Will the Arizona Historical Society defy the Judge?

Note: See 10/3 correction at end of post.

The Historic League, Inc. is a fund raising arm of the Arizona Historical Society. On September 30^th, they posted the following on www.tastestreasures.blogspot.com

October 14th Tour Planned

“Join the League for the first tour of the season when we visit the Arizona Mining and Minerals Museum. The museum houses a collection of more than 3,000 gemstones, rocks, minerals and numerous exhibits which highlight the mining industry that helped build Arizona. It traces its origins back to the first Arizona Fair held in November of 1884. Under the direction of the Arizona Historical Society since July, it will soon be transformed into the Arizona Centennial Museum spotlighting Arizona’s five C’s. This is your opportunity to see the “before.””

The photo above accompanied the post.

This is not one of the architectural illustrations prepared by the sole source centennial museum contractor for the Governors February presentation. The source is unknown, but the content (or lack thereof) arouses concern.

Someone has edited a photo of the existing mineral museum, and taken out all of the historic mining artifacts that currently surround it. That is consistent with the intent of the Governor as stated in her February presentations and as illustrated by the contractor.

However, as explained in the August 15^th post (Will the Arizona Centennial Museum comply with the law?), one of the provisions in the amended centennial museum bill was that:

• All existing mineral museum items and artifacts would be retained, including the outdoor displays.

Furthermore, retired Arizona Supreme Court Judge and Arizona Centennial Commission co chairman Charles Jones promised that “the historic pieces of equipment and world class mineral and gem collection will remain prominently displayed”. (See July 30 post entitled “Was the Judge mislead about the Arizona Centennial Museum?)

Clearly, the above photo is not consistent with either the centennial museum law or Judge Jones promise.

Who prepared this edited photo?

Why were the “historic pieces of equipment” removed?

Does the History League intend to help the AHS and the Governor defy the Judge?

What is the basis for the History Leagues apparent assumption that the "transformation" will be an improvement? Have they seen plans for the Arizona Centennial Museum?

Correction: After this post was published, a long time mineral museum supporter identified the origin of the photo. It is from about 10 years ago, before historic mining artifacts were placed in front of the building. Trees in the photo but no longer on the site date the photo. The photo has not been edited.

Therefore, the appropriate question is not: why was the photo edited? The question is; why was a photo not including the items the Governor wants to remove chosen for the Historic League post? Was the selection of the old photo innocent, or does it reflect an intent to remove the mining equipment?

An international embarrassment: the 5C Arizona Centennial Museum:

The 5C Arizona Centennial Museum will be an international embarrassment no matter what the quality of its displays may be. That is because of the loss of the existing top rated mineral museum it is displacing and because of the annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.

The annual Tucson show attracts over 50,000 visitors a year from around the world. They come from Thailand, China, Brazil, Poland, Italy, Africa, Australia, Indonesia, Canada, Russia, and many other countries. Depending upon which review you read, the Tucson show is either the largest gem or mineral show in the USA, or the largest in the world. Since fossils were added to the agenda, it has been described as the largest natural science show in the world.

The “show” is actually over 40 different shows scattered over the city of Tucson in two dozen different locations. Virtually every hotel and motel is filled with mineral dealers or buyers. Dealer’s rooms become shops by day. Various surveys place the impact on the Tucson economy between 75 million and 110 million dollars. It is the largest annual event in the city of Tucson.

Visitors coming to the two week show spend and average of 20 days in Arizona. About 50 percent take extra time to sight see and take tours. About 20 percent visit museums.

Now, just what might type of museum might attract this international crowd? The existing Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum in Phoenix is an obvious choice, and is closely associated with this international Tucson event. For Arizona to eliminate the mineral museum in favor of another history museum will appear ludicrous.

Each year, the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum has placed a guest display in the 180,000 square foot main show in the Tucson Convention Center, as do other museums from around the world. Prestigious museums such as the Smithsonian and the Sorbonne have participated in the Tucson show.

Eliminating the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum will appear incomprehensible to this large crowd of international visitors, especially since Arizona is the number one mining state for non fuel minerals. The huge Tucson show, begun is 1955, is in Tucson because of Arizona’s exceptional mineral resources. Many of Arizona’s mines are world famous among mineral collectors because of the prized specimens those mines have produced.

Why would you close a top rated and internationally recognized mineral museum to build another history museum?

Arizona will suffer international embarrassment.

Note: Statistics for this blog currently (Oct 16th) show viewers in Canada, South Africa, Ghana, Brazil, Japan, Indonesia, China, India, and Vietnam.

58 Geese voted for the Arizona Centennial Museum

Ours is supposed to be a government of checks and balances. Whimsical or corrupt behavior by the executive branch should be held in check by one of the other branches of government. This is especially the responsibility of the legislature, where the combination of House and Senate should restrain bad behavior in the executive branch.

