Reapportionment committee's plan irks Isgar, Alexander

Reapportionment committee's plan irks Isgar, Alexander

September 6, 2001

"I feel that the inclusion of Hinsdale County in the district is a mistake."

— State Sen. Jim IsgarDistrict 6

By Janelle Holden
Journal Staff Writer

Voters in Montezuma County could share a state senator with Hinsdale County if a preliminary reapportionment plan is approved by the Colorado Supreme Court.

The draft plan, approved on Aug. 25, reconfigures Senate District 6, currently represented by Sen. Jim Isgar (D-Hesperus). The 11-member commission’s plan recommends changing the district to include Hinsdale County to the northeast of the district, and to exclude the western half of Montrose County.

The commission is required to change District 6 in some way because its population exceeds state standards. The 2000 census revealed that the district’s population of 134,132 people is nearly 12,000 over the ideal Senate district size. Federal law and the Colorado Constitution require that districts remain nearly equal in size to meet the state mandate of "one person, one vote."

With the changes the commission made, the district’s new population would be at 119,831.

Both Isgar, who represents District 6, and his potential Republican contender in 2002, Rep. Kay Alexander (R-Montrose), disagree with the plan.

"I feel that the inclusion of Hinsdale County in the district is a mistake," Isgar wrote in a letter to the committee. "When one looks at a map of Colorado without any topographical features on it, it may seem logical to include Hinsdale County in District 6. However, once one includes the massive mountain ranges of the Continental Divide on the map, the inclusion of Hinsdale County in District 6 becomes obviously in error."

He pointed out that Lake City, the Hinsdale County seat, is connected by highways only to the east and north and separated from the rest of the district by mountains.

Isgar also asked the commissioners to keep western, rural parts of Montrose County in District 6.

"I feel that excluding western Montrose County is a mistake because these citizens are mainly rural, ranching families with ties both socially and economically to Southwest Colorado," he wrote.

Alexander said she does not support the plan because she thinks it violates constitutional standards that require community of interests — ethnic, economic, cultural, demographic, trade and geographic — to be preserved within a single district whenever possible.

The area being taken out of the district and lumped with Grand Junction is both rural and agricultural in nature, whereas Mesa County is primarily urban.

"I have no problem with Hinsdale being in the district, my problem is in splitting up Montrose County," explained Alexander by phone on Tuesday.

"The area that is being taken out is a large agricultural area. My elected officials in the county are opposed to this, and the people of the county want to remain whole. It will also create an additional expense for the county, as then we’ll have several different ballots," she said. She added that the county has worked very hard to pull the west and the east sides of the county together and this could divide them even further.

Denis Berckefeldt, a spokesman for commissioner and state Sen. Bill Thiebaut (D-Pueblo), said that the senator would likely support implementing Isgar’s suggestions, but is against a Republican plan to take both Ouray and San Miguel counties out of the district instead.

Including Hinsdale County did cause some controversy among the commissioners and they voted 6 to 5 on the preliminary plan, but voted unanimously to approve the draft House-district reapportionment plan, which included Rep. Mark Larson’s (R-Cortez) suggestions.

Larson sent a letter to the commission in early June asking them not to split Archuleta County from the 59th District, but to instead shift Precinct 6, including McElmo Canyon and the town of Towaoc, to the 58th District, currently represented by Kay Alexander (R-Montrose).

The 59th House District currently consists of the six southernmost precincts of Montezuma County, and all of Archuleta, La Plata and San Juan counties. Montezuma County is divided between the 58th and the 59th. The draft plan would place the southwestern portion of Montezuma County in the 58th.

The commission plans to take public comments on the plan for both House and Senate districts at a public meeting scheduled for Friday, Sept. 7, at 6 p.m. at the La Plata County Building in the commissioners’ hearing room at 1060 E. Second Ave.

After the commission completes its public hearings across the state, the reapportionment plans will be finalized and presented to the Colorado Supreme Court in early December for approval.