Every so often, an unplanned theme seems to miraculously emerge from an issue of the Tucson Weekly.
It's happened this week. The theme: The future of Southern Arizona.
In Opinion, Tom Danehy weighs in with some thoughts on the future of city government and the arts, while Irene Messina makes the case that Tucson needs to stop pretending to be a small town. Meanwhile, in our Currents section, Leo W. Banks reports on what scientists fear buffelgrass could do to the Sonoran Desert—it ain't pretty—and in The Skinny, Jim Nintzel discusses the tenuous situation that Steven Eye and his Solar Culture Gallery find themselves in.
Finally, there are the election results, which you can presumably find on Page 11. (I say "presumably," because 63 of our 64 pages this week, including this one, will go to pre-press before the polls close; Page 11 is the one page we're holding back.)
Whatever the election results are, one thing is clear: Tucson needs leadership. City Council members need to stop waffling—the fact that it took so long for Nina Trasoff and Karin Uhlich to formally oppose Proposition 200 speaks disconcerting volumes—and need to think ahead. (Nina, how could you not realize that current tenants were going to be pissed off—rather justifiably—when you showed up at a press conference announcing their impending eviction?) They need to realize that cultural hubs like the Rialto Theatre and Solar Culture need to be preserved.
Lead. Think. It really isn't that difficult.
