Why did Senator John Nelson rubber stamp Governor Brewer’s bad idea?

Governor Brewer appears to have hatched the idea for the 5C Arizona Centennial Museum all by herself. If she had funding, she could simply have built it. If she absolutely had to have the building at 1502 W. Washington, she could have simply displaced the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum that currently occupies that building. Any mineral specimens or mining artifacts to be displayed in the 5C museum could have been easily placed there on loan from the Department of Mining and Mineral Resources. Instead, she determined to make a real mess.

Somehow she got the idea that the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum had to be reassigned from the Department of Mines and Mineral Resources to the Arizona Historical Society. Then, she could have the historical society decimate the mineral museum and include a few left over pieces in the 5C museum. To do it the hard way, she had to have Arizona statutes revised. As they were, maintaining and operating the mineral museum was the responsibility of the Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources.

So, she had Representative Russ Jones attach and amendment to a water resources bill to implement her wishes. When a large group of mineral museum supporters assembled to speak at the hearing, he pulled the attachment. He then used a bit of legislative trickery to avoid a house hearing on a stand alone bill including the governor’s wishes.

That bill then had a public hearing in only the Senate where the committee chairman was Senator John Nelson. A large group of people appeared to speak against the bill, and there was standing room only in the hearing room. Senator Nelson obviously already knew how he would vote, and did not want to listen to all of the speakers. When they protested, he reluctantly gave each of them just two minutes. Then, he allowed the director of the Arizona Historical society to drone on endlessly in support of the bill. The bias was blatantly obvious. At the end of the hearing, he ignored all of the many problems posed by the opposition speakers and cast the deciding vote in favor of the bill.

We are supposed to have a government of checks and balances. In the case of the 5C museum bill, it failed completely. Why was Senator John Nelson in the Governors pocket? What political machinery or party chicanery made him rubber stamp and obviously flawed bill for the governor? Why did he place the Governors wishes over the best interest of Arizona and Arizona students?

The damage done by Senator John Nelsons biased vote may never be repaired. A scientific mineral collection painstakingly gathered and preserved for over a century is now in the hands of the historical society that lacks the scientific skills to properly care for it. Many specimens came from mines and geological deposits that no longer exist. They cannot be replaced.

Senator John Nelson failed in his duty to act in the best interest of the citizens. For reasons still unknown at this time, he rubber stamped a Governors ill conceived whim.

Governor Brewer to spend $7,000,000 on an uneeded sidewalk

Governor Brewer is co-chairman of the Arizona Centennial Commission. That commission is collaborating with the City of Phoenix to give West Washington Street a “face lift”. Said face lift will include trees, shaded bus stops and widened sidewalks. Phoenix is putting in a whopping $400,000 (5%). The balance of the 7.2 million dollars is Federal transportation money probably borrowed from overseas.

Just how will that money improve transportation? There could be cannon fire on West Washington from 7^th Ave. to the Capitol any day of the week and no one would be hurt. The only people on the sidewalks are a few winos and they are sleeping off last nights binge.

What is the apparent “logic” behind this nonsense? Arizona’s first governor walked down West Washington to the Capitol when he took office after Arizona acquired statehood. That was supposedly Arizona’s first parade. Apparently Governor Brewer and her cronies plan to reenact this parade on a “face-lifted” Washington Street on the Centennial. Never mind that this street has fallen into decay over the last hundred years and the 7.2 million dollar expenditure will be absolutely worthless the day after the parade.

Some suspect that this parade is also motivating the Governors attack on the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum at 1502 West Washington (see original post on this blog). She probably doesn’t want to walk past all that junk currently on display around the building. Never mind that the junk consists of priceless historical mining artifacts that have been restored with tens of thousands of volunteer hours. Trash it to make pretty for a reenactment of Governor Hunts first parade.

When Governor Hunt's wife died he had her buried on a Papago Park hilltop in a 20-foot-tall pyramid faced with white bathroom tile. Hunt was buried there three years later.

How many millions is Brewers pyramid going to cost us?

References:

Phoenix’s Washington Street will receive centennial face-lift

Lynh Bui

The Arizona Republic

Sep. 9, 2010

Governor Hunt’s Pyramid Tomb

www.roadsideamerica.com

Is Governor Brewer not a team player?

Planning for the Arizona Centennial was begun by Governor Napolitano. Many worthy projects were identified by the Arizona Centennial Commission, but funding dried up as the economy collapsed. When Governor Brewer took office the fund raising situation (as reported by the Centennial Commission) looked bleak.

When Governor Brewer became governor, she also became the co-chairman of the Arizona Centennial Commission. She could have applied her leadership position to champion worthy projects already planned. However, that is not what she did.

