Letter to the Editor:  The State Erased Our Town, Took Our Taxes, and Left Us Thirsty

To the Editor,

The media narrative surrounding Hartman’s abandonment has focused heavily on local “infighting.” As a resident trapped in this crisis, I want the public to see how our elected officials used sensationalized headlines to strip away our democratic rights and desert their constituents.

Hartman’s governance collapse was engineered by non-certified individuals who spent years blocking petitions and recall elections— even ignoring a 2024 vote where residents explicitly rejected unincorporation.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office holds three official audio exhibits (Exhibits LL, MM, and NN) proving outside agencies and rogue actors actively paralyzed our town.

Instead of protecting our voting rights, State Senator Rod Pelton and Representative Ty Winter punished us by drafting and supporting the emergency fast-track law, Senate Bill 26-157, which Governor Jared Polis then signed.

Senator Pelton previously promised our community “tough love” via a water tanker where we would have to haul our own water. Yet, we aren’t even deemed deserving of that.

SB 26-157 didn’t solve a crisis; it gave our representatives an escape hatch to erase their responsibilities.

This bill has left us in a permanent state of limbo with no one in authority. It is objectively worse than before. By dissolving our town, the state stripped away our legal standing to apply for grants or help ourselves, while forcing no one to take responsibility.

Today, Prowers County has inherited five to six years of our property taxes, yet there seems to be no obligation to provide us with potable water.

We are we being punished.  And for what, telling the truth and revealing the state’s failed laws?

Our town is gone, our money is seized, and residents cannot get a single bottle of clean water.

They have left us thirsty in more ways than one: thirsty for water, thirsty for justice, and thirsty for the truth to prevail.

Shawna Casey – Hartman Resident