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.
This article appears in Nov 5-11, 2009.