Unfortunately, this carefully designed system failed completely when Governor Brewer and the Arizona Historical Society hatched her pet project, the Arizona Centennial Museum. If the Governor could have attracted private money for her pet project, she could simply have built it. However, like an Egyptian Pharaoh, she wanted to obliterate former legislature Polly Rosembaums pet project (Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum, see Tuesday July 20 blog post) and build hers on the very same spot. To do that, she needed to change the law.

Unfortunately, with the help of Representative Russ Jones and Senator John Nelson, that was all too easy. Aware of public opposition, Jones used a House trick (strike all bill) to avoid a House hearing, and Nelson pushed the bill through he Senate hearing in the face of public opposition. Then, it was easy. On the last day of the legislative session, the rest of the geese simply ran with the flock.

Incredibly, the House vote on the Arizona Centennial Museum bill was 58 to 1 with one representative not voting. Why would such a flawed bill easily attract 58 votes? The apparent answer may be that no one read it. Except for one, the geese simply ran with the flock.

Every one of the 60 Arizona congressmen were provided with information on the serious problems with the bill. Apparently, only one read it or understood it, and voted nay.

Voting without understanding is apparently standard procedure for the Arizona legislature. Not only do they apparently not read bills, they also carefully make sure no one will read it to them. Every session of the Arizona legislature is an “emergency session” to avoid a constitutional provision that bills be read before voting on them.

The Senate did a bit better. There were 9 nay votes and one Senator did not vote. However, 20 non readers or non thinkers voted for the bill.

Senators and Representatives do no appear to be representing the people. Who tells the geese how to vote, and why do they listen?

Note:

The following is from page 36 of “From idea …. To Bill… To Law, The Legislative Process in Arizona”, by State Senator Randall Grant, 2000, available online at www.az/gov

Eventually, the legislature sought to get around the three readings.

The solution was again creative. They simply declared an emergency. (Remember the “unless in case of emergency” in Article IV?) Under this provision, instead of reading the entire bill three times, the legislature only reads the title of the bill three times. So, to this day, one of the very first items on the agenda at the opening of each legislature is to have an emergency declared. Put differently, every piece of legislation passed for a number of years has been passed under an “emergency”.

Why would Freeport support the Arizona Centennial Museum?

One of the big mysteries of the Arizona Historical Society attack on the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum is the participation of Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold Inc. Freeport purchased Phelps Dodge a few years back. In addition to acquiring huge copper mines in Arizona, they inherited over a century of Arizona mining history and tradition. Much of that is currently on display in the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum.

The mineral museum was in the process of building the Copper Gallery. Displays planned for the new gallery would have included:

• Formation of copper deposits

• Copper exploration techniques

• Maps of Arizona copper deposits

• History of copper mining in Arizona

• Mining and processing of different ores

• Uses for copper in daily life

• Beauty and diversity of copper minerals

• Applications of copper in art

Part of the new gallery was already completed when the Governor changed the law to transfer the building and museum to the Arizona Historical Society. They have been directed to convert it to the 5C Arizona Centennial Museum featuring cattle, citrus, cotton, copper, and climate.

As mineral museum supporters spoke out against the bill at the Senate hearing, it became very apparent that Freeport’s lobbyist was actively supporting the bill. There were also stories about Freeport having committed one million dollars to the 5C Centennial Museum. Those stories continue to be circulated by the Arizona Historical Society and also appear on other blogs, but have not yet been confirmed. The Arizona Centennial foundation, which would be the recipient of the money, has not made a formal announcement. Inquiries sent to Freeport have not been answered.

Many wonder why Freeport would do that. On the surface, it does not appear to be in their best interest. The existing mineral museum features their products, technologies, and history for more completely that the 5C Arizona Centennial Museum ever would. According to preliminary plans, mining and mineral display would be reduced to much less that 20% of the existing floor space. As discussed in the June 12 post on this blog, that remaining space would be focused on social issues related to mining rather than on technology.

Freeport does generously support earth science museum and education. They gave a million dollar grant to the University of Arizona mineral museum, and just this month (as reported in the September 17 issue of the Arizona Republic) they gave a half million dollar to promote science education in Arizona. They were the biggest supporter of the Friends of the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum, and even provided a generous grant while the law was being changed to eliminate the mineral museum.

Therefore, Freeport support for the 5C Arizona Centennial Museum, which will obliterate the mineral museum, is most puzzling. Are there two Freeports?

Will there be Cactus in the 5C Arizona Centennial Museum?

Governor Brewer directed the Arizona Historical Society to convert the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum into the 5C Centennial Museum. The museum is to feature cows, cotton, citrus, copper, and climate. In preparation for that, she had the Arizona Legislature rubber stamp a bill to transfer the mineral museum to the historical society. However, so many citizens appeared to protest at the Senate public hearing that was that there was standing room only.

Possibly reacting to unfavorable public comments about such a questionable theme for a new museum, the historical society began backing away from the 5C theme right at the hearing. That put them in the peculiar position of promoting passage of a law they were promising not to follow, but the Senate committee did not seem to mind as they voted for the bill along party lines.

