Secession fever cools, rural Colorado looks to retool representation

Fervor for a plan to carve northeastern Colorado into a 51st state has been cooled by legal barriers and a lack of public support, but commissioners from rural counties say they're not done fighting for better representation of their citizens. Secession remained on the table during a Monday afternoon meeting of nearly 20 commissioners from Cheyenne, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, Weld and Yuma counties, as well as administrators and interested residents. However, the counties now are contemplating the Phillips County Proposal, which would change the way state House districts are represented at the Capitol. The plan, offered by Phillips County Administrator Randy Schafer, would have representatives elected by county, rather than by population. "Rural residents are now a disenfranchised minority of Colorado," Schafer said. "National and urban values and needs are trumping rural values and needs." Schafer said the new proposal faces its own legal hurdles. He cited Reynolds vs. Sims, a 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case that ruled state legislative districts must be equal in population. Garcia and Cheyenne County Commissioner Rod Pelton favored remaining focused on secession. While it is possible that a secession question could be placed on the fall general election ballot, Pelton said he worries that another legislative session unfavorable to rural counties will have come and gone by the time a concrete plan from the Phillips Proposal is put together. One thing seemed to be unanimous among commissioners and residents alike: Change of some kind is necessary...more