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By Sam Hosler
Mayor, Town of Kearny
All of us who went to school in Arizona took Arizona history and government. In that class we learned how essential our emergence from Territory to State depended on our desire to have Initiative, Referendum, and Recall. These were new concepts at the time, and the U.S. Government kept refusing our desire to have them in our state Constitution. We were refused Statehood so often that we finally relented, achieved Statehood in 1912, and celebrated our new Statehood by placing Initiative, Referendum, and Recall back into the Arizona Constitution at the next meeting of the Legislature. In doing so, we made the proud assertion that the people of Arizona are the ultimate Legislature.
I feel pride in Arizona even as petitions are now being circulated for my recall as Mayor of Kearny. This is how the system should work.
Many years after Statehood, Arizonans instituted another new legal concept, the Open Meetings Law. Arizona’s Open Meetings law is a model for the nation. Governmental meetings are always conducted in public. There are provisions for private Executive Sessions, which are confidential gatherings to receive legal advice, consider personnel issues, and deal with such things are real estate transactions. The confidentiality of these sessions is guarded with the proviso that any release of information from these meetings is a felony. No business can be conducted at these sessions and the actual decisions are always made in public.
I take pride in this law as well. It enables sound legal guidance, protection of personnel from unwanted disclosure of information, and the conduct of real estate transactions with full knowledge of all that is involved.
This weekly column is meant to be a service to the public. It is for information about current and future events of interest to the people of Kearny and the Copper Basin, and about other things which affect our life as a community. It is written from my perspective, but I promise to do all in my power to advance the Town of Kearny and not to advance my personal position in this column.
One last thing: I am proud of the response of our Public Works employees during the recent waterline break on Alden Road. These are the oldest waterlines in town. A large excavation was required, and service was restored as quickly as possible. As the Town of Kearny begins working on its ten-year plan, it must include the replacement of these lines as a high priority, and then we can seek grants.
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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