Some stirrings in Aurora indicate that it’s time to take another look at our county boundaries in Colorado. Aurora sits due east of Denver and it flanks East Colfax Avenue. The portions of Aurora that are north of Colfax are in Adams County (the county seat is in Brighton). Most of the south part is in Arapahoe County (Littleton), although a little bit of Aurora extends into Douglas County (Castle Rock).
Aurora is the third-largest city in our state, and it doesn’t make much sense to divide government processes, like courts and record-keeping, along antiquated political boundaries that might have made sense a century ago but do not reflect modern population patterns.
Thus, Aurora City Councilman Steve Hogan recently introduced an ordinance for a City and County of Aurora. If the City Council approves it, it would go before Aurora voters in November, and if they approve it, it would go to a statewide ballot in 2008.
A statewide ballot is necessary because our county boundaries are enshrined in our oft-amended state constitution. That’s another aspect of Colorado political geography that makes no sense. Such elections ought to be limited to residents of the affected counties.
Colorado voters have been responsive, though. Broomfield County passed in 1998, thus clearing up the jurisdictional mess that results when an urban area grows at the juncture of Adams, Boulder and Jefferson counties. And if its formation has resulted in an oppressive, expensive government, no one has told me about it, and on some days it seems that I hear from every Coloradan who’s mad at government at any level, from the local sanitation board to the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs.
In our state’s earlier years, county boundaries were quickly adjusted to suit population changes. In part, that was because transportation was more difficult then, and prospectors needed to get to the county seat quickly to file their claims. Thus, when there were silver discoveries in the Wet Mountains just after statehood, the state responded by making Custer County out of the south end of Fremont County.
Likewise, a silver rush to Creede resulted in the 1893 formation of Mineral County from portions of Saguache, Hinsdale and Rio Grande counties. As ranchers and farmers populated the High Plains in the 1880s, they got nearby county seats at Fort Morgan, Sterling, Springfield, Lamar, etc.
In other words, our county boundaries were not carved in stone, never to be disturbed. One county, Greenwood, on the Eastern Plains, was formed in 1870 and dissolved in 1874.
There are lots of places where the current boundaries make no sense. Consider the controversy over the proposed village at the Wolf Creek Ski Area. It’s in Mineral County. But there’s no paved road that stays in Mineral County that connects it to the county seat at Creede, about 50 miles away. Del Norte, the seat of Rio Grande County, is less than 40 miles away, and Pagosa Springs, seat of Archuleta County, is even closer, about 20 miles away. Wouldn’t it make sense to have the county seat as close as reasonably possible?
And wouldn’t it make sense for the county commissioners who make the decisions to have to live with the consequences? As it is, Mineral County can decide on the residential and commercial development and collect the sales and property taxes. But Rio Grande and Archuleta counties will bear the costs of services. When you get right down to it, it’s a form of taxation without representation.
Nor is that the only bizarre boundary. Basalt is 18 miles from the Pitkin County seat of Aspen, and 24 miles from the Garfield County seat in Glenwood Springs. But it’s in Eagle County, and the county seat is 55 miles away. Sargents sits right between two county seats, Salida and Gunnison each about 33 miles distant, but it’s in Saguache County, and if you want to take a paved road to the county seat, it’s 84 miles via Parlin or 79 miles via Poncha Springs.
Counties are simply administrative units for our state government, and the government is supposed to serve the people. Redrawing the boundaries, as was done often a century ago, should provide better service at a lower cost. Let’s hope the Aurora movement starts something that extends statewide and brings our map into alignment with today’s Colorado.
Ed Quillen of Salida (ed@cozine.com) is a former newspaper editor whose column appears Tuesday and Sunday.
