New maps proposed at the third public hearing on Weld County’s redistricting maps this month will result in a fourth public hearing.
Commissioners Jason Maxey and Scott James brought forth their own maps for consideration on Wednesday.
Neither commissioner was entirely sold on any of the three options that were presented to the council on June 30, with James commenting on his overall disapproval of the process by describing it as the “Colorado Supreme Court telling us to follow our charter” earlier in the meeting.
James, the commissioner for District 2, proposed a map that focuses primarily on maintaining the compactness of his district. His map, the Beebe Draw Map, secures the communities around the Interstate 25 corridor as their own district, with the remainder of the county divided appropriately.
“When you apply compactness, especially to a district that is the fastest growing district arguably in the nation, my proposed District 2 is far more compact from a standpoint of distance from end to end,” James said.
Maxey, who represents District 1, proposed a map that was almost identical to James’, with the only difference being that a handful of precincts were swapped between District 1 and District 3. However, according to Maxey, his map was built around Colo. 52 as a divider, as it is a more natural line of demarcation.
“I have a lot of experience in the Carbon Valley, working for a local utility down there, and it is amazing the difference between north of 52, south of 52, the different communities, there are different interests,” Maxey said. “To me, that seems like a very reasonable line to make in that I-25 corridor.”
Both the BeeBee Draw map and Maxey’s Lone Creek map will be available for residents to view as early as Friday, according to county staff.
With the addition of two new maps, the commissioners have scheduled an additional public hearing for 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 4 at the Pawnee Conference Room of the Weld County Administration Building, 1150 O St., Greeley. Additionally, the commissioners will listen to public comment regarding the new maps during their regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, July 30, located in the same building.
Residents who attended the third public hearing on Wednesday showed support for the redistricting measure, with many supporting the South Platte Plan. In attendance was Barb Whinery, one of the plaintiffs in the initial lawsuit that kicked off the redistricting process, who voiced her own support for the South Platte Plan, saying it divided things fairly while keeping any future development in mind.
“I landed on South Platte because it followed (Highway) 34 along District 1 all the way out to Highway 25, and transportation is important to me,” Whinery said. “I also don’t know what’s going to happen with the Cascadia development, but I kept that in mind, and I’m trying to keep that to one side and not have half on that one side of the highway and the other half on the other. I don’t know what’s going to happen out there, and every time I drive down (Highway) 34, there’s another whole set of apartments that just went up the night before.”
Though the Redistricting Advisory Committee presented only three maps, residents were also able to submit their own maps. One such map was given to them on Wednesday, inspired by comments at previous hearings, which proposed setting the city of Greeley as its own district and dividing the remainder of the county between the remaining two districts.
The state requires that redistricting officials make an effort to keep communities of interest and political subdivisions intact, as well as ensure that each district is competitive, with similar population sizes across the districts, and that there is no greater than a 5% deviation between them. County staff also shared that there was a third, more nebulous, requirement of compactness to each of the proposed districts.
While the commissioners acknowledged that the map keeping Greeley whole addresses many previous complaints, they said it does not adhere to the criteria of compactness.
The county has been in the process of redrawing district lines since March 2024, when a Weld District judge ruled that the county had improperly drawn the county district lines under a state law meant to prevent gerrymandering. Over the past several months, the county’s nine-member Redistricting Advisory Committee has met weekly.
As county officials consider the new maps, they have delayed their decision, which had an original deadline of Friday. The commissioners will now announce their decision on Wednesday, Aug. 6, the latest possible date to make the decision, according to the county clerk’s office.
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