Arizona mine inspector hopeful calls incumbent unqualified
By Max Jarman 9/29/10
The normally sleepy race for Arizona state mine inspector heated up Wednesday when Democratic challenger Manuel Cruz alleged Republican incumbent Joe Hart is unqualified to hold the office and should resign.
Cruz asked Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard to investigate whether Hart knowingly lied about his qualifications for the $50,000-a-year job when he ran for the post in 2006 and whether he is now illegally holding the office.
At a news conference Wednesday, Cruz asserted that his opponent never had the four years of underground mining experience that was required for the job when he ran in 2006.
"He worked at surface mines," Cruz said, referring to Hart's 20 years of experience at Duval Mining Corp. near Kingman.
"If Mr. Hart lacked the relevant mining experience, then he knowingly and fraudulently misrepresented himself as a qualified candidate when submitting a sworn affidavit attesting to that in 2006," Cruz said.
Hart said that the same issue was raised and put to rest in the 2006 campaign and that he is confident nothing would come of it.
"It was all vetted in 2006 and it was found that I did have the experience," Hart said.
The underground experience is not an issue in the 2010 campaign because the law was changed last year to do away with the requirement.
Hart acknowledged he had a hand in changing the law at the suggestion of the mining industry.
"They were concerned about a lack of candidates because there are so few underground mines left in the state," Hart said.
Of the dozen or so working mines in Arizona, only one, Asarco's Mission Mine near Sahuarita, is an underground operation.
Cruz, who has worked in underground mines, believes the experience gave him a body of knowledge that would be valuable in the mine inspectors' post.
"They lowered the standards," he said.
The state mine inspector oversees a staff of three administrators and four inspectors that are responsible for ensuring the safe operation of Arizona's working mines. The agency also oversees the reclamation and closure of non-working mines, including the thousands of abandoned mines that dot the state.
