First Democratic mine inspector in 50 years stresses safety

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(The Center Square) – Arizona's newest mining inspector says he was compelled to run by the lack of action he'd seen from the industry in keeping the state's network of open and shuttered mines safe. 

It was that belief, along with a lot of time on the road, that spurred on Democrat Brian Matlock's upset victory over incumbent Republican Les Presmyk to be the first party nominee to win the state mine inspector race since 1976.

During an interview with The Center Square on Monday, Matlock laid out his vision for the office, which he won over Presmyk by 5.45%. Matlock cited his barnstorming around the state as the cog that drove his election victory.

“We just pounded it, man,” Matlock said. “We got out there, and we went all over the state. And we made ourselves available to talk to people all the time, and I think that was a big difference between me and my opponent at the time. He didn't seem to be covering the state as well as we did. So I think that was you know something that was really important to our success.”

Matlock said his victory over the Republican incumbent stemmed largely from his calls to shore up the state’s 100,000 abandoned mines, estimating that 10% of those are marked. He noted unmarked mines is a safety threat to hikers.

“We ran a traditional campaign, and we pulled off a statewide win for about $60,000,” Matlock said. “And most of that went to science and fuel, you know. So I guess my message is, 'Don't give up on our democracy. It really can work.' ”

How he got here

Matlock’s road to an unlikely win in the race dates to 2014, when he moved to Tempe from Oregon to take a job as a senior field service engineer, after spending six years in the steel industry.

From there, Matlock was inspired to run for office after spending time as a precinct committee person for the Democratic Party, which helped him learn about the mine inspector's role.

Matlock said he knew he wanted to do his part in cleaning up the state’s extraction efforts, eventually leading him to launch his campaign against Presmyk, who was appointed to the role by Gov. Katie Hobbs in 2025.

“I decided, I'm going to run for this because I think there's improvements that could be made,” Matlock said. “Throughout my career, I’ve always been involved with safety, obviously mining safety while I was working directly in that sector, traveling to mines throughout the world. But also [in] my previous careers working in pulp paper and forestry products, safety was always part of it in my manufacturing environments.”

For now, Matlock aims to keep his word by visiting some of the far-flung mines that previous inspectors have avoided.

Matlock said he aims to put policies and procedures in place to locate and secure the state’s litany of abandoned mines, in addition to meeting statutory requirements for inspecting open pit mines once a year and the state’s underground mines four times per year.

One such underground site is Pinyon Plain Mine in Coconino County, which is about 10 miles southeast of the Grand Canyon’s South Rim.

The active underground uranium mine has been around since 1986, though Matlock said that his predecessor, Presmyk, has not inspected it during his tenure.

Along the campaign trail, Matlock promised those in the region that he’d do inspections to ensure the safety of mine workers and others. 

Matlock said members of the Havasupai Tribe and Navajo Nation, which claim the area as part of their respective sacred spaces, expressed their dismay with the current regulatory oversight of the facility, which motivated him to do his part as soon as he assumes the office.

“I made a commitment to them that within my first month that I will go up there, and I will visit that mine and be able to give folks warm and fuzzy feelings that things are doing well, or that we have some work to do,” Matlock said. “But I think they just need to know that there's actually somebody on their side looking. And I've made that commitment to the tribal community that I'll do that right away.”