Sometime during mid 2009, she hatched her own pet centennial project. She envisioned a new museum on the Capitol Mall based on, of all things, cotton, citrus, copper, cattle and climate (5C Arizona Centennial Museum). She decided she would place her new museum in the building currently occupied by the top rated Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum at 1502 West Washington.

Apparently she corralled 5 members from the respective industries to participate in secret planning meetings. The names of those individuals are not yet known, but they are apparently expected to somehow come up with 9 million dollars for the Governors museum.

Governor Brewer’s action places her in direct completion with the Arizona Centennial Commission that she chairs. She is trying to extract private funds for her lately conceived project when the already planned projects are not funded. In particular, she is competing with a previously planned project championed by John Driggs that would restore and improve the State Capitol building.

What would the people of Arizona must enjoy during the centennial celebration; a restored and enhanced State Capitol building or a new museum with cotton and cows at 1502 West Washington?

Is Governor Brewer diminishing Arizona’s Centennial by independently pushing her own pet project?

Who has the authority to remove Governor Brewer from the Arizona Centennial Commission?

Reference:

Fund raising at a standstill for Arizona's Centennial

By NAZ Today on May 25, 2009

www.naztoday.com

Was the 5C Arizona Centennial Museum Governor Brewers idea?

Some one had a 100 year bad idea. That was to replace the top rated Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum with another history museum. The theme of the new 5C history museum (if that is a theme) is citrus, cotton, copper, cattle and climate.

Who hatched this peculiar idea? Governor Napolitano began centennial planning, but there was apparently no 5C museum in the plans when she left. The best clue we have as to when the idea appeared is in the recent Arizona Republic (1) story on the 5C centennial museum. Arizona Historical Society “leaders” stated they began meeting with the governor’s office about a year ago.

So, whose dimly lit idea was it? The early meetings were shrouded in secrecy protected by lies and gag orders. Little is know about anything prior to the Governors “by invitation only” presentation at the mineral museum in January.

There are a few clues in the meeting minutes of the Board of Directors of the Arizona Historical Society. These are posted online in the historical society’s web site. In a late 2009 meeting, the director informed that board that “something big” was in the works, but she was not allowed to talk about it.

There are a few more clues in early 2010 minutes. In January, the director said she had been working with “the governor’s office, the Office of Tourism, and five representatives from private industry. In March, she said “the Governor contacted AHS last year”, and “there have been numerous meetings with the Governors office and representatives of the industries”. In April she “reminded the board that the Centennial Museum is a Governors mandate for AHS”.

Now, it seems unlikely that someone in one of the five industries would have proposed a new museum featuring the four other industries, especially since they are not related. Likewise, why would the Office of Tourism propose a museum featuring cotton and cows? Finally, the director of the historical society appears to be disassociating herself from the genesis of 5C in every way possible.

Therefore, we are left with just one candidate for the originator of this 100 year category bad idea: Governor Brewer.

1. New theme for historic site, Kevin Kelly, Arizona Republic, page B1, Wednesday August 11, 2010

Does Governor Brewer hate 4th graders?

For whatever reason, Governor Brewer is being very mean to Arizona’s 4^th grade students. She walked into the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum and presented her until then secret plan to decimate the museum and essentially replace it with yet another history museum administered by the Arizona Historical Society.

School buses arrive daily, as they have for decades, bringing students participating in field trips specifically designed to support the state mandated earth science educational curriculum. The museum also provides teachers with earth science education materials and instruction.

Students are absolutely fascinated by the experience. After a structured classroom introduction, they experience hands on learning about the three basic types of rock in the earths crust. They learn how minerals are deposited in the earths crust, and a huge new interactive copper mine display show them how man extracts minerals from the earth and process them to make the raw materials for the non agricultural materials that support our modern economy. They also learn, from numerous educational displays, how hundreds of different minerals are used to make the many products their lives depend upon.

Educational displays also show them how volcanoes work, how crystals grow, how color is formed in minerals, and how minerals are related to the chemists periodic table of the elements. They also learn how their state is unique in its abundance of mineral wealth.

Other exhibits show them the beauty irreplaceable natural treasures taken from Arizona’s many historic mining districts and carefully preserved for over a century. They also see the unique beauty of lapidary arts.

The many historic mining artifacts are also a source of fascination for children. The old narrow gauge steam locomotive from the copper mines in Clifton-Morenci is a favorite.

While the museum and its collection have serious scientific and historic value and are of interest to adults as well as children, children in particular leave with an indelible impression in their minds. Ask any middle aged Arizonan if they went to school in metropolitan Phoenix. If they did, ask them if they remember a school field trip. They will fondly share their memory of their class field trip to the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum.

For Governor Brewer to deprive future Arizona school children of this very enjoyable learning experience is shameful.

