Imagine living in a place so dysfunctional that literally every single elected official throws up their hands and walks out. Well, that's exactly what happened in Hartman, Colorado, a southeastern hamlet of roughly 30 people near the Kansas border that just got officially declared abandoned by the state. As Trending Politics reported, the Colorado Secretary of State's Office made it official this week after finding zero trustees, zero clerks, zero functioning authority, and water that apparently smells like a crime scene.
So how does an entire government just evaporate? Glad you asked. The mayor bounced back in October. Then in January, the three remaining trustees handed in their resignations, one day after a physical altercation broke out between four women following a board meeting. Yes, you read that correctly. A brawl. At a government meeting. In a town with fewer residents than your average yoga class.
Former trustee Pam Packer explained the exodus to The Denver Post by saying their personal safety mattered more than maintaining a government. And honestly? When your town meetings feature fistfights, embezzlement accusations, and restraining orders, maybe she has a point.
But here's where it goes from absurd to genuinely concerning. Hartman's water system has been under a boil advisory since October 2025. The water reportedly lacked chlorine for over a month, wasn't safe to drink, and smelled terrible. The water tank itself is compromised and desperately needs repair or replacement. Nobody is currently operating the system at all.
Oh, and it gets even more painful. The state had already provided grants totaling over a million dollars to fix Hartman's water infrastructure. But those funds were reimbursement based, meaning someone needed to sign contracts to access them. With no government officials remaining, that money just sat there, completely untouchable, like a gift card nobody can unwrap.
State officials from the Department of Local Affairs testified they'd been trying to help Hartman for five or six years. Since 2022 alone, representatives visited the town more than 30 times to assist with elections, recalls, resignations, budgets, audits, and training new officials. Thirty visits! At some point you have to wonder if they were just keeping a frequent flyer punch card.
In mid June, resident Jessie Simmons filed an application with the Secretary of State requesting an official abandonment determination. Deputy Secretary Andrew Kline agreed it was the only legal path forward, writing that leaving residents in limbo during a health hazard with no authority to conduct business or fix infrastructure simply wasn't an option.
The abandonment order now transfers streets and public property to the Prowers County Board of Commissioners. Critical water infrastructure also goes to the county, which must then hand it off to an entity that actually specializes in water treatment or delivery.
For Hartman's 30 or so remaining residents, being labeled abandoned isn't an insult. It's literally the only legal mechanism in Colorado that creates a pathway for someone else to step in and deliver clean drinking water. After months of dysfunction, brawling, mass resignations, and undrinkable water, the state finally pulled the plug on a town that had already pulled it on itself.
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