Arizona Senate Concurrent Resolution 1015 calls for a constitutional amendment changing the State Mine Inspector from an elected position to one appointed by the Governor.The actual language would add an Article 19 to the Arizona constitution:
article xix. mines
1. Mine
inspector; mine safety laws
Section
1. A. The governor shall appoint a state mine inspector
with the advice and consent of the senate. The mine inspector serves
at the pleasure of the governor. The legislature shall enact laws
prescribing the qualifications and duties of the state mine inspector.
B. The
legislature shall enact laws regulating the operation and equipment of mines in
this state to provide for the health and safety of mine workers in connection
with their work in mines.
If passed, the Secretary of State would submit this
proposition to the voters at the next general election as provided by article
XXI, Constitution of Arizona.
Similar bills are introduced almost every year but rarely even get a hearing. Arizona has the only elected mine inspector in the nation and probably in the world. The current Mine Inspector is Joe Hart, who is serving his second 4-year term.
The qualifications for this position are stringent and it is the utmost importance to have a person in this position who is not a "politician". It is more of a technical position even though it is a miserable proposition to run for office. The office has one
ReplyDeleteimportant function. It is not political. It has to do with miner safety and health. How on earth can a governor who is not understanding nor has no mining experience or a good technical understanding of the Arizona mining industry dictate what is best for the miners who work hard to extract the minerals we all use and need? Safety must always be the overriding responsibility of the mine inspector and not whether the political wind blows from east to west nor north to south.
Obviously this seems to be driven by mining industry lobbyists and to do this would be the worst thing that can be done to our most important resource, and that is our miners who work in this industry which supports our state. It would be a short sighted thing to do for narrow interests and not in the best interests of our mining community which supports not only miners, but contractors, vendors, consultants, engineers which amount to over 50000 jobs in this state. Once again, small gain for narrow political interests and huge loss for our mining industry! Really bad idea!
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