Is it true that Legislative District 8 Chairman Royce Flora is being considered for a six figure salaried job by Maricopa County Treasurer Charles “Hos” Hoskins?

It wasn’t long ago that Flora, an applicant for the Treasury vacancy for which Hoskins was ultimately chosen, was feeling out potential supporters for a possible primary challenge. You may remember that the County Board did not even select Flora as a finalist for that position.

I know what you’re thinking; aren’t audio/visual technicians for the state House always in the running for these high paying financial services positions? Not to my recollection. Some of our readers who are much younger than me, who can do more with the internet than check e-mail and blog, could probably find out what Flora is making now; I’m certain it’s not anything in the range of his potential County job.

In the time of a severe budget shortfall, where the County has made significant cutbacks, could it really be possible that Hoskins would dangle an expensive carrot to avoid a challenge to his office? My advice to Hoskins, tell him to ‘bring it on.’ In 2004, Flora got waxed in a primary against Collette Rosati.

If this deal goes through, and we don’t see some compelling reason for this hire, maybe we should all start making noise about challenges to people who run large agencies. In the meantime, there’s already a repository for political hacks who can’t find work someplace else.