I am writing to express concerns of the Peak to Peak Housing and Human Services Alliance about the proposed movement of the town of Nederland, and part of other mountain communities along the East side of the Continental Divide, into Congressional District 3 from District 2 and the impact that such redistricting would have in our community of interest.

The Peak to Peak Housing and Human Services Alliance (P2PHHS) is a collaboration of human service agencies that serve Western Boulder County, and include the Emergency Family Assistance Association, The OUR Center, Center for People With Disabilities, Nederland Food Pantry, Lyons Emergency Assistance Fund, The Old Gallery, TEENS, Inc., Wild Bear Nature Center, and multiple other organizations. See https://www.p2phhs.org/ for more information. All members of P2PHHS serve the entire Peak to Peak region of Western Boulder County.

As we understand the redistricting process, one of the goals is to combine, or keep together, communities of interest. Nederland is the largest community and serves as the hub for most activities involving Western Boulder County, thus separating one or two small parts of Western Boulder County will lead to hardship and lack of appropriate representation for all those living in the area.

Allenspark, Bar K, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lyons, and Nederland are communities of like interests and often work together to address their similar interests. In addition, those of us living along the Eastern side of the Continental Divide have virtually nothing in common with those living on the Western Slope other than living at a higher elevation.

Based on our understanding of “Communities of Interest,” which we understand is a key element when determining redistricting, they must share public policy concerns such as education, employment, environment, public health, transportation, water needs and supplies, and issues of demonstrable regional concern. The Western Boulder County mountain communities share all of these issues with the rest of Boulder County and none with communities across the Continental Divide:

Education is provided by the Boulder Valley School District and St Vrain Valley School Districts, while the East Grand School District provides education for the Western Slope;

People living in Western Boulder County, work either locally or in more Eastern parts of Boulder County. That is, no one travels across the Continental Divide for work;

Western Boulder County experiences unique weather and environmental issues, upslope Winter storms and drought conditions for example, that directly affect the communities downstream and that are different than those experienced along the Western Slope;

Public Health is managed by the Public Health agencies of the county in which the communities are located;

Transportation needs are addressed through Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) for Nederland and Western Boulder County, while there are no public transportation options to the Western Slope;

Nearly all major disasters in Boulder County start in Western Boulder County and recovery efforts are initiated and often managed by Nederland and Peak to Peak NGOs as a result of difficulties with bringing aid to Western Boulder County.

In summary, Boulder and the mountain communities of Boulder County are a critical urban/mountain corridor with aligned interests, including environmental stewardship, conservation, recreation, and flood, fire and wildlife concerns.

Furthermore, the Boulder County Mountain communities are very much tied to Boulder through employment, education, public health, and human services. Separating any portion of Western Boulder County is, quite simply, incomprehensible. And it will have a significant negative impact on the ability of our communities to engage with our elected representatives and successfully advocate for the needs of our community. Please keep our community of interest whole when reviewing the proposed redistricting lines.

For additional information, check out https://redistricting.colorado.gov/