New Colo. House districts could divide Gunnison County in two

“A population with clout will no longer have clout”

On December 5, the Colorado Reapportionment Commission submitted a redistricting plan to the Colorado Supreme Court that would split Gunnison County between two districts for the Colorado House of Representatives. The final decision took the Board of County Commissioners by surprise, and under their direction, the county attorney’s office is drafting a statement in opposition to the plan.

“This board has supported keeping Gunnison County whole… and then we learned at the 11th hour and 59th minute that an alternate plan was forwarded to the supreme court,” said Commissioner Hap Channell.
If approved by the Supreme Court, Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte would be included in District 61 to the north, and Gunnison would be included in District 59 to the south. The Board of County Commissioners met with county deputy attorney Art Trezise on December 6 to discuss the county’s opposition.
“For practical purposes virtually every other municipality in the county has been segregated from Gunnison,” said Trezise.
For the commissioners, that raises significant concerns that Gunnison County issues will not get enough representation in the House.
“A population which had some clout will no longer have clout. The chances of us having a representative from Gunnison County will go down significantly—or even have a representative come here,” Channell said.
“When we are divided we comprise about 10 percent of the district, whereas together we would be 20 percent of the district, and that’s a huge, significant difference. You get to have a say when you’re 20 percent,” Commissioner Paula Swenson added.
The change would also have significant implications for the elections office. According to elections officer Kathy Simillion, it would likely result in about 36 different styles of ballots. In some cases, that could double the cost of ballots, particularly in a general election year. In 2008, the last presidential election, the county spent $33,807.56 on ballots.
But Trezise advised the commissioners to frame the county’s objections in a way that the Supreme Court can actually consider. Their role is fairly narrow, he said. The Colorado constitution mandates that redistricting, which is completed following the federal Census, maintain equal populations between districts within a 5 percent margin. In addition, redistricting should not disturb election precincts, and it should maintain the integrity of counties and communities of mutual interest.
 “We have to focus our arguments on those three provisions,” he said.
The attorney’s office will draft its opposition to the plan by demonstrating that an alternate plan created by the Reapportionment Commission would not fracture Gunnison County. The county will also argue that the current plan fragments the county, splits four general election precincts and does not create compact districts.
“You’re not supposed to divide a county if you can help it, and you have to have a factual showing that there is no alternative, and by virtue of the fact that they have a plan completed already necessarily proves that there is a less drastic alternative,” Trezise said.
Members of the public shared similar concerns with the commissioners, including Steve Schechter, who sits on the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District  (UGRWCD) board.
“Right now this county has general counsel John McClow sitting on the [UGRWCD ] board and then we have Bill Trampe on the Interbasin Compact Committee, and I think if they go ahead and emasculate us like this, when it comes to water matters we’re not going to have any say,” he said. “And this might be part of the reason they have emasculated us because we are too vocal on water. I don’t think they like it on the Front Range, so I think it is very important to send a message to the Supreme Court that this is not good for this county.”
Ramon Reed, chair of the Gunnison County Planning Commission, also added his two cents, commenting on the impact of Colorado’s geography on districting.
“The two districts that [the county] is split into are almost impossible travel districts, with Gunnison on the outskirts of each one of those districts from the population centers. When you consider Red Mountain Pass, all of the passes that it would take to go from, say, Frisco and Summit County to Crested Butte, it makes almost impossible for communities of interest,” he said.
The Gunnison County Democratic Central Committee also expressed its opposition to the change. The commissioners thanked them for their input and asked Trezise to move forward with the statement of opposition. The Supreme Court must make a decision on the redistricting plan by December 14.