The historical society droned on about “many Cs”, including computers, construction, canyons, and Cs they had not even though of yet. Now, is seems like things in Arizona that start with the letter C is an even sillier theme for a new museum than the historic but archaic 5C economic theme. However, if we are going to spend millions on a “Many C” museum (or perhaps an XC museum), then the Cs should at least be highly relevant.

What is the fist “c thing” that people become aware of when they first come to Arizona? Only someone with the brains of a carrot would not say “cactus”. Colorado has mountains, Florida has beaches, and Arizona has cactus.

So, will there be cactus in the XC Arizona Centennial Museum? They should be. Except for copper, cactus was here long before all those other C things. No matter how you travel into Arizona, they are also the most conspicuous.

Cacti have other worthy features. The do not stink like cows, and they are much more interesting that cotton plants. Cotton plants all look alike. Not so cactus plants. They come in an unending number of sizes and shapes, and they produce a great variety of beautiful flowers and fruit. Furthermore, they are immune to boll weevils, and do not have to be drenched in pesticides to keep them alive.

Look at Arizona postcards. How many cactus picture postcards are there for every citrus field postcard? Ten? A hundred? More? Cactus have a way of capturing the public imagination in a way that a grapefruit tree simply cannot. Grapefruit are boring. Besides, how many people even eat grapefruit?

And just how do you put climate into a museum? Do you need a retractable roof, like a football stadium? That’s expensive. Cactus, on the other hand, can be economically acquired and maintained.

Cactus are the big C. There cannot be an XC museum without cactus.

Note: Arizona Senate Bill 2251 actually states that:

"The Arizona Historical Society shall operate and maintain the Centennial Museum --------to promote the recognition and celebration of the historical, cultural, economic, and social contributions to this state made by the “Five C’S” of cattle, copper, cotton, climate, and citrus for the observance of the centennial of Arizona as a State."

Are you pleased to know that the hired help has been hard at work?

Science education threatened by the Arizona Historical Society and Arizona Centennial Museum

On September 17, 2010, the Arizona Republic published an article by Kerry Fehr-Snyder entitled “Grants kick start Arizona effort to lift science-math skills. The article describes how Governor Brewer has provided $100,000 of seed money to improve science and math education in Arizona. The article reveals that Arizona is at the bottom of all states in the country in science proficiency as measured by National Assessment of Education Progress standards.

At a meeting to discuss the grant, Science Foundation Arizona board member Martina-Newell-McGloughlin said Arizona needs to make science and math more interesting. She stated “If the kids are not excited about what they are learning, they’re going to switch to other careers”.

Meanwhile, Governor Brewer is diverting millions of dollars to take the excitement out of science education. The millions are going to the Arizona Historical Society which has been tasked with replacing the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum with the 5C Arizona Centennial Museum. The mineral museum is currently an exciting earth science education experience for Arizona students. Middle aged Arizonians fondly remember their school field trip to the mineral museum. How many K-12 learning experiences are so exciting that they are still remembered decades later?

The $100,000 grant, however well intended it may have been, cannot begin to compensate for the damage the Arizona Centennial Museum will do to science education.

Does Governor Brewer lack diplomatic skills?

The appendix to this post is a paragraph from the Arizona Centennial Commissions resource guide. It describes the recommended process for getting community support for centennial projects.

When Jan Brewer became Governor, she also became co chairman of the Arizona Centennial Commission. Rather than supporting existing projects, she dreamed up her own pet project at a very late date in centennial planning. Did she follow the suggested procedure for getting community “buy in”.

No.

As described in prior postings, she apparently coerced the Arizona Historical Society into supporting her project, the Arizona Centennial Museum. Then, she chose a building for it that was already occupied by one of Arizona’s top rated museums; the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum.

Then, she planned her project in secret. She not only failed to establish community support, she divided the community. Now, one faction wants to build the Arizona Centennial Museum (another history museum) and another wants to save the mineral museum, the only earth science museum that supports state mandated K-12 education standards. The fighting will be prolonged and bitter.

Governor Brewer committed a major blunder and displayed a complete lack of leadership ability. She should not be a part of Arizona centennial planning.

Appendix:

From the Arizona Centennial 2010 Resource Guide www.arizona100.org

GETTING COMMUNITY “BUY-IN" | Once you have an idea for a project, especially if it is a special community-wide event, get input from a variety of participants early on. Projects are more likely to succeed if they achieve community buy-in.

Begin this process by communicating with people within your network and asking them for their assessment of how well the project will be received and how to act on it. Also ask for suggestions for people to invite to an initial "brainstorming" meeting.

Once you have a core group of supporters, start asking community organizations for feedback. Be sure to include local historians, genealogists, educators, librarians, and museum staff. Others to include are elected officials, community and tribal leaders, as well as representatives of special interest groups such as senior citizens, VFW halls, and ethnic groups.

If you need help identifying resources, the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, the Arizona Historical Society, and the Arizona Humanities Council may be able to help.

An effective way of seeking public input is a town hall-style meeting where the general public is invited. This will provide a larger number of people the opportunity to offer and discuss ideas or to begin working out the details. If different or opposing ideas