ON THE RAG: We keep hearing rumors of a fabulous new magazine that'll hit town this year under the Madden Publishing imprimatur. They're the guys who bring us Tucson Guide and a bunch of golf stuff, and they also publish slick rags in Phoenix--all designed to appeal to tourists and button-down Convention & Visitors' Bureau types. The new rag is supposedly going to be called Tucson Monthly--catchy title--and we hear it's supposed to do for our sprawling megalopolis what Texas Monthly has done for the Lone Star state, namely add some journalistic class. It just might, considering Dick Vonier, former features editor of the Tucson Citizen and creative force behind the late and lamented City Magazine, has been named executive editor of the new venture. Vonier's last gig was at Phoenix Magazine, where a good time was had by all. The spouse of one of Madden's employees got drunk at a party a while back and announced Madden was planning on putting The Weekly out of business. Frankly, unless they plan to lose millions in the process, we doubt that'll happen. Either way, we wish them luck--the more money there is for freelance writers and journalists in this town, the better. Vonier told The Skinny last week that Madden is still studying the situation to determine if there's a market for such a venture, and that no decision has been made yet. But Madden muckety-muck John Hudak tells us it's a definite go for this September, and they're moving up the official announcement, now that The Skinny's stuck its nose into their business. Being print junkies, we can't help but wonder how Madden plans on paying for Tucson Monthly. Vonier's wonderfully readable City Mag lost at least $1 million, and, we're told, never had more than 16,000 subscribers despite its high quality. If Madden is putting out a slick rag--although Hudak says they haven't quite decided what kind of paper they'll be using--and expects to make money, will the company sell each issue for a hefty sum, say $3.95? Or will they opt to go the route of Tucson Lifestyle, another slick that's sent gratis only to the ritziest Pima County mansions? Then there's the wretched Desert Leaf, which is sent to foothills homes free of charge, and even then the content isn't worth the money folks are paying for it. Hudak isn't saying precisely how Tucson Monthly will be distributed. We're betting it won't be primarily subscriber based. Finally, while Vonier's journalistic credentials are impeccable, we wonder how he'll fare at a place like Madden, where that sucking sound you hear is only the employees trying to please their fancy-schmantzy advertisers, who fear controversy (the stuff of good writing and better journalism) like supermodels fear canker sores. Although Hudak says the new rag will carry political coverage, we're betting it'll have all the controversy and impact of one of their pieces on how to handle your putter. BLOW UP THE TRACKS: The "P" word--privitization, as in hiding Tucson Water machinations behind a wall of private enterprise--is now threatening other governmental departments as well. Seems Tucson City Councilwoman Shirley Scott has asked Councilman Steve Leal, who chairs the Council's Subcommittee on Fiscal and Human Resources, to place "the privatization of all city departments" as an ongoing item on the subcommittee's agenda, according to Leal. Leal, Scott, and Mayor George Miller make up that subcommitte. Leal expects the item to surface on the subcommittee's agenda sometime in February. This Scott initiative should not be confused with the Council's recent decision to "study" options to privatize Tucson Water. That issue, as we all know, is coming down the track like a night train because the Growth Lobby is all for it. Maybe it's time city employees derail the train. HANDYMAN JOHN: The other night we ran into political maverick and former state legislator John Kromko, late of the failed Fife recall campaign. He was dressed better than his scruffy usual--all decked out in pinstripes, as a matter of fact. Red-and-white pinstripes of the Payless Cashways-employee variety. Now we know what happens to politicos when their public service careers go awry. Kromko has always been an avid do-it-yourselfer. Several years ago he was remodeling a garage at his West University dwelling into a rental. Ever the resourceful one, he used old Roy Laos campaign posters for roof insulation. CHOPPING DOWN THE WOODS: By our count, about nine of Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods' top folks have left his shop in the last few months for other jobs. There are rumors that Woods himself is considering leaving, if he can get the fix with long-time enemy Gov. J. Fife Whiteguy III to appoint a mutually acceptable successor. On January 31, the Maricopa County Superior Court is set to hear motions on both sides of the lawsuit brought against Woods by Sam Steiger. He alleges Woods paid a personal attorney with state funds in violation of state law. Woods has moved to dismiss the case, while Steiger has moved for summary judgment. Our prediction:The matter will go to trial--something that could speed Woods departure. We've always considered Woods one of the biggest charlatans in state government. He gets away with murder because he presents a "moderate" image as an elected Republican. Check the sleaze factor and you'll find nothing but Gov. Deadbeat, only with a lot less zeros. COMPOUND FACTIONS: In less than a month since they took over from a dysfunctional GOP Board of Supes, the new Democratic majority is living up to Will Rogers' old saying: "I'm not a member of any organized political party--I'm a Democrat." The genuine animosities between supervisors Raul Grijalva and Dan Eckstrom, long glossed over during prior boards and ignored by the media, are coming forward. They represent different districts, different philosophies and different ways of doing business. The newly elected Democrat, Sharon Bronson, was originally expected to be a Grijalva ally. But while Bronson is much closer to Grijalva on growth and development issues, she found Eckstrom a more stable ally in the many other issues of governance. This has caused major trauma to the Bronson-Grijalva relationship. Grijalva is genuinely hurt that his old friend--for whom he worked hard to elect--would politically two-time him. Bronson is disappointed that Grijalva has not presented a clear agenda and finds his lack of leadership flaky. While Eckstrom and Bronson both supported Grijalva for board chairman, there was considerable debate over that position among the three Demos. At one point Grijalva refused to accept the chairmanship, a position growing more meaningless and time consuming, but it was almost forced upon him by his two Democratic colleagues. The relationship is further complicated by Grijalva's off-and-on coalitions with GOP Supervisor Mike Boyd. During the last board's tenure, both Eckstrom and former Supervisor Ed Moore held Boyd in complete contempt and never spoke to him, leaving Boyd open to Grijalva's overtures. Reasonable politics for Grijalva then, maybe less so now. The first major difference among the Democratic majority to publicly surface is the choice of county administrator. Both Eckstrom and Bronson have lost confidence in Chuck Huckelberry--Bronson over the county's poor financial condition; Eckstrom had decided against Huckelberry some time ago. Grijalva, with no clear candidate of his own, is sticking with Huckelberry short term, and in doing so becomes the de facto third vote for the two GOP supes and the Growth Lobby who want Huckelberry retained. Those who expected this board to be an easy read will find a lot more surprises over the next four years.

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