by 
Sam Hosler
I am Sam Hosler, the current Mayor of Kearny, and I am seeking your support for another two-year term of office. Yes, I very much want to serve again, not only to finish work which has begun but also to help reshape our economy and our future.
When you first chose me, the economy of Arizona and the nation was in a tailspin. Four years later the economy of Arizona has largely recovered, but not in rural Arizona and certainly not in historic copper towns such as ours. We are smaller and poorer; the same can be said for our school district. The price of copper has moved upwards by only a small margin.
In these four years we have also suffered many calamities, including the closing of our bank, the Shipman Fire, the Kearny River Fire, and the severe layoffs at the mine.
I don’t list these unhappy events to discourage us, but instead to praise the caring and dedicated service of all who live here. During both fires, the Kearny Volunteer Fire Department and our Police Department worked day and night to keep us safe. Citizens rescued animals from the corrals and opened their homes to provide shelter to all. Food, water, and other kinds of support emerged.
The work continues now, as the Town of Kearny is partnering with the Winkelman Natural Resource Conservation District to eradicate the invasive and highly flammable tamarisk plants from the banks of Gila, and to provide new plants to stabilize the banks and burned areas.
Just before the Shipman Fire the town had providentially restored the flow of water into Kearny Lake, and the full lake became a huge resource in putting out the fires.
Economically, Kearny suffered greatly when the bank closed. The safe transfer of cash is a real necessity for businesses large and small. But during this time the Vache family invested in and improved the NAPA Store, and Norm and Myra Warren purchased and revitalized Norm’s IGA Market. The Family Dollar expanded its operations, and Liebherr began business here. The Kearny Clinic has grown and, although all of us will miss Brad Richards who is moving to Utah, we have confidence in the future development of the Kearny Clinic.
We are now undertaking the making of Kearny’s ten-year plan, which will provide a basis for seeking state and federal grants, and additionally include work on an economic plan for the good of the town. This plan will involve all of us, as it should. Additionally, we are working in tandem with Hayden, Winkelman, and Mammoth to develop the possibility of a larger, better, policing agency for all the towns.
My accomplishments as Mayor of Kearny are only part and parcel of the work of the Town Council and our Town Manager, Anna Flores, and all the people who work for the town. I’m a non-partisan town ‘volunteer with a fancy title’ who loves our town and its history, and has great hopes for its future. I invite town groups to ask me in to speak and answer questions. My home number is 520-363-9781, and I want to hear from you. I want to make Kearny the cleanest, safest, and happiest town in Arizona. And I want some good economic prosperity for all of us.
/s/ Sam Hosler
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