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2 Republicans seek to replace state's longtime mine inspector

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Some voters are surprised every four years to see the office of state mine inspector on the ballot.

The race has been a snoozer in recent elections. But now the term-limit clock has caught up with 18-year incumbent Republican Douglas Martin, who handily beat challengers during his long tenure in the post. Only Democrat Tom C. Foster, who served from 1923 until his death in 1944, held the office longer.

Continued GOP control of the office seems assured. Since no Democrats have filed for the office this year, the Sept. 12 Republican primary will decide who replaces Martin.

The race pits a seasoned former legislator from a pioneer mining family against a man with a long record in mine safety at the federal and state levels. Both Kingman rancher and broadcaster Joe Hart and Mesa resident Larry Nelson once worked in the mining field in the Tucson area.

No other state offers voters the opportunity to elect a person to oversee mine safety. The office is something of a constitutional vestigial organ.

Nearly a century ago, the office of state mine inspector was established in the Arizona Constitution as an elected position to assure a populist tone for the office and shield it from undue influence by the infant state's important and powerful mining interests.

Arizona is a fast-growing, increasingly urbanized state packed with newcomers. Many residents have never set foot near a working mine, yet citizens are called upon to elect a person to oversee an industry that few know very well.

Once a major pillar of the state's economy, mining remains an important basic industry in some areas and for the people directly employed. Copper mining, the biggest sector in the field, had a $3.5 billion direct and indirect impact on the state's economy last year, according to the Arizona Mining Association. Last year, nearly 7,000 people worked in copper mining in Arizona, which produced about 61 percent of the nation's copper.

State law requires the elected mine inspector to have several years of industry experience.

Kingman rancher and broadcaster Hart, 62, worked in family silver and gold mines for many years and for Duval Corp., a company that once operated mines in Kingman and near Green Valley. He later went into broadcasting and served five terms in the Arizona House of Representatives, ending in 2004.

Larry Nelson, 72, of Mesa worked for Magma Copper Co. in Superior until he joined the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration in 1973. He was manager of the Tucson MSHA office from 1983 to 1990 and headed the regional office in Phoenix for five years after that. Retiring from federal work, he joined Martin's office as manager of operations until retiring from that post in 2001.

Hart says his run for the post is an effort to "give something back" to the state in which he and his family prospered.

Nelson says he wants to share his expertise in safety and health issues after a long career in the field. He says the death of a close friend in a Superior mining accident prompted him to pursue a career in mine safety.

Both men agree the present size of the mine inspector's staff — a dozen employees — is inadequate to do the job of keeping an eye on 600 working mines in the state while trying to promote the safe closure of the most dangerous of the state's estimated 120,000 abandoned mines.

Hart says his combination of business, government and mining experience is ideal to make the office more effective.

Nelson says his experience in mine safety at both the state and federal level will benefit people working in the industry.

Both candidates say Martin was unable to get adequate funding from the Legislature to staff his office and carry out its mandate to regularly inspect mines and promote safety training. The office currently operates with about $1.2 million annually in state funds, Martin says.

Hart points to his decade in the Legislature as a plus in gaining more funding. Nelson says his experience in the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and the mine inspector's office will help him convince lawmakers that more funds are needed.

Martin's office just underwent an audit by the state Department of Administration after questions were raised earlier this year about some purchases from an emergency account and the leasing of four vehicles. A report on the audit was released Thursday.

Proposals are floated to eliminate the elected position of state mine inspector about every four years, Martin notes.

That would be a mistake, he contends, saying elected officials are better insulated from the influence of powerful corporations.

Arizona has one of the strongest records in mine safety, he says, because the state has more stringent rules than federal guidelines. In the years before statehood, the death rate from accidents in Arizona mines was about three per week, Martin says.

Last year, there were two deaths in the state's mining industry, both in small rock quarry operations, he notes.