Add The New York Post on Google They’re furious the government left them high and dry.
Residents of a small Colorado town abandoned by its government angrily called for the arrests of local officials — declaring that the town’s tainted drinking water and ship-jumping elected officials “should alarm every taxpayer.”
The tiny town of Hartman, CO, home to just 30 people, was left in the lurch with a hazardous water supply and zero leadership after an alleged embezzlement scandal and political infighting escalated to physical violence, according to residents and reports this week.
The bizarre case of civic dysfunction — in which elected officials suddenly resigned after allegations of fraud and violence — enraged locals, who said officials ditching their civic duties is potentially criminal.
“Hartman didn’t just fade away; its leadership handed the keys to the county and walked out the door, leaving the residents to deal with the fallout,” fumed resident Shawna Casey, a moderator of the Hartman Colorado Voice Facebook group.
“Residents are left carrying all the weight: You paid your property taxes, but your community won’t see the benefit of them.
“Your local water safety is reduced to a temporary, band-aid chlorine pump managed by outsiders. You no longer have a local mayor, clerk, or trustee board.”
Town officials who abandoned their posts should potentially face prison time, she said.
“Dissolving a town does not erase personal criminal liability, financial fraud, or civil rights violations committed while in office,” she wrote.
“When a municipality dissolves, its administrative structure disappears, but the illegal acts of individuals remain subject to state and federal prosecution.”
She didn’t specify who should be charged or for what.
“HARTMAN WASN’T JUST ABANDONED — THE SYSTEM FAILED IT,” raged another unidentified “moderator” of the Facebook group.
“[It] is a case that should alarm every taxpayer and every resident of a small municipality.”
The town, near the Kansas border, was declared abandoned by the state earlier this week after a public hearing showed it had no “Board of Trustees or Town Clerk, was unable to hold a town election, and owned infrastructure critical for the treatment or delivery of water to residents,” according to a state order.
“For years, Hartman went without audits. For years, citizens fought to establish a functioning local government and tried to keep their community from falling apart. They asked for accountability. They tried to restore legitimate governance. They kept pushing,” the unidentified moderator wrote.
“And what did they get? A government that ultimately walked away.”
The town had been without any form of government since Jan. 14 when three remaining board trustees resigned shortly after a brawl broke out between four older women following a heated meeting, the Denver Post reported in March.
The lack of leadership worsened its troubled water supply, and residents have been subject to a water boil to combat it since at least February.
“Not determining that the Town of Hartman is abandoned …would leave the residents in further legal limbo during a health hazard, with no authority to conduct business, hold elections, or fix their water infrastructure so that clean water can be delivered to the town residents,” Deputy Secretary of State Andrew Kline wrote an order Tuesday.
Residents of Hartman didn’t immediately return calls from The Post Friday.
