Saturday, April 18, 2015

Misguided Arizona Historical Society



Two witnesses at the April 17th AHS State Board meeting were shocked by what they heard. Making disparaging remarks about mineral museum supporters and the Legislature, attendees discussed their determination to use the Governor to convert the mineral museum into a “protocol meeting room and reception area for the Governor.” They made derogatory remarks about the mineral museum and its K-12 education programs. They also discussed their hopes of recruiting Senator Adam Driggs to frustrate Legislative efforts to stop their plan.

They also observed how the AHS is stonewalling the Legislature and the Office of the Auditor General over the findings of the unsatisfactory performance (Sunset) review. Representatives of the OAG reported that, after all this time, only 5 out of 45 deficiencies have been corrected.

Clearly, current AHS leadership has no interest in education, children, or even history. They are solely focused on their selfish interest of having a posh trophy facility near the Capitol that functions as a cocktail lounge for lobbyists. They also have no respect for state statutes or administrative policies.

This confirms claims made on this blog since 2010. Since 2009, the AHS has coveted a prestigious presence on the capitol mall, and they coveted the historic mineral museum building. Even though multiple efforts to achieve their goal have failed over the past five years, they still hold the building hostage for their dreams.

Kids be damned. They were in the way.

Note: Former Phoenix Mayor John Driggs (now deceased)  was a leader in the AHS effort to eliminate the mineral museum. However, Senator Adam Driggs voted for SB1200.

1 comment:

  1. This is so typical of AHS, and the new president's claim that the AHS Board was fighting him is not quit what he wanted people to believe at the legislature. This group thinks that the can tell Adam Driggs and our Governor what to do to further their disreputable agency. It's high time that the legislature and Governor agree that state buildings always belong to the people, not to the agency that happens to be receiving rent from the state to pay back to the state. If AHS tries to quick put something together to occupy the MMM building, the issue will be a hot topic in Jan. AHS would do well to correct the 40 remaining audit exceptions.

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