a house district. Moffat and Rio Blanco could be added to Routt for a house district but probably would be best as historically grouped with areas south of them and to areas east of or near Grand Junction. This would unite road and highway and work related communities of interest best for all of northwest Colorado. Again no west slope counties have communities of interest with any front range counties for a house district. The commission is not prioritizing the commission’s own stated views of “prioritizing” “rural and agricultural communities” with “shared interest” if you place Routt Counties 20,000 residents into a congressional district with Boulder whose rural and agricultural interest is zero and which has huge large city industries, population densities and mega university! This is also true when you place Eagle County or any west slope county in a house district with a Gilpin or Clear creek east slope counties. Lastly I know comments are supposed to be non political so you can disregard the next few sentences if you like but it is the commission itself that is making redistricting political. By drawing district lines like 1st and 3rd maps of congressional districts have done and as clearly stated in our local paper: map 3 in Monday’s Steamboat paper edition imbalances the Democratic and Republican districts 35 to 21 respectively where map 2 it states had balanced them. Map “3” again could bring on commission heads claims of them politicizing or gerrymandering! Please keep west slope districts all west slope. Preserve our western character and values and communities of interest. Thank you so much for your time, consideration and service to the citizens of Steamboat, Routt County and all of Colorado.

Thanks for mostly restoring the Western Slope as a district. I am writing today to ask once again that you not have Routt County be the sacrificial lamb. We are continually being lumped into Boulder, despite our comments asking for the opposite. I live in an agricultural and coal mining town. Boulder has a disdain for our way of life, which depends on the fossil fuel industry and meat production. The wolf reintroduction is a clear picture of our differing interests. Please, don’t put rural Routt County, which is 49% not Steamboat, in with Front Range big cities (and not all in Steamboat are city dwellers). The first map was the only one that treated us fairly. Rural Routt matters. Thanks again for your time!

Please keep all of Eagle County intact, in District 3. Our county is rural, ranching , and a tourist center. We are not a large metropolitan region. Our needs and representation should reflect a very unique region. Thank you.

Thank you so much for giving us a voice and taking the time to listen to us. The September 23rd, Third Staff Plan Map is genius. Great job! This map TICKS the boxes of many of the so desperately needed issues; mainly it accounts for two rural districts (CHECK #1). The Constitution requires the map to have equal populations, this map does (CHECK #2). The map allows the Congressional districts to not be broken up (CHECK #3) and at the same time ensures the Congressional districts are well represented and not dominated by Denver (CHECK #4). Very importantly the communities of interest, social and economic, are grouped accordingly (CHECK #5). Lastly, the number of politically competitive districts are at a maximum (CHECK #6). Superbly done, Commissioners!

Please do not split Broomfield in half between districts. I am a Broomfield resident and we are a community that deserves a voice.

Mixing Routt County with cities that have little in common with us does not give rural communities adequate representation.

I want to thank the Commissioners and Staff for putting Broomfield and Superior together in HD-33. These two communities become one community of interest in many ways including: transportation with US 36, north metro rail and multimodal transportation, low flight paths and noise from Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, Jefferson Pkwy; health and safety issues including Rocky Flats, oil and gas development (few people know that a well pad was proposed in Superior that would have drilled under Rocky Flats), Northern Front Range air quality (which is highly affected by fracking); housing and caring for the unhoused, regional sustainability, open space, etc I also want to thank each Commissioner and each member of Staff for the excellent job you've all done together. This has been a long and intense process. You are truly appreciated for your commitment to the residents of Colorado. Thank you! Neil Allaire, speaking for myself

Thank you for your efforts in redistricting. I think your plan #3 is about as good as you can do.