Weld commissioners plan to appeal judge’s redistricting ruling

And taxpayers are footing the bill

The Gadfly apologizes, readers, for the extended absence. It’s been a busy bull sale season, and the Gadfly’s day job has been a bit demanding. But he does have some news to bring you on the county front.

But first, a bit of recap.

More than a year ago now, the Gadfly opined that a legal brouhaha was likely after the Board of Weld County Commissioners gave the Colorado Legislature the proverbial finger and opted to ignore a new law that governs how county commissioners must conduct redistricting of their own districts.

Readers will recall, of course, that redistricting is a legal line-drawing effort at most every level that takes place every decade, give or take. It’s done because population levels rise and fall, and representative democracy, as our republican form of government relies upon, requires accurate proportional representation to properly ascertain the will of the majority.

Clear as mud already? Good. Suffice it to say, we draw legal lines to put people into districts that are as close to equal in population as possible.

But equal population isn’t the only criteria we rely upon to draw good districts. For example, in the United States, we recognize a troubled history of unequal racial power dynamics and thus the necessity of protecting those long marginalized groups with proper representation when it can easily be provided by legal means. We can do so with legal lines by drawing a historically significant grouping of Latino residents into a single district, for example, rather than spreading them across multiple districts to dilute their political power.

But there are forces, of course, which work to combat this effort. The all-Republican county commissioners have feigned innocence and pure intent as they work to subvert the will of Colorado voters, whose representatives crafted a new law to ensure even lowly county commissioners must adhere to basic fairness and transparency as they draw their own district lines.

The commissioners had new district lines drawn up virtually in secret, changed few boundaries from the 2012 map — despite massive population growth in the county — and refused to provide a passable excuse for breaking up county seat Greeley — where a larger percentage of Latinos reside compared to the rest of the county — into all three districts, in complete opposition to state law.

Outraged at this, two groups combined to sue: The League of Women Voters of Greeley and Weld County, and the Latino Coalition of Weld County. They were joined by a “friend of the court” brief from Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who urged the judge to rule in favor of the groups and against the county.

And they were successful. In early March, a Weld district judge ruled in favor of the two groups in what’s called summary judgment, which effectively implies their arguments were so clearly correct and the county’s defense so legally dubious that the judge was able to decide the legal question before any major hearings even took place.

The county commissioners were clearly furious. After speaking with the county attorney, Bruce Barker, and the lawyers the county has hired to protect them, the commissioners filed motions to reconsider, essentially asking the judge for a do-over.

Unsurprisingly, the judge wasn’t convinced. On April 1, Weld District Judge Todd Taylor again ruled in favor of the two groups, saying courts don’t let one side try to bring up new arguments after rulings have been issued just because they’re unhappy with the result.

And so, the Gadfly inquired with the county about what exactly the plan is at this point. As an election looms in November, the judge’s ruling forbids the county from using its current commissioner district maps and requires them to conduct a proper, legal redistricting effort.

But it seems the county isn’t ready to follow the law just yet. This morning, the Gadfly received the following email from county staff:

“The county will be filing a Notice of Appeal within the time frame allowed by the rules.”

And so it seems this saga is destined to continue. And apropos, the Gadfly will highlight one more nugget of info from this morning’s email: The county has spent $57,744 on this losing legal battle as of Monday.

Yes, readers, the county commissioners have spent nearly $60,000 of your taxpayer money to defend their lawlessness and protect themselves from political accountability at the ballot box. And because they plan to appeal, that amount will no doubt increase.

Enough is enough. The Weld commissioners have no ground to stand on in their defense of their own pocketbooks (the commissioners make $105,000 per year), and they should be ashamed of themselves.

Greeley voters in particular deserve a commissioner who has our needs and wants top of mind at all times. It’s clear that’s not the case currently, and the Gadfly, for one, won’t rest until that state of things comes to pass.

Until then, the Gadfly passes on his sincere gratitude to his readers, who have been generous with their contributions in this era of inflation. He knows those dollars come with an expectation of performance, and he will labor to meet and exceed the moment.

In the meantime, the Gadly will enjoy this lovely spring weather. Adieu.