The El Paso County Redistricting Commission launched its public input process Monday night during a contentious first redistricting meeting, where residents and commissioners rallied concern over the importance of certain communities of interest, including military bases and communities of color in southeast Colorado Springs.

The meeting, held in Monument in District 1, was the first of five meetings to be held in each current commissioner district. The redistricting commission, consisting of the current five members of the El Paso County Board of Commissioners, has until Sept. 30 to redraw their constituent districts.

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Under House Bill 21-1047, passed in 2021,  counties cannot see more than 5% deviation between their most and least populous districts . The bill also encourages, as much as possible, preserving “communities of interest – such as urban, rural or trade areas, or other factors like education, environment or water needs – to ensure “fair and effective representation.”

According to El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Steve Schleiker, each new district should have a population of roughly 146,550 based on 2020 U.S. Census data.

“Certain types of communities of interest mean more to some people and other types of communities of interest mean more to other people,” Commissioner Stan VanderWerf told residents. “We all have to recognize as a community that … it’s impossible to fully meet keeping every community of interest together.”

Schleiker presented the commission with the results of five map redraws, serving as starting points, requested at an introductory meeting in May. 

Map A showed regulated populations with “minimal changes” in election cycles and Map B showed a minimum amount of voter precincts moved between districts. Both would move Fort Carson from District 4 to District 3. Map C kept Security-Widefield, Hanover and Fountain together as communities of interest.

Map D kept the west side of Interstate 25 together as a community of interest with special wildland urban interface needs, thus splitting Monument into two districts. Map E moved the Air Force Academy to District 3 and overpopulated Districts 3 and 5 to accommodate for expected booming growth in the eastern portions of the county.

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Because commissioners representing Districts 2, 3 and 4 are elected on presidential cycles and residents of 1 and 5 elected on gubernatorial cycles, moving voting precincts between districts to achieve equal populations could create “super-voters” who vote again in 2024 or disenfranchise “starved voters” until 2026. 

While all maps were within the 5% population deviation requirement, Maps C and E pushed closest with both over 4.8%. Of all the maps, Maps D and E created the highest numbers of both super- and starved voters – at least 17,300 and 10,000, respectively – and were both the least politically competitive, based on results of the 2020 presidential election and 2022 gubernatorial, U.S. Senate, Colorado Secretary of State and El Paso County Sheriff races.

Residents spoke in favor of keeping Monument together rather than splitting it along Interstate 25, harkening to the belief that Monument residents have more in common, regardless of their side of the interstate, with each other than those in Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs.

“Manitou Springs … has a different school district, different utility providers and different local economy,” Monument resident James Howell said.

While the meeting was held in District 1, most concern raised by residents surrounded the current division of southeast Colorado Springs into three districts – a decision, they said, that largely “dilutes” the vote of people of color.

“I encourage you to take a look at those districts, those precincts, that have the highest proportion of black and Latino voters that are contiguous,” said John Mikos, a Monument resident and former El Paso County Democratic Party chair.

“Why (is) the southeast so consistently being disenfranchised?” a District 5, and former southeast Colorado Springs, resident asked. “The compassionate and close knit community of the southeast also happens to be predominantly people of color. Why are they not one of your communities of interest?”

District 4 Commissioner Longinos Gonzalez then noted that he had requested Map C, which kept the county’s southeast municipalities together, and that he would be open to keeping more of those neighborhoods in one district.

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“I’ve demonstrated an openness to that happening,” Gonzalez said in a raised voice, adding: “Somebody said Hispanics can’t get elected and we’re disenfranchised. I’m Hispanic, the first one elected (as a commissioner). We can do it.”

Ahead of the next redistricting meeting on June 21, the commission directed county staff to nix Maps D and E from consideration due to the “exceptionally large” number of disenfranchised voters, Commissioner Cami Bremer said, and rework Maps A and B to follow the same criteria but keep Fort Carson in District 4. 

Staff was also charged with creating a new map that would keep more of the eastern plains together and consolidate more of southeast Colorado Springs, defined at the meeting as including Harrison School District 2 and Eastborough area, in one district.

Click or tap here for the presentation slides detailing the five discussed maps.

Click or tap here for more information on the county Redistricting Commission, how to create and submit redistricting map proposals and further resources.