Residents of Colorado town ask state to reject abandonment
Amanda Pampuro
(CN) — Several residents from the small Colorado town of Hartman traveled 200 miles to urge the Colorado secretary of state’s office on Monday to reject a petition for abandonment filed under a newly minted law that expedites the process to declare towns with failing water infrastructure abandoned.
“This isn’t a simple question of whether we have a government. I want to make sure you know why this happened,” said Hartman resident Shauna Casey, testifying on her 70th birthday.
Located 10 miles from Kansas and 200 miles from Denver, Hartman remains home to three dozen residents, several beloved dogs, a New Deal-era gymnasium, two vintage but sturdy playgrounds and a 100-year-old water tower in desperate need of repair.
Following the town’s last government meeting on Jan. 23, former mayor pro vice Melissa Venegas confronted trustee Tammy Lucero over a water bill issue, and the two had a physical altercation.
Both women were charged with misdemeanor counts of disturbing the peace and given deferred sentences. A second trustee, Velma Cassanova-Cooper, suffered a seizure and went to the hospital, according to the police report.
Following the incident, the board of trustees paid the electric bill to keep the water pump running through June and resigned, bringing town records and property to Prowers County officials.
Without a mayor, a board of trustees, or a clerk to hold an election, Hartman was left without a functioning government. In efforts to preserve local control, neither the county nor the state is authorized to run municipal elections.
“There is no government currently elected in the town of Hartman,” Eric Bergman, director of the Division of Local Affairs, testified. “There is no clerk or water operator and all their materials were turned over to the county of Prowers.”
Until this year, Colorado law prevented the secretary of state from holding official abandonment proceedings for five years after the date of the town’s last election. Unable to hire a water operator or pay the bill to run the groundwater pump, Hartman would have been left with few options and no running water through 2030.
A new law signed by Democratic Governor Jared Polis allows the limited expedition for the abandonment of towns like Hartman that have no functioning government and critical water infrastructure.
The law also provides grant funds to support Hartman’s water infrastructure through abandonment proceedings. Bergman said the state Department of Safety is currently soliciting proposals from contractors for the job. After the abandonment petition submission, Prowers County coordinated with the Department of Safety to restore water access when the power was cut on July 7.
Hartman resident Jesse Simmons submitted the petition for abandonment on June 18, but did not appear to testify at the hearing.
All who signed up to speak did so against declaring the town abandoned.
“Why can’t good old Colorado help this little town?” Hartman resident Greta Caddick asked. “I’m in disbelief it’s come to this.”
Deputy Secretary of State Andrew Klein, who presided over the hearing, said he was disappointed the petitioner did not appear to argue the case.
Klein said he will consider documents and testimony detailing recent petitions to recall and replace the Hartman officials who left their posts, but the questions he must decide narrowly hinge on whether Hartman has government officials who can hold an election and whether the town has critical water infrastructure.
“I am coming into this with an objective view of the facts,” Klein said. “It is abundantly clear to me residents are concerned about the county providing an opportunity to restart the government, and I’m going to ask our lawyers to look into it."
Although the abandonment bill passed both chambers of the Colorado General Assembly unanimously, the question of declaring the town abandoned remains controversial among residents who have sought restoration of their ability to hold an election.
“We petitioned the district court to restore Hartman’s governance,” Casey said. “We asked for a lawful election, for oversight, for an administrator and for compliance with Title 31 because residents were present, engaged and willing to serve.”
Earlier Monday afternoon, Klein also considered a petition for the abandonment of the Mineral County town of North Creed, which was established in 1892 and held its last election in 1984.
The North Creed proceedings were driven by the county attorney who filed for abandonment and featured one public comment from a landowner concerned about losing municipal services for which she pays taxes.
Klein did not indicate how he would decide either petition but promised an order within 10 days.
“Democracy is not a spectator sport; thank you for being here,” Klein said.