The Weld County commissioners provided one last moment of dramatic tension in the county’s redistricting process as Commissioner Chair Perry Buck broke a tie Wednesday morning and selected the Poudre map.
Commissioner Scott James threw his support behind the Poudre map because he felt it best represented Weld County residents.
“The map doesn’t just meet the letter of Colorado’s redistricting law, it reflects the reality of how Weld County lives, works and travels,” he said. “It gives voters equal representation and preserves the voice of our Hispanic community. It’s legal, and it’s built to serve the people of Weld County for the next decade.”
Commissioner Lynette Peppler favored the Poudre map because it keeps LaSalle and the southern towns together in a single district.
The commissioners on Wednesday finalized the process of redistricting, which the county has undergone since March 2024, when a Weld County District judge ruled that the county had improperly drawn the county district lines under a recently passed state law meant to prevent gerrymandering, which was upheld by the Colorado Supreme Court later that year.
The five-person board of county commissioners consists of three district seats, with the other two commissioners representing all of Weld County. The county usually redistricts about every five years, to rebalance population sizes across the districts as required by the county’s Home Rule Charter.
After the Supreme Court ruling, the commissioners appointed a nine-person committee to develop three maps for the commissioners to consider, in accordance with the state’s redistricting law. The committee proposed the Poudre Plan, the Thompson Plan and the South Platte Plan.
James and Commissioner Jason Maxey had proposed their own maps, with James’ proposal focusing on keeping together transportation corridors, specifically the Interstate 25 corridor through his district. However, before this meeting, James had pulled his map because it was nearly identical to Maxey’s proposed map, which had a lesser population difference between the districts.
Maxey said he submitted his own map because the Redistricting Advisory Committee’s three proposed maps were nearly identical.
When it came to a vote, Maxey instead supported the South Platte map, which he said minimized the splitting of municipalities within the county and maintained the close population sizes across the districts.
“I believe municipalities are communities of interest. Lone Tree and South Platte minimize the split of the city of Evans into two districts, and Poudre and Thompson split Evans into three districts,” Maxey said. “The deviation between the most populous district and the least populous district is a little over 1,000, which equals close to only 1%.”
Commissioner Kevin Ross joined Maxey in support of the South Platte map, believing that it would keep the transportation corridor intact better than Poudre did, in addition to Maxey’s reasoning of not splitting municipalities apart.
To be a legal district map according to Colorado state law, the map must make an effort to keep communities of interest and political subdivisions intact, as well as ensure each district is competitive, with similar population sizes across the districts.
With the commissioners split on a decision, Buck became the tiebreaker.
“I want to thank the Redistricting Commission. That’s a lot of evenings, a lot of heavy lifting for all of you to help with this,” Buck said. “It was an incredible group of individuals, and again, it’s been said many times, thank you so much for all the hard work that you put into the maps.”
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
Hence then, the article about weld county commissioners approve poudre redistricting map was published today ( ) and is available on GreeleyTribune ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Weld County commissioners approve Poudre redistricting map )
Also on site :