Commerce City asks for community input in redistricting work

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THE SURVEY SHOULD BE COMPLETED BY MID-APRIL 2022

Sofia Marquez

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In the following months, Commerce City citizens must give important input regarding their community. City Officials have begun two new processes of redistricting the city’s ward boundaries and deciding whether to change the way council members are chosen. These are two different processes that are intertwined, and public input is crucial. The decision will be made through a series of surveys and both in-person and virtual meetings.

The Census showed a significant growth and change for the city’s population, with the population increasing by 35.94 percent between the 2010 and 2020 Census. Anytime a city experiences this much growth, it needs to be ensured that there are the same amount of citizens per ward. Due to this, the City Council is redrawing the city’s boundaries, or “wards,” ensuring equal representation for its citizens.

City council will receive input from the community through community meetings and an online tool that will allow them to draw their own boundaries.

Keep or Change the City Council Elections?

Before they decide about redistricting, the city must first ask the public how they want to vote for their council members. Their council member election process has been in place since 1970, when the city’s charter was written. ​​Currently, Commerce City has eight city council positions. Each of the four wards votes for one representative from their community and the remaining four spots, as well as the mayor, are chosen at-large, or by the public, regardless of which ward they reside in.

On March 16^TH , 2022, the city will mail a survey about the system to vote for city councilors. There will be six options to choose from, the first three will maintain the current district electoral system, decided by the wards. The remaining three will consist of doing away with the wards entirely and have all the city councilmembers represent Commerce City at large. If the public were to choose any of these last options, the wards would no longer need to be drawn. This survey should be completed and mailed back in by mid-April 2022.

Resident Opinions

“These are two big projects [choosing the election system and re-drawing the electoral districts] that are interrelated and sort of feed off each other that way. So, resident input in both of those is what we’re really trying to push for this,” explains Dylan Gibson, City Council clerk.

For María Zubia, a community activist from Commerce City, it is crucial that the residents of the center and south of the city pay attention to the discussion of these issues and participate in the decision. “The southern area of ​​the city should elect two other representatives to the city council in addition to the current two,” Zubia said.

This activist continued, “Currently, most of the council members come from the north of the city. For me, it is important that we have more councilors elected by electoral districts and fewer councilors elected by the entire district”, Zubia specified, reiterating that the electoral district system consists of the fairest form of representation.

The Process

The opinion expressed by voters is very important. However, it is not a binding opinion. It will be the members of the council of Commerce City who will determine if the current system of electing councilors is maintained or if they propose another mode of election “This is a key issue. It is a call to action for our residents, to make sure that our voices are heard,” José Guardiola, former at-large city councilor.

Public Meeting

March 2nd, 2022

Eagle Pointe Recreation Center

6060 Parkway Dr.

Commerce City, CO 80022

Get Informed

c3gov.com