Re: “Colorado’s growing political divide leaves rural communities feeling forgotten and voiceless,” Dec. 24 news story (part of Colorado Divide series).
I am a native, suburban-dwelling Coloradan. Regarding your Sunday front-page article on northeast Colorado, I have a few issues. The gentlemen profiled in the article claim to be under-represented in politics, but claim residence in a town of 270 people (Iliff), in a county of about 22,000 (Logan). I’d think they’d have more sway in local politics than people in my city, which spans two counties holding a million people. We elect 10 members and a mayor to the city council to represent over 300,000 folks. Their state House and Senate districts are geographically large but sparsely populated by a homogeneous demographic group, and rural districts are represented at roughly the same percentage as urban in the state legislature.
I don’t think their issues are unimportant, nor their votes less meaningful, but if they want more political impact, they need to convince a majority of other residents through compromise and consensus-building, of the importance of their issues and the suitability of their candidates, just like the rest of us. If you want a voice in politics, you have to work for it. Frankly, their votes for limiting the initiative process, while successful, and for the current occupant of the White House just to “shake things up,” don’t inspire in me a lot of admiration for their political judgment.
ٱ𱹱ʱٱ, ܰǰ
The imbalance of state government services for Colorado counties is to be expected, because that imbalance is built into the state constitution.
The U.S. Constitution recognizes two elements of sovereignty, by equalizing representation of the people in its House and by equalizing representation of the land (states) in its Senate. The Colorado constitution equalizes representation of the people, only, in both its House and in its Senate. Representation of the land (counties) is not equalized.
Imagine a Colorado state Senate composed of seven senators, each representing a river basin of Colorado, where the counties of each have equal representation. Would the priorities of a new urban bike trail or rural road improvement then receive realistic consideration?
ܳDz, Evergreen
I find it ironic that many on the Eastern Plains are complaining about financing roads, health and schools. These citizens continue to vote for Republican representatives who refuse to support increased taxes via ballot initiatives that would solve many of these problems.
Robert A. Schmidt, Fort Collins
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