Public asked to weigh in on changes to district boundaries
PITKIN COUNTY, COLO. (May 26, 2023) - The Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) this week selected their preferred option for redrawing commissioner district boundaries that will be in effect for elections in 2024. Redistricting impacts the 2024 election by determining the district from which a candidate may run.
The public is invited to weigh in with comments on the redistricting plan between now and June 28, the next scheduled meeting on this topic. Maps and information on all of the redistricting options may be viewed online.
“Option 6” emerged Wednesday as the top choice for the BOCC, which also acts as the redistricting commission. This was the commission’s second of three required meetings, though if significant changes to the selected option need to be made, the review timetable will be adjusted accordingly.
Reviewing districts every 10 years is required by Colorado statute to ensure they are as close as possible in population, with no more than a 5 percent deviation allowed between the most populous and least populous districts.
Following implementation, the preferred option would see a population difference of 3.56 percent between districts. At present and based upon the 2020 census, the population difference between the five commissioner districts is 15.07 percent. In the preferred option, District 1 is the high district (with 3,520 people) and District 5 is the low district (with 3,397 people).
The BOCC initially studied three redistricting options that were presented by county staff, applying criteria such as retaining “communities of interest” like neighborhoods, special districts and geographical boundaries while creating “de minimis,” or the least amount of change, to the existing districts.
In early May, the BOCC exercised its option to act as a redistricting commission, as Commissioner Steve Child worked with the county’s GIS department to create three additional options.
The preferred option achieves the lowest percent difference between the most and least populous districts, but it does affect the boundaries and overall population in each district.
The BOCC began its study of revising commissioner boundaries on April 18 with a goal of completing the process by late summer.
Media contact: Marci Suazo, Pitkin County Communications Manager, marci.suazo@pitkincounty.com, (970) 309-2343