ROCKING K AND ROLLING OVER: As we expected, the lame duck GOP members of the Pima County Board of Supervisors took care of legendary land speculator Don Diamond last week, allowing him to expand the area for his megalithic specific plan, put a parking lot for his new resort in the buffer zone for Saguaro National Park East and switch some densities around for his latest prospective client, who will actually develop the Rocking K property. Diamond failed to get three votes for a 20-year exemption from any new rules or fees because Republican Supervisor Mike Boyd, surprisingly, wouldn't go that far. But the fast-track process was something to behold, as the county staff moved the usual bureaucratic mountains to allow Diamond to blade the desert. The whole package was three inches thick, not counting attachments and maps, and most people got a copy only about a week before the vote. But that didn't stop outgoing Supervisor Ed Moore from reneging on his earlier commitment to allow the new board to vote on major issues. Moore claimed Rocking K was an "ongoing" item and therefore exempt from his own self-imposed abstention. Diamond toady Chris Monson said--with a straight face--it was all no big deal and wasn't fast tracked at all. Monson also said he'll be back for some more modifications as time goes on. But with Sharon Bronson replacing Moore in January and with supes Raul Grijalva and Danny Eckstrom consistently hostile, we expect rocky times for Rocking K in the county. Which is why we expect Diamond to make a big push for city annexation. LET'S PLAY KISS THE TOADY'S ASS: Radio talk show gasbag John C-Spots, er, Scott, reminds us of a fighter with a glass jaw. Or, as they say down South, a catfish--all mouth and no ass. He whined something fierce after The Skinny revealed his financial relationship with Chris Monson, legendary land speculator Don Diamond's major domo at Rocking K. Monson is Scott's partner in the home-shopping program Scott currently flatulates at a local AM radio station. Scott vociferously denied any connection between his new venture and Diamond, called us "liars," and trumpeted his alleged independence. And then, about a week later, he covered the Rocking K story by interviewing Chris Monson, his own partner! We had some respect for Scott back when he was at KTUC and blowing whistles. His old slogan was Follow The Money--advice he seems to have followed by becoming the radio mouthpiece for Diamond's interests through Monson. A STELLAR MOVE: Newly elected Supervisor Sharon Bronson surprised just about everyone last week when she named longtime Arizona Daily Star reporter Chris Limberis to her staff. Limberis was in a bit of a rut with the daily rag, whose editors (contrary to some rumors) wanted to keep him on board. Limberis was one of the hardest-working reporters with any local news outfit, setting the pace with multiple news stories on every beat he hit. His coverage of the 1991 Tucson city election set a standard for local political coverage, especially compared to the mush we've seen since. While Limberis' media savvy will be useful to Bronson, his thorough knowledge of local government will be an even bigger asset. Unlike most elected officials, Limberis can read a budget. And he knows the players, both bureaucratic and elected. Nobody will snow Bronson with Limbo around. And the rest of Bronson's staff is just as tough. Leslie Nixon is an attorney, so the office will have its own check and balance over the screwy opinions that occasionally come out of the Pima County Attorney's Office. And the third addition, Paulette Emslie, was an administrative support specialist in the office of former Supervisor Greg Lunn. Emslie learned about constituent services from the legendary Wanda Shattuck, who ran Lunn's office. Emslie earned great respect from all who knew her in those days. We hope she remembers the names of the reporters who called her a "clerk," when it comes time to make an appointment with her boss, or when that certain document is needed to beat a deadline. STARR PASS GAS: Despite a last-minute attempt by the editorial staff of the Tucson Citizen to pimp the City Council into "considering" the Starr Pass subsidy request to build a "downtown" resort with our tax money five miles from downtown, the developers had Mayor George Miller pull the request from the City Council agenda. For now. That's because it was obvious they didn't have the votes. For once, a majority of the council wasn't ready to go that far for a developer. Perhaps the biggest reason was the de facto revenue raid on the treasuries of other governmental entities the project would entail. Under the proposed deal, the city would have bought the dirt, kicked in a loan to help build the hotel and then leased it back to Starr Pass. This would have increased city sales tax revenues to cover property tax losses--for the city. But it would have screwed the tax base of Pima County, the Tucson Unified School District and Pima Community College--and since city residents who pay those taxes, they would picked up the burden. That's even assuming it was a good idea to subsidize this form of activity in the first place, or that a resort five miles out was going to benefit the city's convention business. Watch for the Starr Pass owners to come back with something else, probably a big rezoning on the land beyond its current low-density housing. Or another way to get the taxpayer to pick up the tab for their proposed resort venture. Free enterprise marches on. TERMINALLY PAROCHIAL: State Bar Executive Director Bruce Hamilton is on administrative leave while the organization's board of governors investigates allegations of sexual harassment. It's a reasonably juicy story the local media completely ignored. A Skinny source told us he read an article in the Arizona Republic and called both Tucson dailies and all three network TV outlets here to see if they could provide more details. And--dig this--he was told more than once, "This is a "Phoenix story." The Arizona Daily Star carried one short blurb in the back pages, but that was it. Note to the cheese heads passing as news directors and city editors around here: That was the State Bar of Arizona, not the Maricopa Bar Association. Calling that a "Phoenix story" is like ignoring the Governor's indictment for the same reason. Buy a map, turkeys--and get a clue.

		© 1995-97 Tucson Weekly . Info Booth