Saturday,  July 28, 2012 • Vol. 13--No. 014 • 9 of 35 •  Other Editions

Mud Creek
Letter to the Editor

• On May 10, 1773, King George II gave Royal Assent to the Tea Act passed earlier by the British Parliament. On December 16 of that same year, a group of colonists boarded a number of British East India ships and dumped their cargo of tea into Boston Harbor. "No taxation Without Representation" was a rallying cry.
• On July 24, 2012, a number of Brown County residents voted to create the Mud Creek Watershed District. The board of this newly formed district has the power to tax and has established the levy to be imposed on the landowners in the area.
• I am the landowner of record for some of the land included in the new watershed district, but am a legal resident of Colorado. I am disappointed that neighbors I have known for years made no effort to notify me of their intent beyond a few public notices placed in a few area news

papers. There is a big difference between legal requirement and common courtesy.
• Hurt feelings aside, the real issue is my disenfranchisement with respect to the disposition and taxation of the land for which I am responsible. I suspect I am not the only landowner in the area that was either not allowed to vote or was not aware that a vote was up-coming, and I doubt that I am the only landowner in the newly formed district that feels cheated. What was that rallying cry again?
• As a resident of Colorado, it seems unclear what recourse I have. Getting a group of colonists together and having it out with King George III - excuse me, my neighbors - is out of the question. In a few years, when I am a resident of South Dakota again, perhaps I will then be able to have a voice in keeping this sort of thing from happening to other landowners. Until then, I can only recommend to other so-called "non-resident landowners": Trust no one.
• David Sieh, Highlands Ranch, Colorado

© 2012 Groton Daily Independent • To send correspondence, click here.