X4mr weighs in on the the future of the gem show. Hey Tucson elected officials and bureaucrats, are you on this one? What’s our plan?  Please don’t mess this one up too! - click HERE;

Rumors regarding the loss of the gem show are not new. Every year word spreads around that it may leave, and it doesn’t. However, each year the talk seems to have more substance, and new this year are the quotes from Gem Show Chief Douglas Hucker, “I would have never considered leaving the city of Tucson for somewhere else, but I am now.” Hucker goes on to comment about Rio Nuevo, “I’m not sure a bridge painting on Fourth Avenue, or some track being laid down for a (streetcar) … that doesn’t represent significant movement for me. There needs to be more. They (the city) better focus on revenue-producing things or they will lose their biggest revenue producer.”

The dissatisfaction has been growing for some time, and I am not talking about the lack of hotels or arenas. The undercurrent involves the taken for granted treatment the show has received over the years. Either last year or the year before that, when the show had a reception of sorts expecting to be greeted by dignitaries including the Mayor, perhaps a few more elected officials, and others (chamber employees, etc.), very few attended. Certain gem show officials were quite incensed, and I paraphrase the sentiment with, “You know, we really like Tucson, and the weather is great, but guess what?”