Note: Governor Brewer is not decimating this one of a kind earth science museum to cut cost. As explained in the first post on this blog, she is spending much more money to convert it into another history museum, of which Arizona already has many.

Will Governor Brewer put chickens in the 5C Arizona Centennial Museum?

After half a year of secret planning, Governor Brewer proudly announced (in January) a “gift to Arizona”: the 5C Arizona Centennial Museum. The museum is to feature citrus, cotton, cattle, copper, and climate. This curious collection of “C” things is taken from old school history books that summarize industry found in early Arizona. Actually, there used to be four “C”s. Someone rewrote history and slipped in “climate”.

House Bill 2251, signed by Governor Brewer last spring, actually established the 5C museum in Arizona law. The museum is to be managed by the Arizona Historical Society (AHS) which did a very strange thing when speaking in favor of the bill during the senate hearing. They pronounced that there would in fact be many more “c”s, including construction, computers, and canyons. The curious illogic of promoting a law by enthusiastically announcing that you will not comply with it if passed did not seem to concern the Senate committee as they voted in favor of the bill.

So, the Governor and the AHS appear to be planning a “Many C” or “XC” museum for the centennial. Therefore, it seems perfectly logical to ask: Will there be chickens? As the population of the Phoenix – Tucson metropolitan areas continue to grow, eggs and poultry will obviously be a continuously growing industry.

Meanwhile, citrus and cotton are in serious decline. Both land and water are becoming too scarce and expensive for agricultural use. The last citrus packing plant in metropolitan Phoenix recently folded. Arizona’s cotton production is insignificant in comparison to US cotton production. In contrast, each person that moves into Arizona creates future demand for more eggs and more chickens. Chickens take up little space, and they drink little water, so they are not hampered by the economic constraints that are suffocating citrus and cotton

.

Why, it’s not hard to imagine that chickens may soon outnumber cows. Arizona’s overgrazed range land is supporting fewer and fewer cows which never did make a whole lot of sense in the desert anyhow. Like citrus and cotton, cows are on the way out. Ranches find it harder and harder to make a profit, and continuing conflict over the use of Federal land puts further limits grazing rights. Chickens may soon be the only viable agriculture related industry in Arizona.

So, if the Governor and AHS have not yet considered chickens for another “C”, they should. Besides, chickens have more charisma than cows. Consider the little Red Hen, Chicken Little, Foghorn Leghorn, and even Easter chicks. The only cow anyone ever heard of was that fool that chewed too much weed and did the lunar leap. No one can even remember her name.

Also, if the XC museum included chickens and eggs, there could be an Easter egg collection. That would at least provide something of interest for kids.

One “C” that is apparently not included, however, is “cash”. There was no funding for the 5C museum when the bill was passed, and there appears to be none now. The Governor and the AHS appear to have only chicken feed to support their project.

Is Governor Brewer insulting Arizona's mining industry?

The photos show the life size mural of a mining haul truck that is currently on the north wall of the top rated Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum. The row of school buses in the second photo shows the scale of the mural.












A $20,000 grant from Komatsu, presented by their local dealer in Phoenix, financed the mural. Many grants from Arizona’s mining industry have made this very unique, historic, and educational museum possible. The museum began on the state fairgrounds before Arizona became a state, and is a long established part of Arizona’s mining heritage.

As indicated in her January presentation on the Arizona Centennial Museum, Governor Brewer plans to paint over this mural as the building is converted into the centennial museum. She also plans to remove the historic pieces of mining equipment (donated over decades by various Arizona mining companies) currently surrounding the building. Inside the building, floor space occupied by mining and mineral displays is to be reduced by over 80%.

The Governor plans a permanent 5C centennial museum featuring citrus, cotton, cattle, copper, and climate. However, the agricultural and ranching industries do not typify Arizona like mining does, and only the mining industry chose to support a museum. The first mineral museum building, built with mining company support, is shown in the third photo as it appeared in 1919.












Arizona is not known for its agricultural products or for ranching. Many other states out produce it in each of these areas. Florida is known for citrus, and Texas is known for ranching. Arizona is known for mining. Arizona has been and is the number one producer of non fuel mining products.

The Governors plan is an insult to Arizona’s mining industry. It diminishes its status as a vital and historic state industry, and it decimates the museum it voluntarily sponsored.

The insult is amplified by the corresponding 75% cut in the budget for the Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources. This department, also supported by the mining industry, provides a vital service in maintaining extensive records on Arizona mineral resources. This service is invaluable for future mineral exploration.














The cut would be understandable if it were done to reduce spending in a budget crisis. However, it was not. All of the money and more was transferred to the Arizona Historical Society to support the Governors centennial museum project. The Governor is spending money to diminish the public perception of mining’s importance.

Governor Brewer does not respect the Arizona mining industry, and apparently does not understand Arizona unique mineral wealth.